July 2024 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues

July 2024 Roundup Related to GME Titles, Artists, and Colleagues

It may be the dog days of summer, but that hasn’t stopped GME from keeping busy. Today, we reflect on screenings, events, and celebrations from July related to our multifaceted projects. Notably, an archival gem relevant to MoMA’s month-long Powell and Pressburger retrospective was unearthed from GME President Jon Gartenberg’s papers, and a true crime film by James Benning (whose films we exclusively distribute to North American universities) screened at Anthology Film Archives.

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GME Unearths Jon Gartenberg's 1990 Article on Michael Powell's PEEPING TOM, Now Screening at MoMA

GME Unearths Jon Gartenberg's 1990 Article on Michael Powell's PEEPING TOM, Now Screening at MoMA

On Wednesday, July 10th at 7pm, and Sunday, July 28th at 4pm, Michael Powell’s classic 1960 thriller PEEPING TOM will screen at The Museum of Modern Art as part of their month-long retrospective Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell and Pressburger. On the occasion of this celebration of Powell and Pressburger’s collaborations (and of Powell’s PEEPING TOM specifically — a controversial solo effort that horrified British audiences and film censors), GME has unearthed an archival gem from Jon Gartenberg’s papers pertaining to Powell’s still-shocking thriller. For the Spring 1990 issue of MoMA’s Members Quarterly, Gartenberg wrote an article that explores the psychological and voyeuristic capacities of the cinematic and photographic mediums as conveyed in both Powell’s PEEPING TOM and Alfred Hitchcock’s beloved 1954 thriller REAR WINDOW.

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In Celebration of Black History Month, GME Highlights Photographer Hugh Bell and The Kamoinge Workshop

In Celebration of Black History Month, GME Highlights Photographer Hugh Bell and The Kamoinge Workshop

In 1955, Edward Steichen, then Director of the Photography Department at MoMA, mounted an exhibition of images from around the world as a “manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind.” That exhibition, titled The Family of Man, quickly became a 20th century cultural phenomenon and was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World register in recognition of its historical value. “Hot Jazz” (pictured here) by Black photographer Hugh Bell (1927—2012) was selected for this ambitious exhibit. This Black History Month, GME highlights Bell’s impressive body of work (namely his suite of images of Jazz Greats from the 1950s) and his influence on the Kamoinge Workshop.

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Light Cone Presents the Third Edition of "Scratch Collection" Film Festival

Light Cone Presents the Third Edition of "Scratch Collection" Film Festival

Beginning on October 3rd of this year, Light Cone presented the third edition of their film festival Scratch Collection. GME has a long-standing relationship with Light Cone. While working as a film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, Jon Gartenberg sat in on screenings when the company was being formed in 1982 in Yann Beauvais and Miles McKane’s apartment. Later, Gartenberg acquired films of Beauvais’ for MoMA’s permanent collection. We are currently working with Emmanuel Lefrant, the director of Light Cone, to distribute the international touring program of films by Warren Sonbert.

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April Roundup of Screenings Related to GME's DSL, DVD, & Blu-ray Offerings

April Roundup of Screenings Related to GME's DSL, DVD, & Blu-ray Offerings

This past month saw the work of several filmmakers distributed by GME programmed in venues in the U.S. and abroad. It is a reminder of both the durability of these artists and their works and the ongoing interest in the kinds of notable independent and experimental moving image work that GME strives to provide to our buyers.

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Amy Taubin Guest Curates Carte Blanche Series at MoMA

Amy Taubin Guest Curates Carte Blanche Series at MoMA

Noted film critic Amy Taubin has accepted an invitation by The Museum of Modern Art to delve into their archives to conjure a thrilling, thrumming vision of New York City, the place she has called home her entire life.

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Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 ALPHAVILLE Screens at MoMA

Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 ALPHAVILLE Screens at MoMA

In typical Godardian fashion, ALPHAVILLE is a science fiction film, shot entirely on location, which uses no special frills to create a futuristic, truly alien ambience. Classical Parisian architecture mingles with Modernist high-rise buildings, and characters refer both to an imaginary future and to real current events. ALPHAVILLE is as slick, stylish, and improvisational as its New Wave siblings, but it is more concerned with big concepts like history, authoritarianism, and individual freedom than it is with interpersonal relationships.

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MoMA Presents a Complete Retrospective of the Films of Warren Sonbert in 16mm May 11-19

MoMA Presents a Complete Retrospective of the Films of Warren Sonbert in 16mm May 11-19

The Museum of Modern Art presents The Experimental Narratives of Warren Sonbert, organized by Ron Magliozzi, Curator, Department of Film, and Guest Curator GME President Jon Gartenberg. In a career that spanned the American experimental film world from New York City to San Francisco, filmmaker Warren Sonbert (1947–1995) was driven by the belief that “independent film…is the only avenue for those who want to take risks and satisfy their own self-imposed demands.”

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