Shapeshifters Cinema

About Us

SHAPESHIFTERS CINEMA provides a venue and support for contemporary artists working with experimental and artist-made film, video, sound, music and other types of mediated performance. We host screenings and performances by local and visiting artists in our intimate 40-seat theatre and offer workshops on a variety of experimental and DIY moving image and sound production. Our storefront shop specializes in print publications, DVDs, sound recordings and other kinds of media made by artists who have screened or performed in our venue.

SHAPESHIFTERS BREWERY makes a variety of small-batch, seasonal, hand-crafted beers, brewed on-site in a space right behind the cinema. These are served (to 21+) at all our events as well as some off-site events. Find out more at shapeshiftersbrewery.com

SHAPESHIFTERS CAFÉ, is right next door to our cinema! We offer freshly-made salads, sandwiches, coffee, tea, pastries and more. Open Monday-Friday 6am-2pm and every Saturday 10am-2pm. Find out more at shapeshifterscafe.com

Staff

Gilbert Guerrero - Operations Director & A/V Tech
Kathleen Quillian - Programming Director
Ellie Vanderlip - Education & Outreach Director

The Shapeshifters Membership program provides crucial, sustaining support for our small, DIY, volunteer-run organization. By joining the membership program, you become part of an engaged, diverse, creative community working in and around experimental moving image, sound and time-based art. Each level offers a range of access to members-only resources and events, discounts, comps and more. Find out more and join now!

Cinema

Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues is a series curated by Amy Reid and Kathleen Quillian that is dedicated to exploring the visions, voices, concerns and lineage of women, non-binary, genderqueer and trans filmmakers through public film screenings, workshops, conversations and presentations. New programs are presented monthly at Shapeshifters. Find out more.

Upcoming Programs & Events

Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 8.5 - In the Best Interests of the Children + Lesbian Custody (Frances Reid & Samuael Topiary in person)
Presented in association with San Francisco Cinematheque
Sunday, June 29, 2025
7pm
Admission: $15 (discount for members)

To round out our reflections on the topic of parenthood (Gravitational Lensing, Program 8), we are pleased to present this bonus program featuring the recently restored, groundbreaking feminist film In the Best Interests of the Children (1977) by Frances Reid, Elizabeth Stevens and Cathy Zheutlin along with a brand new essay film reflecting on the legacy of the 1977 documentary Lesbian Custody (2025) by Samuael Topiary and Molly Skonieczny

In the Best Interests of Children offers a rare and deeply humanizing portrait of lesbian motherhood in the 1970s. Directed by the Iris Films collective—Frances Reid, Elizabeth Stevens, and Cathy Zheutlin—this pioneering documentary follows eight diverse lesbian mothers and their children as they navigate the legal and emotional battles of custody in an era rife with homophobia and misogyny. Through candid interviews, family scenes, and group discussions, the film powerfully illuminates the strength and tenderness of queer families, while exposing the unjust psychological scrutiny and discrimination these women endured in their fight to be seen as fit parents. Featuring voices like writer-activist Margaret Sloan-Hunter, her daughter, and community leader Pat Norman, the film bridges the gaps between race, class, and sexuality to paint a multidimensional picture of love and resilience. Initially created to influence family court perceptions, the documentary soon found wider acclaim, screening at festivals worldwide and winning a Blue Ribbon at the 1978 American Film Festival. Now recognized as a landmark in queer cinema and LGBTQ+ civil rights history, the film continues to resonate, reminding us of the personal costs of justice—and the joy found in chosen families.

Lesbian Custody is a video essay about the personal and political context of the landmark lesbian documentary In the Best Interests of the Children. A nearly forgotten period of LGBTQ+ history, this documentary short introduces us to Frances Reid, a now-retired filmmaker and award-winning cinematographer and director, and her "step-daughter," Julie Stevens, as they browse through the film’s archives, discuss the making of the film, and share their relationship. Ultimately, the film raises awareness of this history, placing it in dialogue with the present-day political situation.

Promotional Image from In the Best Interests of the Children by Frances Reid, Elizabeth Stevens and Cathy Zheutlin.

Find out more about the Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues series.

Do-Over Music Series - Josh Berman & Friends Performance + Holiday Weekend BBQ
Thursday, July 3, 2025
5-7pm - BBQ on the back deck
7-9pm - music + film performance in the cinema
Admission: $10

The Do-Over Music Series at Shapeshifters Cinema, organized by Lisa Mezzacappa and Jordan Glenn, is a monthly series of sound performances presented by a rotating cast of local luminaries and special guests. The first set features performances of creative - improvised - composed - electronic - acoustic - music. The second set opens up to a live improvised collaboration of sound and visuals made using images culled from the Shapeshifters 16mm film collection.

Set 1 (7pm): Josh Berman & Friends

Josh Berman - trumpet
Larry Ochs - sax
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Jordan Glenn - drums

Set 2 (8pm): expanded cinema + improvised music with:

Josh Berman & Friends +
Motoko Honda - keys
Chris Cooper - electronics
Films, film loops and other visual interventions by the Shapeshifters Performance Group (Ellie, Kathleen & Gilbert)

Gut Instinct - a Film by Doug Dillaman + Live Music Performance by Kyle Bruckmann
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
7pm
Admission: $10-20, sliding scale (discount for members)

A post-apocalyptic found footage instructional film on acid, Gut Instinct blends plausible science fiction, outrageous science fact, black comedy and intense visual freakouts in service of a singular cinematic trip.

After alien microbes with a thirst for dopamine invaded our guts, bringing about the collapse of civilization and the death of 93% of humanity, life has been...less than ideal. But no longer! Interself's revolutionary Gut Instinct Audiovisual Purification Programme will free your mind - and your guts - forever!

Making its international premiere at Shapeshifters direct from New Zealand, this special interactive screening of Gut Instinct includes an introduction and post-screening Q&A with director Doug Dillaman, as well as a brief pre-show collection of shorts and an electronic music performance by Bay Area composer/performer, educator and New Music specialist Kyle Bruckmann whose music features prominently in the film.

Melissa Dyne: Neue Age Soundbath
Monday, July 14, 2025
7pm
Admission: $12 (discount for members)

Melissa Dyne is a composer, synthesist, and installation artist who lives and works in NYC. Often collaborating with science and industry, she works across genres and media creating compositions, performances, sound design, and installation works exploring the emotional and performative properties of sound and light. She is also one half of the experimental-electronic-pop band The Blow.

Melissa will be performing a healing sound bath of ambient electroacoustic compositions with soft poppy vibes from her forthcoming solo album Neue Age.

Workshops

A Few Good Magic Tricks
Instructor: Kirk Pearson
Thursday, July 10, 2025
7-9pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $25 (Discount for Shapeshifters members)

Magic is the oldest performing art in the world—which means we've had thousands of years for some terrible tricks to be invented. Magic has been hijacked by bad magicians doing bad magic, and frankly, it's time for a comeback. Because when a trick is good—really good—it can be transcendent. A Few Good Magic Tricks is a low-stakes workshop for anyone who wants to dabble in the dark arts of sleight-of-hand, misdirection, and charmingly-suspicious behavior. Instructor Kirk Pearson will share approachable tricks that are fun to learn, impressive to perform, and built on time-tested techniques and simple props. You will not only learn how the tricks work, but also why they work—plus the performance skills that turn a trick into a miniature miracle of theatrical mischief. This is magic for regular humans—artists, weirdos, introverts, extroverts, skeptics, believers, and the magic-curious. All genders, ages, and experience levels are welcome. No experience necessary. Props will be provided. Smirks encouraged. Top hats optional.