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

we love our members

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!


Address

567 5th Street
Oakland, CA 94607

Shapeshifters Cinema sits on the historic territory of Huichin, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo Muwekma Ohlone, successors of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County.

Our building is wheelchair-accessible and has one wheelchair-accessible bathroom.

Hours

Our weekly Thursday Night Happy Hours have been paused indefinitely. We are currently only open when we have a scheduled event. See individual events listed below for all start times.

Doors open 30 minutes before showtime, unless otherwise noted.

Show Your Support


Shapeshifters is a volunteer-run organization. Every donation we receive goes towards supporting our on-going operational costs. Donations are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, San Francisco Cinematheque, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Cinema

Gravitational Lensing

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

Gut Instinct

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.

All ticket-holders will also receive a code to download a complementary copy of GUT INSTINCT: An Aural Purification Enhancement debuting July 8th on Bandcamp.



Fannie's Film by Fronza Woods

Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 9 - Labor
Presented in association with San Francisco Cinematheque
Friday, July 11, 2025
7pm
Admission: $15
(discount for members)

From the daily responsibilities of caring for one's children, to the uncredited tasks of (under) paid labor, the films in this program examine both the physical and psychological states of women at work.

Screening: A Movement Against the Transparency of the Stars (2023, DV) by Esy Casey, Maternity (2019, DV) by Nataliya Ilchuk, Hello, Whale (2023, DV) by Laura Ohio, Fake Fruit Factory (1986, 16mm) by Chick Strand, Fannie's Film (1979, 16mm shown on DV) by Fronza Wood and Fucked Like a Star (2018, DV) by Stefani Saintonge.

Promotional Image from Fannie's Film by Fronza Woods.

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



Melissa Dyne

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.




About Our Cinema

Our intimate, 40-seat cinema is able to host a range of presentations by contemporary artists working in film, video, sound, music, multimedia and performance. Our focus is primarily on experimental and artist-made.

Doors open 30 minutes before showtime, unless otherwise noted.

Tickets

Tickets for all events are available on-line pre-show as well as at the door (unless they sell out).

Because of our limited capacity, pre-show purchase of tickets is strongly recommended.

Information and links are posted under each program event listing. Please note: we only honor tickets purchased directly from Shapeshifters.

Venue Specs

Find out more about our venue.

Rentals

Our venue and equipment is available for private rentals. Find out more.

Archive

View Past Programs

Workshops

Magic Workshop

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.



Shotcut Editing Workshop

Film Editing Basics in Shotcot
Instructor: David Cox
Sunday, July 27, 2025
12-5pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $60
(Discount for Shapeshifters members)

Using freely-available content from the Internet, filmmaker David Cox will teach the basics of Shotcut, a free video editing tool that runs on Mac OS, Windows, or Linux. The workshop will cover continuity editing (standard narrative film cutting), montage editing (making montage sequences), and compositing skills, as well as match cuts, eyelines, cutting on action, and use of sound/dialog cutting to improve continuity. Students will need to bring their own laptop, and where possible external storage (2 or more gb).



name

Cel Jam
Instructor: Anna Firth
Sunday, August 3, 2025
12-5pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $75
(Discount for Shapeshifters members and students)

Try your hand at handmade animation in this all-levels workshop with Oakland-based experimental animator, Anna Firth. Part history lesson and part materials exploration, participants are invited to paint a simple scene, one transparent layer at a time, to contribute to a greater group vision. We will use a slightly DIY approach using supplies you can easily source from local craft stores so you can continue to paint cel beyond the workshop. All materials provided and any level of experience welcome! Feel free to bring any of your favorite materials (collage/drawing/photos/etc.) to customize your background art.




About Our Workshops

Our workshops emphasize a DIY approach to art-making. Each one is taught by a different guest artist who shares practical, hands-on lessons in a variety of media and creative practices using materials and resources you probably already have, or are otherwise easy to acquire. Learn something new or enhance your own established art practice. Everyone is welcome!

