Today we recap screenings, events, and celebrations from January, in New York City and beyond, related to GME titles, artists, and colleagues. In the first half of the month, a number of films that GME distributes to universities in North America were programmed at Anthology Film Archives. In the latter half of the month, GME highlighted the work of photographers Raimondo Borea, Hugh Bell, and Jack Mitchell. Specifically, Borea and Bell’s oeuvres were highlighted with the release of GME's New Photo Licensing Reel, and Mitchell’s 1963 portraits of dancer Maria Tallchief were revisited ahead of the New York City Ballet’s celebration of Tallchief’s centennial. Additionally, Mitchell’s 1994 images of Paul Taylor dancing with Mikhail Baryshnikov were presented in a new video, in recognition of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s 2025 Dance Symposium celebrating Baryshnikov and his legacy.

STILL: MARCEL HANOUN’S *UNE SIMPLE HISTOIRE* (1958). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 3rd — Anthology Film Archives

On January 3rd, at 6:45pm, Marcel Hanoun’s UNE SIMPLE HISTOIRE (1958) screened at Anthology Film Archives on 16mm. GME distributes UNE SIMPLE HISTOIRE on DSL and DVD to North American universities in conjunction with Re:Voir Video, as well as Hanoun’s film OCTOBRE À MADRID (1964) and his quadriptych LES SAISONS (1968—72).

*MASTERWORKS OF AMERICAN AVANT-GARDE EXPERIMENTAL FILM 1920—1970* DVD COVER. SOURCE: FLICKER ALLEY, GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 4th — Anthology Film Archives

On January 4th, at 6:15pm, Anthology Film Archives screened Ian Hugo’s BELLS OF ATLANTIS (1950), Ken Jacobs’ LITTLE STABS AT HAPPINESS (1959—63), Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, and James Agee’s IN THE STREET (1952), and Willard Maas’ GEOGRAPHY OF THE BODY (1943) on 16mm, in an hour-long program titled Hugo/Jacobs/Levitt/Maas. GME distributes Hugo’s BELLS OF ATLANTIS and Levitt, Loeb, and Agee’s IN THE STREET in the Flicker Alley Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack MASTERWORKS OF AMERICAN AVANT-GARDE EXPERIMENTAL FILM 1920-1970. GME also distributes Maas’ 1966 film ANDY WARHOL’S SILVER FLOTATIONS in the Re:Voir Video DVD collection VISIONS OF WARHOL. In 2012, GME helped produce Jacobs’ film CYCLOPEAN 3D: LIFE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN through our Experimental Filmmakers Production Fund.

STILL: HOU HSIAO-HSIEN’s *THE BOYS FROM FENGKUEI* (1983). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 8th — New York’s Asia Society

On January 8th at 6:30pm, an imported 35mm print of Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s THE BOYS FROM FENGKUEI (1983) screened at New York’s Asia Society and Museum as part of Films To See Before You Die, an ongoing monthly series featuring “classic films and underseen gems from across Asia and the Asian diaspora.” GME distributes THE BOYS FROM FENGKUEI in the collection HOU HSIAO-HSIEN: EARLY WORKS, which also features the filmmaker’s earlier features CUTE GIRL (1980) and THE GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME (1982). The collection is currently available to North American academic institutions as a DVD published by Cinematek.

FILMMAKER GUNVOR NELSON. SOURCE: FESTIVAL DE SEVILLA.

January 9th — GME

On January 9th, GME remembered Gunvor Nelson, who passed away three days prior, at the age of 94. A pioneering experimental filmmaker active since the early 1960s, Nelson was born and raised in Kristinehamn, Sweden, before relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and made films for over 50 years. GME distributes Nelson’s films SCHMEERGUNTZ and MY NAME IS OONA in the Re:Voir Video collection DEPARTURES, which also features her films TAKE OFF (1962) and MOONS POOL (1973). This collection is available to the North American university market as a DVD and downloadable DSL files. Furthermore, GME distributes Nelson’s films FOG PUMAS (1967), FRAME LINE (1983—2014), LIGHT YEARS (1987), and BEFORE NEED REDRESSED (1994) in the Re:Voir collection LIGHT YEARS, which is also available on both DVD and DSL formats. The DVD publication of LIGHT YEARS is accompanied by a 124-page booklet comprised of critical essays and an interview with Nelson by Julie Savelli, lecturer in film studies at the University of Montpellier 3.

