From the SFAA Board
This year marks the fifth anniversary of San Francisco Artists Alumni (SFAA) a vibrant and growing community of artists dedicated to sustaining the San Francisco Art Institute community Over the past five years, we’ve come together through exhibitions, talks, publications, and gatherings that honor our shared histories and support each other’s work across generations and geographies
We’re thrilled to present the second annual Studio 8 Film Festival, a weekend-long celebration of film and video by SFAI alumni, former faculty and staff This year’s program features a dynamic range of work from experimental shorts and lyrical animations to archival tributes and personal documentaries screened across three iconic Bay Area venues: Shapeshifters Cinema, the Roxie Theater, and SFMOMA
The program at Shapeshifters was curated by April September and Rye Purvis; the Open Call screening was juried by Deborah Fort, Toney Merritt, and Christopher Coppola; and the Lawrence Jordan Tribute at SFMOMA was organized by Marian Wallace.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the participating artists and filmmakers, the curators and jurors, and the generous staff and volunteers who brought this festival to life. Special thanks to our venue partners and to Kate Laster for this year’s striking poster design
Join us in celebrating five years of creative momentum and community through the lens of the SFAI community
With gratitude, SFAA Board of Directors
PROGRAM
Friday, September 19
7-9 PM
Opening Night Short Films
Curated by April September and Rye Purvis
Shapeshifters Cinema
567 5th St, Oakland, CA 94607
The World is Not Our Home by Juan Luis Matos
estos paisajes nos están encendiendo by Daniel Melo Morales
Fogline by Julie McNiel
Shi Arl by Arlene Bowman, Diné Nation
INTERMISSION
Set You Free by Nykelle DeVivo
Sasquatch, so confusing by Rye Purvis
TABLEAU by Nao Bustamante
La nueva ola de Añil by Karla Claudio
Saturday, September 20
12-3 PM
Animated & Lyrical Shorts
Juried by Deborah Fort, Toney Merritt and Christopher Coppola
Roxie Theater
3117 16th St, SF, CA 94103
Juror Films at 12PM
It Takes Time To See by Deborah Fort
APART/ A PART by Toney Merritt
Lightly by Christopher Coppola
Tribute to Gunvor Nelson at 12:30PM
Field Study #2 by Gunvor Nelson
Moons Pool by Gunvor Nelson
Open Call Selections by SFAI Alumni at 1:15PM
Moving by Patricia Kavanaugh
Giroscopio by John Muse & Brendamaris Rodriguez cinegram by Laura Kiernan
Autumnal Diptych by Rock Ross
Super-Imposed by Ouater Sand & Lucia Coppola
Lullaby to My Father by Michael LaRocco
ONE by Lynn Marie Kirby & James Kirby Rogers
Poet in Orbit by Joel Singer
Invitation to… by Karen Barbour
Linescio by Denise Hawrysio
Film Diary #10–Eyefull Portraits by Dominic Angerame
Hell No! by Dave Krzysik & Sally Richardson
Flux by Denah Johnston
Brown Eyed Girl by Dean Snider
Man in the Moon by Rora Blue & Max Stone
cat’s cradle by Raymond Rea
The Window by Minyong Jang
Studio 8 Film Festival 2025
Sunday, September 21
2-3:30 PM
Lawrence Jordan Tribute
Organized by Marian Wallace
Phyllis Wattis Theater, SFMOMA
151 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Join us for a special tribute to legendary filmmaker Lawrence Jordan, presented as the closing event of the Studio 8 Film Festival
Featured Films:
Waterlight
Pink Swine
Cornell, 1965
Our Lady of the Sphere
Masquerade
Winter Light
Postcard from San Miguel
The Egg
CURATORIAL STATEMENTS
OPENING NIGHT SHORT FILMS
This collection of shorts moves like a memory sometimes soft and shimmering, sometimes jagged and unrelenting Each work opens a door into a world shaped by displacement, resistance, care, and transformation.
