Travel

In my introduction to this collected volume of Sonbert’s writings, I articulated how Sonbert developed a finely tuned system of producing and exhibiting his films. He linked the shooting of his movies to extensive trips abroad where he attended opera performances (as a critic), while simultaneously showing his films at various European cinematheques. The role travel played in Sonbert’s creative evolution cannot be overestimated. Reproduced here is the CV Sonbert compiled up until 1989¹ and a postcard he wrote to Jeff Scher, his former film student, colleague, and friend²: “Scored 28 film shows, 51 operas, 35 cities in 80 days.”

For further illustration of the capital impact that travel had on Sonbert’s own creative transition in his filmmaking practice—from loosely structured narratives following the young denizens of New York going about their daily activities to montage works that cut across time and space—the reader has to go no further than the film section of this dossier, which includes excerpts of a letter Sonbert wrote to Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler about his travels through the African desert.³