Feminist Film Dialogues
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues is a curated series 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.
Inspired by and named after the scientific phenomenon in which the gravitational pull of celestial bodies clustered together causes a curvature of spacetime strong enough to magnify distant objects, Gravitational Lensing aims to highlight and amplify the work of women, non-binary, genderqueer and trans filmmakers by the sheer magnitude of their collective creative energy when gathered together in common dialogue.
The series will be presented over the course of 12-18 months with each program organized around a specific theme, pairing films selected from our open call with other filmmakers whose work engages with similar subjects, ideas or techniques. Films in the series will touch on everything from the intersections of gender and mythology to colonial histories and everything in between.
In addition to film programs we will be offering a series of hands-on workshops led by experienced feminist filmmakers and educators addressing different aspects of personal filmmaking, including material cinema, documentary filmmaking and more. These workshops are designed for all levels of experience and are open to all.
Read the article The Fourth Wave is a Lens (which includes an interview with Amy & Kathleen) by Jadie Stillwell published in Screenslate SF, June 3, 2024.
Support for Gravitational Lensing is provided by Southern Exposure's Alternative Exposure Grant Program.
Film Programs
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 6 - Reproductive Health & Justice
Friday, December 13, 2024
7pm
Admission: $18 (discount for members)
This program explores the topics of reproductive health and justice through the work of filmmakers grappling with the relationships between gender, reproduction and societal expectations. These films consider the economic, personal and political factors around menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and the freedom to choose.
Program 6 - Reproductive Health & Justice includes Hemorrhage (2023, DV) by Ruth Hayes, Menorrhagia (2023, 16mm film shown on DV) by Claire Maske, Cycles (1989, 16mm film shown on DV) by Zeinabu Irene Davis, Reversal (2023, DV) by Diane Nerwen, Other Reckless Things (1984, 16mm film shown on DV) by Janis Crystal Lipzin, Self-Health (1977, 16mm film shown on DV) by SF Women's Health Collective, The Gallery That Destroys All Shame (2021, DV) by Aurora Brachman & Jessie Zinn, Light On a Path, Follow (2020, DV) by Elliot Montague, and Sing, O Barren Woman (2001, SV shown on DV) by Susan Mogul.
This screening is part of the Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues weekend-long focus on Reproductive Health & Justice which also includes the Urgent Action Video Making Workshop on Saturday, 12/14 and Films from the Abortion Clinic Film Collective: Documenting Reproductive Justice on Sunday, 12/15.
Promotional Image from Reversal by Diane Nerwen.
Download Program Notes for GL 6: Reproductive Health & Justice
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 5 - Process & Transformation
Friday, November 22, 2024
7pm
Admission: $18 (discount for members)
Ontological studies of transition and transfiguration through physical, emotional and spiritual interactions, symbolism and cultural standards of beauty and power.
Program 5 - Process & Transformation includes Element (1973, 16mm) by Amy Greenfield, Makeover Movie (2022, DV) by Sue Ding, Three Peonies (2017, 16mm shown on DV) by Stephanie Barber, Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman (1978/9, SV shown on DV) by Dara Birnbaum, Moon Cycle (2023, 16mm shown on DV) by Justine Tamiko Lai, To the Earthen Red (2022, DV) by Nika Pecarina, Well Dressed (2006, Super-8 shown on DV) by Elliot Montague, Siboney (2014, DV) by Joiri Minaya and Boi Oh Boi (2012, DV) by Theo Jean Cuthand.
Promotional Image from Moon Cycle by Justine Tamiko Lai.
Download Program Notes for GL 5: Process & Transformation
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 4 - Metaphysics & Magic
Friday, October 25, 2024
7pm
Using both poetic and critical lenses, the films in this program examine the different ways we use symbolism, ritual and mythology as tools for engaging with the unknown in the attempt to understand the mysteries that surround us.
Program 4: Metaphysics & Magic includes: Pwdre Ser the rot of stars (2018, 16mm shown on DV) by Charlotte Pryce, Them Oracles (2012, 16mm film) by Alee Peoples, Onikuma (2016, DV) by Alessia Lupo Cecchet, Flor Serpiente (2014, 16mm film) by Rosario Sotelo, Emmett Street: A Video Poem (2021, Super-8 shown on DV) by Krista Leigh Steinke, Somewhere Between Right and Wrong There is a Garden (2023, DV) by Yin-Ju Chen, Tectum Argenti (2022, 16mm film shown on DV) by Joanna Byrne, EPOS (Chapter 5) (2022, DV) by Lovage Sharrock, Moon Moth Bed (2023, DV) by Virginia L. Montgomery, Golden Dragon Temple (2013, DV) by Lingyun Zheng, Cycladic Thermometer (2023, 16mm film shown on DV) by Kate Dollenmayer, Smudge Series: Indabaabasaan, Soda Lake and Boozhoo Jiibayag (2013, 16mm film) by Eve-Lauryn LaFountain, ...These Blazeing Starrs! by Deborah Stratman (2011, 16mm film) and Second Sun by Leslie Supnet (2014, Super-8 shown on DV).
