SHAPESHIFTERS CINEMA is an experimental microcinema located in Oakland, CA. We provide 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 regular, live events, offer workshops on experimental moving image and sound production and operate a storefront shop specializing in print publications, DVDs, sound recordings and other artist-made media.
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 M-F, 6am-2pm and the first Saturday of every month, 11am-3pm. Find out more at shapeshifterscafe.com
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!
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.
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.
Do-Over Music Series - Kumi Maxon & Matais Arizmendi + Improvised Music & Film
Every First Thursday
7-9pm
Next program: Thursday, October 3, 2024
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): Kumi Maxon & Matais Arizmendi (bass and guitar duo)
Set 2 (8pm): Improvised music & film:
Kumi Maxon, Matais Arizmendi, Jordan Glenn, Karl Evangelista and Ben Goldberg improvise to fun films + quirky found footage excavated from the Shapeshifters 16mm film collection.
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 3: Self-Constructions
Friday, October 4, 2024
7pm
Admission: $18 (discount for members)
Pushing against dominant representations, the films in this program explore ways that the concept of self is constructed by internal desires and motivations. Playful, subversive, and intimate, these works invite viewers along to share in the struggles and complexities of both forming and representing oneself on one's own terms.
Program 3: Self-Constructions includes: Back Inside Herself (1983, 16mm film shown on DV) by S. Pearl Sharp, 5 Things For Sure (2020, DV) by Sydney Canty, JOY (2023, DV) by Julieta Tetelbaum, Mi Coro (2022, DV) by Moréna Espiritual, Chronicles of a Lying Spirit by Kelly Gabron by Cauleen Smith (1992, 16mm film), Girl Power (1992, Pixelvision shown on DV) by Sadie Benning, leafmold (2023, DV) by Benja Thompson, Shapeshifter with a Heavenly Secret (2021, VHS/Beta shown on DV) by Denisse Griselda Reyes, and Linda/Les and Annie (1989, SV shown in DV, file provided by PinkLabel.TV) by Annie Sprinkle, Johnny Armstrong and Albert Jaccoma.
Learn more about the Gravitational Lensing series.
Promotional Image from "JOY" by Julieta Tetelbaum
Uncanny Cabaret: Variety Show & Fundraiser
Sunday, October 6, 2024
5-7pm
Admission: $25 (proceeds to benefit Driveway Follies)
Come one, come all to revel in frights and delights at the Uncanny Cabaret — a special variety show and fundraiser for our friends at Driveway Follies, the long-running and beloved Oakland Halloween puppet show tradition.
This family-friendly event will include puppets of all shapes, sizes and dimensions + films, live music and more by Lisa Van Wambeck, Fred C. Riley III, Lydia Greer, Cindy Webster, David Wallace, Leonora Taylor-Wallace and Jacqui June Whitlock + Halloween-adjacent 16mm films from the collection of Zach Von Joo.
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 for all events are available on-line pre-show as well as at the door (unless otherwise noted). Information and links are posted under each program event listing. Please note: we only honor tickets purchased directly from Shapeshifters.
Find out more about our venue.
We are working on scheduling more great workshops for you. Sign up on our mailing list and be the first to know about them!
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!
The Shapeshifters shop features an eclectic range of DVDs, books, CDs and other artist-made items. Browse the selection here
Jennifer Reeves, September 29, 2024 at Shapeshifters Cinema
Workshop with Phil Hoffman & Deirdre Logue, September 22, 2024 at Shapeshifters Cinema
The Beth Schenck Quintet, August 1, 2024 at Shapeshifters Cinema
Suki O'Kane, August 16 2020 at Shapeshifters Cinema
John Davis, September 20, 2020 at Shapeshifters Cinema
Killer Banshee, September 13, 2020 at Shapeshifters Cinema
Elena Pardo, December 6, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema
Lynne Sachs, November 10, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema
Minoosh Zomorodinia, October 13, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema
Jeremy Rourke, September 20, 2019 at Shapeshifters Cinema
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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