These films are not bound by genre or expectation They come from artists who carry SFAI’s legacy in their bones, even as they venture far beyond its walls. Their practices are rooted in the personal and the political, in story and sensation, in what can’t always be explained but must be felt
In The World is Not Our Home, Juan Luis Matos traces the ghostlines of exile with quiet force Daniel Melo Morales offers a landscape ignited by climate grief and generational fire in estos paisajes nos están encendiendo Julie McNiel’s Fogline draws breath in a place where breath is often stolen a prison classroom transformed into a site of slowness, observation, and art Nykelle DeVivo’s Set You Free is a lament and a call, holding space for lives lost to police violence Arlene Bowman’s Shi Arl echoes with Indigenous presence and survival La Nueva Ola de Añil by Karla Claudio pulses with Caribbean history and body knowledge Rye Purvis’s Sasquatch, so confusing, offers up absurdity and refusal as acts of clarity. And in TABLEAU, Nao Bustamante builds a world where ritual, glamour, and disruption exist in constant, glorious tension.
To open the festival with these voices is to honor the multiplicity of what SFAI made possible These are not just films they are portals, offerings, reminders.
Thank you for showing up Let’s begin
April September & Rye Purvis
Opening Night Curators
OPEN CALL: ANIMATED & LYRICAL SHORTS
It’s an honor to have been selected to be one of the curators of the Studio 8 Film Festival that will be presenting programs of experimental films and videos by SFAI Alumni In a sense, it’s a matter of going full circle with film programs with SFAI. During my first semester in the MFA program in Spring 1977, Gunvor Nelson asked me if I would be interested in working on a film festival that would screen the works of filmmakers at other Art Institutes, including Kansas City and Chicago. I learned a lot and made my share of mistakes in this new undertaking for me. The following year I was assisted by classmates, Lynn Marie Kirby, Susan Desaritz, and others
When I graduated in the Spring of 1979, the torch of managing the Art Institute FF was passed on to Deborah Fort and Dominic Angerame In the 46 years since my time at the Art Institute as a grad student, I served in various capacities on a number of film festivals as a panelist, judge and Program Director
The Studio 8 FF focuses on makers who created work that was non-narrative or documentary, to suggest works created in the spirit of Gunvor Nelson and Lawrence Jordan, (and others) This is not to suggest that narrative and documentary films weren’t created by student filmmakers in the Film Department. A number of my own films are narrative and documentary. Experimental/personal films are rarely commodified, and we experimental makers can focus on telling our stories without the pressure of filters.
Toney Wesley Merritt, MFA 1979
Open Call Juror
The Studio 8 Film Festival is named for both a space and a spirit Every filmmaker at SFAI spent time in Studio 8: sometimes in class, sometimes making films, sometimes having band practice I built the dressing room in Studio 8 in an effort to contain George Kuchar’s costumes, but, mirroring George’s exuberance, the costumes escaped their confinement and continued to live in all corners of the studio. There was a creative energy in that empty black box that was not constrained by rules, ideology or any one style or approach to personal expression
Having the opportunity to view all the films submitted to the open call segment of the Studio 8 Film Festival was an honor and a pleasure I’ve been a director and juror for several film festivals and helped run the SFAI Festival during grad school This was different It was a bit like wandering around SFAI at 3:00AM and popping into editing rooms to see what my fellow students were working on I could almost smell that combination of paint, clay and plaster that permeated the mezzanine The films submitted are all very different, but all hold the energy of experimentation and exploration that was so much a part of SFAI. It was a challenge to narrow films selected for the show to the 75-minute run time, but a challenge informed by the intention of the 2025 Festival Roxie showcase; to present a cohesive program of films that honors the zeitgeist of SFAI and the creative legacies of filmmakers and former SFAI faculty, Gunvor Nelson and Lawrence Jordan I think we succeeded in our task and want to thank all the filmmakers who submitted work to the festival for providing this experience.
I left a time capsule under the floorboards of the dressing room in Studio 8 Maybe someone will find it as the studio is transformed for some other purpose. Until then it remains, a symbolic gesture of leaving a bit of myself behind in a place and space that meant so much to me The films in this show are a different kind of time capsule. One that allows us to continue to experience the undiminished creative spirit of SFAI students, faculty and staff.