Download Program Notes for GL 4: Metaphysics & Magic
Promotional Image from Tectum Argenti by Joanna Byrne
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 3: Self-Constructions
Friday, October 4, 2024
7pm
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.
Download Program Notes for GL 3: Self-Constructions
Promotional Image from JOY by Julieta Tetelbaum
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 2: Self as Social Construct
Saturday, July 20, 2024
7pm
The second program, Self as Social Construct, features films that explore the myriad ways that identity is constructed, both overtly and indirectly, by the network of forces that act upon us, and how these manifest in the presentation of ourselves as social beings moving through a complex world.
Program 2: Self as Social Construct includes: Women by Connie Beeson (1974, 16mm to DV), Forward Fast by Lorraine Sovern (2022, DV), Mirror, Mirror by Jan Krawitz (1990, 16mm to DV), Beauties by Lisa Marr (2017, DV), Matchbox by Jennifer Cabral (2023, DV), Free, White and 21 by Howardena Pindell (1980, SV to DV), Reinventing the Wheel by Elena Knox (2014, DV), Softer by Ayanna Dozier (2020, 16mm to DV), Picturing Oriental Girls: A (Re) Educational Videotape by Valerie Soe (1992, SV to DV), Fragile by Sasha Waters (2022, 16mm film to DV), Flower Eater by Heather Brown (2023, 16mm to DV), Trans by Sophie Constantinou (1994, 16mm film to DV), and Venus in Ferns by Laura Conway (2023, 16mm film to DV)
Download Program Notes for GL 2: Self As Social Construct
Promotional Image from Venus in Ferns by Laura Conway
Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues
Program 1: Body as Film, Film as Body
Saturday, June 8, 2024
7pm
The first program of the series, Body as Film/Film as Body, will feature films that explore the connections between media and the human form. Tactile and visceral, these works push and expand the possibilities of working with celluloid and digital media to create both meaning and artifact, finding parallels between the moving image and feminist subjectivity.
Program 1: Body as Film/Film as Body includes: China Girls (2006, 16mm to DV) by Michelle Silva, DKK (2020, 16mm to DV) by Deborah Garfinkle, Je Ne Sais Plus (2012, 16mm to DV) by Kristin Reeves, Close the Lid Gently (2013, DV) by Ariana Gerstein, Cosmetic Emergency (2005, 35mm to DV) by Martha Colburn, Wayward Emulsions (2018, 16mm to DV) by TT Takemoto, Flesh to Spirit (2019, DV) by Alima Lee, Sanctus (1990, 16mm) by Barbara Hammer, Riverbody (1970, 16mm) by Alice Anne Parker, Lumen (2019, S8 to DV) by Sarah Seené, Loretta (2003, 16mm) by Jeanne Liotta, Traces On My Body (2023, 16mm to DV) by Yue Hua, tape erotics comma sexy tender (2023, DV) by sailor dinucci-radley, On the Other Side of (2024, DV) by Mia Felic, True Story of Edges: Chapter 2 (2022, DV) by Jessica Wimbley and Light Work Mood Disorder (double projection 16mm film + sound) by Jennifer Reeves.
Download Program Notes for GL 1: Body as Film/Film as Body
Promotional image from On the Other Side of by Mia Felic
Gravitational Lensing - Prequel Screening & Fundraiser
Sunday, March 3, 2024
6-9pm
Admission: $10-100 sliding scale
March is Women's History month! And we are kicking off this month's programming with a stellar screening of films made over the past 50 years that speak to a spectrum of women's issues including mother-child relationships, mental health and self-determination.
This very special screening will include the films Schmeerguntz (1965) by Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley, Anything You Want to Be (1971) by Liane Brandon, Women and Children at Large (1973) by Freude, Killing Time (1979) by Fronza Woods, Artificial Paradise (1986) by Chick Strand, Chronicles of a Lying Spirit by Kelly Gabron (1992) by Cauleen Smith, Noa, Noa (2006) by Lynne Sachs, Our Voices in Reverse (2013) by Nadia Shihab, The Way Light Keeps its Shadow (working title/WIP) by Vanessa Woods and Edge of Alchemy (2017) by Stacey Steers.