*FRAGMENTS OF KUBELKA* DVD COVER. SOURCE: EDITION FILMMUSEUM, GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 9th — Anthology Film Archives

On January 9th, at 8:45pm, five short films by Peter Kubelka — MOSAIC IN CONFIDENCE / MOSAIK IM VERTRAUEN (1955), ADEBAR (1957), SCHWECHATER (1958), ARNULF RAINER (1960), and OUR TRIP TO AFRICA / UNSERE AFRIKAREISE (1966) — screened on 16mm at Anthology Film Archives. GME distributes Martina Kudláček’s 2012 documentary about Kubelka, FRAGMENTS OF KUBELKA, on DVD and as a DSL/DVD bundle, in conjunction with Edition Filmmuseum.

January 10th — GME

On January 10th, GME highlighted five lesser-known, early films by Alfred Hitchcock that we distribute as Digital Site Licenses (DSLs): THE RING (1927), THE FARMER’S WIFE (1928), CHAMPAGNE (1928), THE MANXMAN (1929), and THE SKIN GAME (1931). Made in Hitchcock’s native England prior to his relocation to Hollywood in the early 1940s, these features find the director working in various genres outside of the thriller territory that eventually earned him the moniker “The Master of Suspense.” (These films are also distributed by GME in the Kino Lorber collection HITCHCOCK: BRITISH INTERNATIONAL PICTURES COLLECTION, which is available as a Blu-Ray or DVD).

STILL: MIKE KUCHAR’S *SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS* (1966). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 10th — Anthology Film Archives

On January 10th, at 6:30pm, Anthology Film Archives screened George and Mike Kuchar’s short films PUSSY ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1961) and TOOTSIES IN AUTUMN (1963), as well as their 1963 feature LUST FOR ECSTASY: A DRAMA OF OBSESSIONS IN THE LANGUAGE OF SENSATIONALISM, on 16mm, as part of their Essential Cinema series. GME distributes Mike Kuchar’s SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS on DVD to the North American university market, in conjunction with Re:Voir Video. Included as bonus features are Kuchar’s films THE SECRET OF WENDEL SAMSON (1966) and THE CRAVEN SLUCK (1967). GME also distributes the films of Marie Losier, who was directly inspired by the Kuchar brothers’ films.

*CINÉMA DADA* DVD COVER. SOURCE: RE:VOIR VIDEO, GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 11th — Anthology Film Archives

On January 11th, at 8:00pm, Anthology Film Archives screened Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy BALLET MÉCANIQUE (1924), René Clair and Francis Picabia’s ENTR’ACTE (1924), Man Ray’s LE RETOUR À LA RAISON (1923), ÉTOILE DE MER (1927), and EMAK-BAKIA (1927), and Ray and Marcel Duchamp’s ANÉMIC CINÉMA (1926) as part of their Essential Cinema series. GME distributes BALLET MÉCANIQUE, ENTR’ACTE, LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, and EMAK-BAKIA on the Re:Voir Video DVD collection CINÉMA DADA, which was published to coincide with the Centre Pompidou’s major Dada exhibition in 2006. GME also distributes BALLET MÉCANIQUE and ANÉMIC CINÉMA in the Flicker Alley Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack MASTERWORKS OF AMERICAN AVANT-GARDE EXPERIMENTAL FILM 1920—1970. Furthermore, GME distributes Clair’s 1927 feature THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT (UN CHAPEAU DE PAILLE D’ITALIE) on DVD with Flicker Alley, which includes the filmmaker’s 1928 short EIFFEL TOWER (LA TOUR) as a bonus feature.