Deborah Fort, MFA Film, 1981
Open Call Juror
GUNVOR NELSON TRIBUTE
Gunvor Nelson was a beautiful and exotic Swedish film professor at SFAI She worked with her students one-on-one, sitting at the moviola side-by-side with their footage and frame-by-frame talked with you about how to edit said footage How honored you felt to garner her attention on your project She was very positive with her often very specific suggestions, and helped you to make a film out of whatever you brought before her. She lived in Muir Beach at a woodsy, hand-made house overlooking the Pacific Ocean, to which she invited her classes to look at her work and see a slice of her life Formerly married to Robert Nelson, who had had a role early on in the nascent SFAI film department, she guided student filmmakers at the school for over 20 years A giantess in the classic avant-garde film world, her own work is flowingly edited, sometimes shockingly shot, and rhythmic. The intrinsic sound tracks were at times hypnotic or outrageous, and equally as experimental as her imagery Her work is sometimes bitingly feminist, and often, but not always humorous Collaborating with audio icon Steve Reich, as well as with her good friend Dorothy Wiley and their group of artist friends, including William T. Wiley and others, she produced a large and unique body of work When she wasn’t poking fun (or a stick) at societal “norms”, she frequently, especially later in her life, focused on her own family and Swedish heritage. She was truly an artist, able to adapt and utilize the new digital media, even stating once that if film wasn’t available to work with, she would certainly move to other ways to express her strong artistic visions
Gunvor Nelson has been officially recognized for her filmmaking by a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants and a Rockefeller Foundation grant For her satirical feminist underground-film classic, Take-off, she received a wide press response including not only Playboy magazine, but also Pauline Kael Her credits include 20 films, five videos, and one video installation, her work having been shown in numerous European and North American festivals and one-woman shows, as well as various and many experimental venues We are lucky that she had such a prolific artistic output for our viewing benefit As said so aptly by ChatGPT, “Gunvor's work transforms the intimate and the everyday into a kind of visual poetry, balancing emotion, memory, and abstraction with extraordinary sensitivity”
We are pleased to include in our 2025 Studio 8 Film Festival two of her films, to give a taste of Gunvor Nelson’s venerable oeuvre: Moons Pool (1973) and Field Study #2 (1988)
Marian Wallace Curator/Festival Organizer
LAWRENCE JORDAN TRIBUTE
We mostly know Lawrence Jordan for his 30-year tenure at SFAI, where he taught avant garde filmmaking and animation for literally decades. However, if you take a look at Lawrence's resume, you'll see what a wide swath his activities covered After attending Harvard in the early 1950s, he met and corresponded with the great collage/box-maker Joseph Cornell, eventually studying with him which may have helped to galvanize Jordan's own long-standing box-making work Lawrence compared the collage-boxes to making a film: using sometimes disparate pieces to assemble a whole, "It is as though I can capture the same content in a box as in a short animated movie," he said
Lawrence taught at no less than seven colleges and universities, received at least eight grants for his work, and has had hundreds of one-person film shows all over the world, as well as dozens of solo and group gallery shows of his collages and boxes. In the late 1950s to early 1960s he co-founded several film-related institutions, at least one of which survives to this day: Canyon Cinema Co-op, from which we've rented his films for this very show He's been around the block a few times!
He has also been written about by- and affiliated with- cultural notables of his era, from P Adams Sitney to Robert Duncan and Jess, and was profiled by Searchlight Films (SFAI alumni-founded), and in an article by John Held Jr, "Prodigies of Physical Phenomena: An Exhibition of Dioramas & Collages" (2013)
Jordan has honed his art practice over more than half a century, and continues to produce Confident in his techniques, he seemingly cannot stop. He is a role model for the rest of us.
Please enjoy this screening of just a fraction of Lawrence's film output, which he personally selected for our viewing pleasure.
