64.2

CONTENTS

Drake Stutesman
Editorial

Ascension Serrano
Preface: Warren’s Horoscope

Stills from Warren Sonbert’s Films, 1966–1973

DOSSIER
Perspectives on Warren Sonbert’s Early Films (1966–1973): From Micro-Narratives Toward Polyvalent Montage
Guest Editor: Jon Gartenberg

Introduction

Sonbert’s Cinematic Development: Early Films

Commentary about Warren Sonbert’s Early Films

Amphetamine

Where Did Our Love Go?

Hall of Mirrors

The Tenth Legion

The Bad and the Beautiful

The Lost Twin-Screen Films: Connection and Ted and Jessica

The Missing Soundtrack Films: Truth Serum and Holiday

Career Retrospective at Age 20

The Evolution of Carriage Trade

Tuxedo Theatre

Footage from 1967-1970

Carriage Trade (1971, 75 min. version)

Carriage Trade (1973, 61 min. version)

DOSSIER
Selections from Warren Sonbert’s Paper Archive: Reproductions of Newspaper Articles, Program Notes, Advertisements, and Other Ephemera

Filmography—Warren Sonbert

EDITORIAL

Love & Joy,
Warren

This issue of Framework, 64–2, is the second Framework to be devoted to the work of filmmaker Warren Sonbert. The quotation above, “Love & Joy, Warren,” is how Sonbert signed his letter to Jonas Mekas in 1967 (transcript of the letter is in one of the 64–2 dossiers). These words are very much Sonbert. Joy is a strong presence in his films—a joy of life, and a joy in capturing who people are, and a joy in the fluidity in life and the fluidity and capacity of filmmaking. Framework 64–2 is guest edited by Jon Gartenberg, Sonbert’s professional collegue, friend, and the executor of his archives. The first, Framework 56–1, published in 2015, also edited by Gartenberg, was a collation of Sonbert’s own writing and the first collection of his written work. Framework 64–2 is focused on how others wrote about his work at the time of his early films, made from 1966–1973, the eleven films Sonbert made between Amphetamine (1966) and Carriage Trade (1973). From the appearance of his first film, viewers were so astonished by his work that Sonbert had a retrospective of his films in New York when he was only 20. The reviews and comments collated here are collected in the dossier “Perspectives on Warren Sonbert’s Early Films (1966–1973): From Micro-Narratives Toward Polyvalent Montage,” and each section has commentary by Gartenberg. Issue 64–2 is an unprecedented compilation of these perspectives, and it includes rare materials, including his horoscope chart, taken from archives and Sonbert’s personal papers, as well as new information such as, as Gartenberg shows, that Carriage Trade (1973) had more than one incarnation. The issue ends with Carriage Trade, which many, including Sonbert, view as a turning point and a place where Sonbert turned his work in a different direction. Framework is honored to be part of these publications and to contribute to Sonbert’s legacy.

—Drake Stutesman