NY, NY: A Century of City Symphony Films, Curated by Jon Gartenberg at NYU Tisch

Michelson Theater, 721 Broadway, 6th Floor
Wednesday, October 28, 6:15 P.M.

Still from Empire II (Amos Poe, 2007)

DESCRIPTION:
 
Archivist and curator Jon Gartenberg (MA, Cinema Studies) provides an overview of the genre of City Symphony Films produced in New York City, extending from the period of early cinema at the dawn of the 20th century through to the digital works of the first decade of 21st Century, as seen through the lens of independent and experimental filmmakers.

This presentation is based on his article "NY NY: A Century of City Symphony Films” that was recently published in Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media.

PROGRAM:

Interiors, N.Y. Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905, G. W. Bitzer). 5 min.
Empire of Steel: A Story of a Supreme Achievement in Steel Construction (1931, Otis Elevator Co.). 6 min.
The City (1939, Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke). [Sequence: City Life]. 13 min.
New York: A Documentary Film (2001, Ric Burns). [Sequence: Introduction to Episode 7]. 3 min.
The D Train (2011, Jay Rosenblatt). 5 min.
N.Y., N.Y. (1957, Francis Thompson). 15 min.
Block Print (1976, George Griffin). 16 min.
Empire II (2007, Amos Poe),. [Sequence: Main Title Opening]. 5 min.
Native New Yorker (2005, Steve Bilich). 13 min.
NYC Weights and Measures (2006, Jem Cohen). 6 min.

TRT: 87 min.

This event is free and open to the public. Click here for the NYU Tisch Cinema Studies announcement for this event.

Jon Gartenberg With Nicola Mazzanti on First Night of Warren Sonbert at The L'Age d'Or Film Festival

Jon Gartenberg presenting with Nicola Mazzanti (director of the Royal Belgian Film Archive) on the first night of the Warren Sonbert retrospective as part of the L'Age d'Or Film Festival in Brussels. Below is also an image of Warren Sonbert's film WHIPLASH on the monitor of the festival theater's lobby.

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Jon Gartenberg & Nicola Mazzanti

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Shot of WHIPLASH on TV monitor.

Warren Sonbert Retrospective at the L'Age d'Or festival in Brussels October 4th to 9th, 2015

Gartenberg Media Enterprises is proud to announce the program lineup for the Warren Sonbert Retrospective taking place at the L'Age d'Or Film Festival in Brussels, Belgium from October 4th to 9th. Each program in this series will be introduced by Jon Gartenberg, a noted authority on Sonbert's oeuvre.

Warren Sonbert with his Bolex camera.

From the Festival Catalogue:

"Warren Sonbert was one of the most original and influential figures in American experimental cinema. He began making films in 1966 while studying at the University of New York. Sonbert himself has taught filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute, the Art Institute of Chicago and Bard College. He also wrote critical reviews on opera and film for San Francisco weeklies. His first films, in which he captured the spirit of his generation, were first inspired by academia, later by the figures of the Warhol scene.

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1967)

In the late 1960s, when Sonbert began to take his Bolex camera with him on travels, his cinematic strategy changes and he begins to weave his travel images together with sequences of previous films. It’s a period during which his work shows the filmmaker’s capacity to turn his first experiences into more accomplished works, using his characteristic ‘polyvalent cutting’, a technique where each sequence ‘can be combined with ambient sequences with, potentially, many dimensions.’ Sonbert drew on his early experiences on camera movement, light and design to create brilliantly cut masterpieces that not only zoom in on his New York environment but also, more generally, on the sphere of human activity. These are films in which he comments on art and industry, news reporting and its effects on our lives, or the interaction between artistic disciplines. His last works culminate in symphonic (silent or sound) arrangements that unite the universal gestures of Men into unique combinations. Over the course of his career, Sonbert made 18 films. Before his death in 1995, he worked on WHIPLASH. This last film was completed by filmmaker Jeff Scher, following Sonberts precise instructions."

WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO (1966)

HONOR AND OBEY (1988)

Copies of "Warren Sonbert: Selected Writings" (published by Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media and guest edited by Jon Gartenberg) will be available for sale at the festival. For more information on the special issue of Framwork click here.

For further inquiries about Warren Sonbert’s films, please see:
GME Programming & Curating: Warren Sonbert Retrospective

William Susman – Feature Blog Post on "NY, NY: A Century of City Symphony Films," by Jon Gartenberg

Thank you to acclaimed composer William Susman for his featured blog post on Jon Gartenberg's article "NY, NY: A Century of City Symphony Films," which was published in the Fall 2014 issue of Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media. William Susman composed music for the film "Native New Yorker," which is part of Jon Gartenberg's traveling exhibition "A Panorama of American Experimental Narratives in the New Millennium."

"Where Did Our Love Go? Films of Warren Sonbert" – Program at Media City in Toronto

"Where Did Our Love Go? Films of Warren Sonbert" program at Media City in Toronto, Ontario that played last week. Program was curated by Jeremy Rossen and the films were introduced by Carla Harryman, one of the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets with whom Sonbert interacted in his artistic practice.

A Retrospective Film Program Curated by Jon Gartenberg at the National Gallery of Art: "American Experiments in Narratives: 2000 – 2015"

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Sunday, May 10 – Saturday, June 13

Still from Our Nixon, courtesy Penny Lane

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
 
An eclectic look at independent artist-made cinema of this century, American Experiments in Narrative includes found footage works, hand-crafted animations, hybrids of fiction and documentary, as well as live-action movies that defy classic conventions. Thematically speaking, the program presents reflections on identity, community, family, political culture, and a variety of social issues. The artists represented are well versed in historic avant-garde technique but are also consciously engaged with the film industry canons — often subverting those traditions with novel storytelling strategies. While the majority of filmmakers may lack the sort of financial backing bestowed by Hollywood, this absence of monetary support actually allows greater freedom of expression. Jon Gartenberg, curator for the series, has worked extensively on the preservation, distribution, and programming of experimental cinema. He introduces the first program.

Click Here For Catalogue of Programs in this Series.

Gunvor Nelson's "DEPARTURES" screening at Cornell Cinema's "Cornell Alums Make Movies."

Gunvor Nelson’s MY NAME IS OONA and MOONS POOL will be screened in Cornell University’s Sage Chapel on Tuesday April 21 at 8pm, accompanied by the music of Powerdove. The artist’s films are distributed by Cornell Alum Jon Gartenberg’s company, GME.

http://cinema.cornell.edu/series_Spring2015/Cornell%20Alums%20Make%20Movies.html

"NY, NY: A Century Of City Symphony Films" by Jon Gartenberg – Framework Fall 2014 Issue

From the Fall 2014 issue of Framework – "NY, NY: A Century Of City Symphony Films" by Jon Gartenberg. This article, "…celebrates the ornate history of how the “city symphony” genre rendered New York from early twentieth-century actualitiés to late century avant-garde…" Available for purchase and through library access.

Jon Gartenberg Interviewed at The 8th Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival in Greece

Here is video of Jon Gartenberg being interviewed at the 8th Athens Avant-Garde film festival in Greece, where he curated a retrospective screening program entitled "A Panorama Of American Experimental Narratives In The New Millennium"

"Constructing American Experimental Narratives" – Round Table Discussion at The 8th Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival, Greece

Nov. 21st, 4pm. In conjunction with Jon Gartenberg's program "A Panorama Of American Experimental Narratives In The New Millennium" at the 8th Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival in Greece is a roundtable discussion "Constructing American Experimental Narratives" with filmmakers featured in the program, Abigail Child and Julie Talen along with Jon. Free admission.

http://8aagff.tainiothiki.gr/en/parallel-events/constructing-american-experimental-narratives/