Marian Wallace Festival Organizer
FESTIVAL AWARDS
KEEPING THE TORCH LIT AWARD
The "Keeping the Torch Lit" award is given to a filmmaker and/or composer of music with a unique creative style and personal vision that inspires the viewer and listener to think, feel, and be aware of the world around them. Most of all, their sincerity and respect for their own creative process, ignites the creative process in others so that they too pass the torch Creativity is human The more we tap into it the better off we all will be
Prize: $100 cash award
Winner Announced: During the festival. Selected and sponsored by Christopher Coppola
AUDIENCE AWARD — “MOST SFAI-ISH FILM”
From the Open Call Selections: Which film best captures the fearless creativity, experimentation, and spirit of the San Francisco Art Institute? We invite you to vote for the film you feel is the most SFAI-ish bold, unruly, and unforgettable
When & Where to Vote:
Voting will take place at the Roxie Theater immediately following the screening of the Juried Exhibition.
How to Vote:
● Scan the QR code provided at the theater to access the online voting form.
● Choose one film from the program
● One vote per attendee, please.
Prize: Exclusive UNRULY merch winner’s choice of T-shirt or hat Winner Announced: In our upcoming newsletter and on social media.
STUDIO 8 LEGACY AWARD
The Studio 8 Legacy Award honors individuals whose creative vision and lifelong commitment to experimental cinema have left a lasting impact on the Bay Area film community. Rooted in the spirit of Studio 8 at the San Francisco Art Institute, the award celebrates artists who embody the innovation, collaboration, and independent ethos that defined this vital hub of filmmaking It recognizes not only artistic achievement but also the mentorship and community-building that continue to inspire new generations.
FILM GUIDE
(alphabetical order by director)
Dominic Angerame
FILM DIARY #10 – EYEFULL PORTRAITS (2025)
Digital video, 3:30
SFAI Faculty, Alumni (MFA Film, 1981)
https://canyoncinema com/2024/04/05/now-available-13-new-films-from-dominic-angerame
Brief, impressionistic portraits of many of Angerame's friends and acquaintances who live in San Francisco. Set to Toney Merritt's haunting sound design and superimposed with NASA images and footage of Angerame's coming down the elevator at the Eiffel Tower, Film Diary #11 Eyefull Portraits is a descent into the depths of the subconsciousness, transforming into a complex, densely layered exploration of friendship, loneliness, city dwelling and the unknown.
-- Kornelia Boczkowska
Music: "Proof of Life"
Sound Design: Toney Merritt
Karen Barbour
INVITATION TO... (1981)
Cut-out animation, 2:58
SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 1981) https://wwwinstagram com/karen barbour
This is a cut out paper animation I made in 1981 showing drinking, smoking, eating, uncomfortable conversations too much thinking and socializing. Sound by Jasper Sheff.
Rora Blue & Max Stone
MAN IN THE MOON (2024)
Digital video, 0:37
SFAI Alumni (BFA New Genres, 2021)
https://wwwrorablue com
Man in the Moon is a collaboration between Max Stone and Rora Blue The piece originated as a poem written by Max Stone and was later visually interpreted by Rora Blue Through this collaboration, both artists reflect on their experiences of being transgender men at different points in their transition Man in the Moon explores what it means to simultaneously look forward and backward on a journey toward finding a more true self
Arlene Bowman, Diné Nation
SHI ARL (2021)
Digital video, 4:28
SFAI Alumni (BFA Photography, 1973)
https://wwwwmm com/filmmaker/Arlene+Bowman
“She walks back to go forward.” The imagery of Shi Arl is grounded in the artist's lived experiences of both belonging and not belonging to the world of the Diné people. This self-portrait music video documents a conflict between two worlds as the artist moves through spaces personal and public, in an effort to reconnect to her Nation’s language. This video was created in an Indigenous Polygon Gallery Workshop 09-12/21.
