Warren Sonbert Collection

Filmmaker and critic Warren Sonbert (1947-1995) was a central figure of the American avant-garde for more than thirty years, known especially for his rhapsodic style of montage. Initially inspired by underground legends like Gregory Markopoulos and Andy Warhol as well as Hollywood auteurs such as Alfred Hitchcock and Douglas Sirk, Sonbert began making 16mm films as a student at New York University in 1966. Sonbert’s 1960s films use pop music and subtle formal structures to unpack codes of fashion, desire, and leisure underlying seemingly casual footage of friends and acquaintances. After relocating to San Francisco in the early 1970s, Sonbert reemerged with Carriage Trade, an intricately latticed montage of Bolex footage shot around the world. The film’s dazzling array of impressions and ideas, as well as its fragrant suggestions of narrative and spectacle, paved the way for a remarkably consistent output over the next 25 years. In the words of Jon Gartenberg, “Sonbert built upon his early experiments in camera movement, lighting, and framing to create brilliantly edited masterworks that encompass not only his New York milieu, but also the larger sphere of human activity. In these films he commented upon such contemporary issues as art and industry, news reportage and its effect on our lives, and the interrelationship between the creative arts. His late works culminated in symphonic montages (both silent and sound) that unite universal human gestures into singular works of moving image artistry.” Sonbert made 18 films during his career. His final work, Whiplash, remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1995 and was completed by Jeff Scher in accordance with Sonbert’s instructions.

Sonbert was also active as a film critic and theorist throughout his career, starting with early editorial work The New York Film Bulletin in the 1960s. Writing about music and opera for The Advocate and several San Francisco newspapers under the nom de plume Scottie Ferguson throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Sonbert articulated perceptions of performance and musicality that are central to his film work. An inveterate traveler, Sonbert’s opera itineraries in Europe and the United States furnished him with the exotic locations necessary for his films.