Archive

View Past Workshops


Jennifer Reeves

Jennifer Reeves, September 29, 2024 at Shapeshifters Cinema

Phil Hoffman workshop

Workshop with Phil Hoffman & Deirdre Logue, September 22, 2024 at Shapeshifters Cinema

Beth Schenck Quintet

The Beth Schenck Quintet, August 1, 2024 at Shapeshifters Cinema

Suki O'Kane 2020

Suki O'Kane, August 16 2020 at Shapeshifters Cinema

John Davis 2020

John Davis, September 20, 2020 at Shapeshifters Cinema

Killer Banshee 2020

Killer Banshee, September 13, 2020 at Shapeshifters Cinema

elena-pardo-2019-2048w

Elena Pardo, December 6, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema

lynne-sachs-2019-2048w

Lynne Sachs, November 10, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema

minoosh-zomorodinia-2019-2048w

Minoosh Zomorodinia, October 13, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema

jeremy-rourke-2019

Jeremy Rourke, September 20, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema



Connect

Announcements

Southern Exposure grant

Shapeshifters receives Jonathan Bernbaum/Alternative Exposure Award
In October 2024 Shapeshifters Cinema received the Jonathan Bernbaum Memorial Award from Southern Exposure's Alternative Exposure grant program to support the Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues series. The Jonathan Bernbaum Memorial Award honors the work and commitment of multi-media and video artist Jonathan Bernbaum, who tragically died in the 2016 Oakland Ghost Ship Fire at the age of 34, by supporting the work of Bay Area projects that focus on multi-media or performance work. See the full list of Alternative Exposure Round 18 grant recipients.

Alemeda County Arts Fund grant

Shapeshifters receives Alameda Count ARTSFund Grant
We are pleased to announce that Shapeshifters Cinema was one of 120 Alameda County nonprofit arts and cultural organizations to receive a 2024 ARTSFUND grant. The ARTSFUND grant provides general operating support to assist with the mission and ongoing programs of Alameda County nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. See the full list of 2024 grant recipients.

Nosh logo

Word is out! The Shapeshifters universe is expanding! In January 2023, we took over the cafe next door to our cinema and brewery. We've been slowly working on fixing it up since then to fold it into the Shapeshifters vision. In the meantime, the kitchen is in full swing! We've got all kinds of seasonal and freshly-made sandwiches and salads, locally-roasted coffee drinks, house-blended teas, pastries (made both in-house and by local phenom Firebrand Bakery) and breakfast items, including our very popular breakfast burrito. We are currently open Monday-Friday from 6am-2pm. Check out our full menu. All items are available for dine-in, take-out or delivery. You can also follow us on Instagram where we post weekly specials and other fun things @shapeshifterscafe.

KQED article

In the wake of SFMOMA's announcement to cut its historically-significant and beloved film program, KQED journalist Sarah Hotchkiss wrote a great article looking at how this affects the over-all ecology of the Bay Area film culture and the film programs and microcinemas (including Shapeshifters) that continue to cultivate it. Read the article here.

jlid logo

Jack London Improvement District awards funds to Shapeshifters for our merch expansion!
Due to restrictions brought on by the global pandemic and for the safety of our community, we shut down for over a year... but we did not stop! In addition to livestreaming artists' work and hosting artist-led workshops, we opened a retail shop online. We are expanding and building out a shop at our venue with the help of funds provided by the Jack London Improvement District (BID). The funds will go towards building a wall of shelves and stocking up on artists books, records, DVDS, CDs, unique works of art, and handmade goods. Check out the announcement and the full list of award winners.

city-of-oakland logo

Shapeshifters receives an Oakland CARES grant!
We are very grateful to have received a grant through the Oakland CARES Fund for Artists and Arts Non-Profits, made possible by the city of Oakland Economic & Workforce Development Department, Cultural Affairs Division and administered by Center for Cultural Innovation. These funds ensure that we can continue our (modified) operations during these challenging and uncertain times.

Thank you to all of our donors & funders
We rely on individual donations to support artists and operate our cinema. We are immensely grateful for their contributions. View the list of donors


Join the Mailing List



    


Keep In Touch

Instagram | Facebook

connect /-\ shapeshifterscinema.com