We will also have a raffle for prizes including DVDs, rare books, handmade art and more! All proceeds from the event will go towards supporting the forthcoming series Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues, that we will be launching at Shapeshifters beginning in April.
Many thanks to the filmmakers and to Canyon Cinema, Pacific Film Archive and Women Make Movies for loaning films for this event! Thank you also to Kathy Geritz, Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, Steve Anker, Steve Polta, Lydia Greer, Lisa Mezzacappa and Patricia Ledesema Villon for their generous donations of items for raffle.
MAKE A DONATION: If you are unable to attend this screening but would like to donate to support the Gravitational Lensing series, you can do so on our donation page. Any and all amounts are greatly appreciated!
promotional image still from Our Voices in Reverse by Nadia Shihab
Workshops
Urgent Action Video Making Workshop
Instructors: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, Doan Hoàng Curtis, and Lindsay Opoku-Acheampong
Saturday, December 14, 2024
1-4pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: FREE - RSVP here
Join the Abortion Clinic Film Collective in creating quick, urgent video responses to the election and other pressing global issues in our current political climate. Inspired by the Collective's films made after the overturning of Roe v Wade, ACFC members will lead participants through using video to harness strong and impassioned reactions into political and artistic statements, all culminating in a unique, short, collaborative film. Connect, reflect, and move forward at this pivotal moment together!
This workshop is part of the Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues weekend-long focus on Reproductive Health & Justice which also includes Gravitational Lensing, Program #6: Reproductive Health & Justice on Friday, 12/13 and Films from the Abortion Clinic Film Collective: Documenting Reproductive Justice on Sunday, 12/15.
Body as Film/Film as Body - Material Cinema Workshop
Instructor: Ellie Vanderlip
Sunday, June 9, 2024
12-5pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $60 ($30 for students)
Engage with film in its most tactile form in this special themed Material Cinema workshop, led by filmmaker and educator Ellie Vanderlip and presented in congruence with the program "Body as Film/Film as Body" as part of Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues. We will look at some of the ways artists have used film as an extension of the human form, equating the tactility of the film strip and pliability of the emulsion with that of the human body. We will then dive into the physical manipulation and re-interpretation of a special selection of body-themed celluloid via painting, scratching, boiling, hole-punching, stickering, stamping, and bleaching. Attendees will complete a minimum of one 16mm film loop to take home. All supplies will be provided. Everyone is welcome.
About the Curators
Amy Reid is a filmmaker whose work examines the intersections between gender, national identities, and labor. By exploring observational approaches and expanding upon formal cinematic notions of time, structure, and narrative, Reid’s work questions how labor is constructed in the filmic form as seen in their film Long Haulers, a 16mm and video experimental feature documentary on female truckers. They have participated in selected screenings nationally and internationally including Los Angeles Filmforum, I See Video Film Festival, Shanghai, and the Workers United Film Festival in New York. Reid received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union before graduating with an MFA in Visual Arts from UC San Diego and is now a PhD Candidate at UC Santa Cruz in Film and Digital Media. Residencies include the Whitney Independent Study Program, Snug Harbor Artist Residency, and Seniors Partnering with the Arts Citywide Queens. http://amyreidart.com/
Kathleen Quillian is the Director of Programming at Shapeshifters Cinema, an experimental microcinema in Oakland she helped to co-found in 2012. Prior to that, she spent a decade working as a volunteer staff member and board member with Artists’ Television Access and San Francisco Cinematheque, respectively. She is also an artist who works primarily with found imagery, collage and stop-motion animation to explore collective and individual ways humans engage with the unknown. She has exhibited in venues and festivals internationally including International Film Festival Rotterdam, San Francisco International Film Festival, Antimatter Film Festival, Animasivo, REDCAT, the Exploratorium and Pacific Film Archive, among others. http://www.kathleenquillian.com/
All programming decisions for the series are made with the input and support of an international Advisory Board of seasoned feminist filmmakers and educators.
Advisory Board
Erina C Alejo
Bill Basquin
Miriam Campos-Quinn
Adrianne Finelli
Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
Irene Lusztig
Rocio Olivares
Elena Pardo
Rosario Sotelo
Anjali Sundaram
Ellie Vanderlip
Patricia Ledesma Villon
Leila Weefur
Keep In Touch
YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Shapeshifters Cinema | 567 5th Street, Oakland, CA 94607