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| from Warren Sonbert's Friendly Witness (courtesy the Estate of Warren Sonbert) |
A "friendly witness," Warren Sonbert (1947-1995) holds a
unique place in American independent film. On one hand he shows the distinct
influence of Hitchcock and the Hollywood melodramas of Douglas Sirk, and on the
other he was a rigorous avant-gardist. Combining breathtaking photography
with some of cinema’s most complex montage editing, he created an exhilarating
body of work – compassionate meditations on global humanity that are
visually sumptuous and structurally brilliant. Sonbert's films have been the
subject of retrospectives at the Guggenheim Museum and other institutions, but
remain available only in 16mm prints and are too rarely screened.
Atlanta Celebrates Photography
and Film Love present three nights of films by this crucial figure of the
American avant-garde.
PROGRAM ONE
Eyedrum | Tuesday,
October 26, 2010 | 7:00 pm | free
Juxtaposing early and late works, program one explores the maturation of
Sonbert’s style as well as his masterful use of music. His early trilogy of
short films, set to exuberant rock and roll and documenting the seedy
glamour of the 60s New York art world, established Sonbert’s notoriety while he
was still a teenage film student at NYU. Twenty years later, Sonbert returned to
the music soundtrack in his masterpiece Friendly Witness – an intricate
and deeply moving mosaic of people and places around the globe.
FILMS:
Amphetamine (Warren Sonbert, 1966), 10 minutes co-directed with Wendy Appel
Hall of Mirrors (Warren Sonbert, 1966), 7 minutes
Where Did Our Love Go? (Warren Sonbert, 1966), 15 minutes
Friendly Witness (Warren Sonbert, 1989), 22 minutes
Postcards from Warren (Jeff Scher, 1998), 3 minutes
Warren (Jeff Scher, 1995), 3 minutes
Go to Program 2
Go to Program 3
Eyedrum
290 Martin Luther King Jr Dr Suite 8, Atlanta, GA, 30312
404.522.0655
www.eyedrum.org
WARREN SONBERT:
FRIENDLY WITNESS AND OTHER FILMS is a Film Love event, programmed and hosted by Andy Ditzler for Frequent
Small Meals. Film Love exists to provide access to great but rarely-screened
films, and to promote awareness of the rich history of experimental and
avant-garde film. Film Love was voted Best Film Series in Atlanta by the critics
of Creative Loafing in 2006, and was featured in Atlanta Magazine's Best of
Atlanta 2009.
Film Love home page
Frequent Small Meals home