STILLS FROM JONAS MEKAS’ *WALDEN* (1968). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 12th — Anthology Film Archives

On January 12th, at 6:30pm, Anthology Film Archives screened Jonas Mekas’ seminal diary film WALDEN (1968) on 16mm, as part of their Essential Cinema series. GME distributes WALDEN to universities in North America as a Digital Site License (DSL). WALDEN is also available from GME in the Re:Voir Video DVD collection JONAS MEKAS: THE MAJOR WORKS.

January 15th — GME

GME's New Photo Licensing Reel, released on January 15th, comprises a vast array of photographs taken by Raimondo Borea (1926—1982) and Hugh Bell (1927—2012), whose collections are represented by Gartenberg Media Enterprises for licensing, exhibition, and placement.

January 15th — Anthology Film Archives

On January 15th, at 6:15pm, Anthology Film Archives screened Jonas Mekas’ documentary REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNEY TO LITHUANIA (1972) on 35mm, as part of their Essential Cinema series. GME distributes this film to universities in North America as a Digital Site License (DSL). REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNEY TO LITHUANIA is also available from GME in the Re:Voir Video DVD collection JONAS MEKAS: THE MAJOR WORKS.

Later, at 8:30pm, Anthology screened the first of three programs of films by early cinematic pioneer Georges Méliès. The second and third Méliès programs screened on the 18th and 19th respectively. GME distributes hundreds of films by Méliès to universities in North America, across numerous Blu-Ray and DVD publications. Currently available from GME are the Flicker Alley collections GEORGES MÉLIÈS: FIRST WIZARD OF CINEMA (1896-1913) (DVD only), GEORGES MÉLIÈS: ENCORE — NEW DISCOVERIES (1896-1911) (DVD only), GEORGES MÉLIÈS: A TRIP TO THE MOON & THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE (Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack), and MÉLIÈS: FAIRY TALES IN COLOR (Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack). A previously unseen “trick film” by Méliès is also distributed by GME in the DVD collection SAVED FROM THE FLAMES, which features over 50 rare and restored films from the nitrate era.

STILL: WARREN SONBERT’S *HALL OF MIRRORS* (1966). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

January 18th — New Music Circle

On Saturday, January 18th, Missouri’s New Music Circle screened Warren Sonbert’s HALL OF MIRRORS (1966) in a program of experimental films that were made in the first decade of the organization’s existence (1959—1969). GME is the custodian of Sonbert’s legacy, and since his passing has worked on an extensive project to preserve, distribute, and curate career retrospectives of his films on an international basis, as well as publish original documents from the paper archive of his writings. HALL OF MIRRORS is an outgrowth of one of Sonbert’s film classes at NYU taught by Carl Lerner, the editor of such Hollywood features as 12 ANGRY MEN (1957) and REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962). Sonbert was provided with outtakes from a Hollywood film photographed by Hal Mohr to re-edit into a narrative sequence, alongside his own footage of Warhol superstars Rene Ricard and Gerard Malanga.

MARIA TALLCHIEF IN *FIREBIRD*, 1963. © THE ESTATE OF JACK MITCHELL.

January 24th — GME

Maria Tallchief, America's first prima ballerina who, with choreographer George Balanchine, was credited with revolutionizing American ballet, would have been 100 years old on January 24th. This month, the New York City Ballet celebrates Tallchief's centennial with a program featuring some of her most celebrated roles, including FIREBIRD, which brought her international stardom. GME commemorated Tallchief's centennial with indelible photographs taken by Jack Mitchell of Tallchief's role in FIREBIRD, which capture the artist's poise, prowess, and star power in her signature role.

January 31st — Lincoln Center

On January 31st, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division presented its 2025 Dance Symposium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. This year's Symposium offered a day-long exploration of Mikhail Baryshnikov and his legacy, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his arrival to the United States. GME paid tribute to Baryshnikov with a suite of photographs taken by Jack Mitchell, which capture Baryshnikov dancing with Paul Taylor before performing with his dance company in October 1994.

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January 2025 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues