Shapeshifters
Cinema

About Us

Shapeshifters Cinema is a 40-seat experimental microcinema housed in a beautiful, one-story Victorian located on the historic Bret Harte Boardwalk in Oakland’s Jack London District.

Shapeshifters started in 2012 as a monthly, volunteer-run series focused on expanded cinema. In the fall of 2018 we signed the lease on our own space with a vision of providing a broader range of experimental and expanded film, art and performance. We have been working on securing permits and finalizing plans to build out the space, which we anticipate to be fully operational by summer 2020. In the meantime, we continue to host our monthly expanded cinema series.

Membership

We are excited to launch the new Shapeshifters Cinema Membership Program! Once we are fully operational, our membership program will be a critical way for us to continue as a sustainable, creative, arts-focused venue in Oakland. If you signed up for a membership during our recent Indiegogo campaign, your membership privileges start immediately, but the timeline won't officially begin until we are open and fully operational. For anyone still interested in signing up to become a member, please contact us directly.

Cinema

Our intimate, 40-seat cinema is able to host a range of performances and events by contemporary artists working in film, video, sound, music, multimedia and performance. Along with screenings and performances, you will also find workshops, salons, artist talks and lectures. Our focus is primarily on experimental and artist-made.

Upcoming Programs & Events

We are currently closed until the shelter-in-place directive is lifted and we can return back to regular programming. In the meantime, you can find out about the current state and projected future of the organization here.