Nao
Bustamante
TABLEAU (2013)
Digital video, 19:07
SFAI Alumni (MFA New Genres, 2001)
http://naobustamante com
JT, is a filmmaker in a small town with big ideas about the far-off future He struggles to express his Utopic LoFi-SciFi vision, but is thwarted, in part by his own ambitions He finds an unlikely alliance with the tween next-door
Karla Claudio
LA NUEVA OLA DE AÑIL (2024)
Digital video, 12:47
SFAI Alumni (BFA Film and New Genres, 2010) https://www.instagram.com/el matojal
La nueva ola de añil (The New Indigo Wave) follows Zapotec and Zoque descendants of Oaxacan town Niltepec as they alchemize blue indigo pigment from the jiquilite plant (Indigofera suffruticosa) Residents of all ages re-visit this ancient practice despite the increasing challenges of climate change and lack of governmental subsidies, in what we hope turns into The New Indigo Wave
Christopher
Coppola
LIGHTLY (1979)
Digital transfer from 16mm, 2:00 - World Premiere
SFAI Alumni, Faculty (BFA Film, 1985) https://wwwinstagram com/crcstaycharged
Lightly is finally having its world premiere after being lost in the dust since 1979. Equal Art Synthesis experiment. Basic concept: start with a theme, each artist and art form interprets the theme, then we perform together. Three participating artists: Crispin Glover, actor, Craig Klyver, painter, and myself, a composer-filmmaker. The film was made in-camera, unedited. If it was, it would no longer be an Equal Art Synthesis project. Both music and the painting were created before the filming based on the theme. They had no influence on the acting/performance art or the filming. All arts presented equally, mixed together like a strange light icing on a mysterious cake.
Nykelle DeVivo SET YOU FREE (2025)
Digital video, 11:00
SFAI Alumni (BFA Photography, 2018)
http://nykelledevivo com
Exploring the embodiment of Anarkata a spiritual and political force rooted in Black anarchist traditions Set You Free channels ancestral rage, resistance, and love to dismantle oppressive structures. Drawing on Afrofuturist and anarchist methodologies, DeVivo envisions a world beyond empire, centering Black trans joy and resilience as revolutionary blueprints for collective freedom.
Deborah Fort
IT TAKES TIME TO SEE (1999)
Digital video, 12:30 SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 1981) https://vimeo com/debfilms
It Takes Time To See is an experimental documentary that explores and pays tribute to Yvonne Rainer’s pivotal post-modern dance piece, Trio-A The formal elements of the film reference Rainer’s filmic oeuvre It was originally produced for the New York Dance on Camera Festival and premiered at Lincoln center as part of that event.
Denise Hawrysio LINESCIO (2020)
Digital video, 8:00
SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 1985)
http://hawrysio com
Linescio is a journey through a landscape both sonically and visually Through the combination of experimental music and a microscopic lens, the video plays with a radically discontinuous, almost hallucinogenic image which reveals a primordial awareness of the world around us At times, through this micro lens, the image acts as a sort of mirror, expanding the territory of the visible beyond what the individual can directly experience by reflecting what is behind the lens, then suddenly acts as a sort of hole, sucking up the entire visual world into itself
Minyong Jang
THE WINDOW (2025)
Digital video, 5:00 SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 2002)
I look at the view beyond the window, A time familiar and ordinary, A moment that once briefly caught my eye.
Today, light meets the glass, Marking the line between inside and out Stillness here, constant change there
For an instant, I saw myself reflected in the window Not through my eyes, but the camera caught it
Denah Johnston FLUX (2003)
Digital transfer from 16mm, 6:09
SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 2004)
http://wwwdenahjohnston com
The spaces between memory and perception, dream and waking reveal themselves on the film surface. Glimpses, impressions, momentary clarity shift to obscurity and afterimage. This is a film about film, a film that is process-oriented and takes its time. Finding a language without speech, communication is possible by other means.
Lawrence Jordan WATERLIGHT (1957)
16mm, 8:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999)
http://lawrencecjordan com
Among the wanderings that began in the 1950's was the filmmaker's 3-year stint in the merchant marine "Waterlight" is a night and day impression of the never-constant, ever-changing vast ocean and its companion the sky
Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Lawrence Jordan PINK SWINE (1963)
16 mm transferred to digital HD, 3:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999)
http://lawrencecjordan com
In the dada tradition: ball bearings, horses and angels dance with gears, wheels and hair brushes, to the Beatles song "Pink Swine" is a sleeper in the repertoire of Jordan's many animations
Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Lawrence Jordan CORNELL, 1965 (1978)
16mm, 9:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999)
http://lawrencecjordan com
In 1965 I worked as Joseph Cornell's assistant on boxes and films. I filmed his work extensively, and as much as I could of him. (It is the only film footage that exists of Cornell.) Until 1978 I couldn't edit the film. When I finally learned it would be a kind of personal journalistic tribute to the man who taught me so much, it fell together. What you see are the close-up interiors of many Cornell boxes, some collages, and a few shots of Joseph. You hear the things he said to me (as I recall them) and the thoughts I think about it all. If you are a Cornell fan, there isn't any other film on him.
Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Lawrence Jordan
OUR LADY OF THE SPHERE (1969)
16mm, 10:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999)
http://lawrencecjordan com
A leading figure in the California Bay Area independent film movement, Lawrence Jordan has crafted more than 40 experimental, animation and dramatic films. Jordan uses "found" graphics to produce his influential animated collages, noting that his goal is to create "unknown worlds and landscapes of the mind." Inspired by "The Tibetan Book of the Dead," "Our Lady of the Sphere" is one of Jordan’s best-known works. It is a surrealistic dream-like journey blending baroque images with Victorian-era image cut-outs, iconic space age symbols, various musical themes and noise effects, including animal sounds and buzzers.
Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Lawrence Jordan MASQUERADE (1981)
16mm, 5:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999)
http://lawrencecjordan com
Hand-painted engraved cut-outs on a full colour background. The film is mood-filled: A duel scene in a snowy forest, obviously the morning after a masquerade ball. Harlequin lies dying, while red indian walks away with the wings of victory. The woman between them appears, cat masked. The mask dissolves away. Her spirit passes into the face of the sun upon the sun flower. But Harlequin cannot escape death. The blue world engulfs him.
Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Lawrence Jordan WINTER LIGHT (1983)
16mm, 9:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999)
http://lawrencecjordan com
Winter Light, filmed in the dawn hours of California winter, explores the endless permutations of light and illumination as representatives of the Demeter-Persephone myth of withdrawal of life through the winter months Vivaldi's winter concerto Powerful, cold, a zinging of frost Pale fog of violet hue rolling in masses over the hills of Sonoma. The dawn hours, the colors, the animals, and the long, lingering deceptive arising of the Divine Son (Sun) through beige and purple reflections on the mist-covered pond. (An entry to the Underworld, where Geryon descended.) Impressionistic, palleted. Opaques and translucencies responding. The veil of the ancient goddess (Demeter) whose daughter had been stolen here. The land of Hades (Pluto), his cold domain, from whence She brings back life on her return (with Her daughter) to the upper world - spring as we know it. I laid out a carefully and elaborately thought-out system of light qualities and movements to represent (in wholly natural images) the retelling of this myth, which is the heart of the Eleusinian mysteries of old. There, the daughter's name is Persephone or Kore. Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Lawrence Jordan POSTCARD FROM SAN MIGUEL (1996)
16mm, 11:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999) http://lawrencecjordan com
The mystery and the beauty of Mexico's high desert colonial town, its churches, its abandoned silver mine, its statues and colored streets. Lines from Garcia Lorca.
Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Lawrence Jordan
THE EGG (2024)
16mm, 8:00
SFAI Faculty (1969 - 1999)
http://lawrencecjordan com
The egg rolls, tumbles and flies from jungles to Desert glasses in a rollicking adventure, accompanied by the music of Eric Satie.
Cut-out animation
Courtesy of Canyon Cinema
Patricia Kavanaugh MOVING (2012)
Digital video, 4:22
SFAI Alumni (BFA Film, 1999)
https://wwwyoutube com/@frigginPatty
Short experimental animated film using Super 8mm and After Effects. Animated, written, directed, and original musical score by Patricia Kavanaugh. A search for “home” ending with the realization that it has been right in front of you the entire time.
Laura Kiernan cinegram (2017)
16mm transfer, color, sound, 0:35
SFAI Alumni (BFA Photography, 2017) https://laurakiernan com
This is an experimental short film I made in Kerry Laitala's class at SFAl We collected, cut up and stitched pieces of discarded film strips in Studio X to make our own moving pictures
Dave Krzysik & Sally Richardson HELL NO! (2017)
Digital video, 0:31
SFAI Alumni (BFA Film, 1976 & MFA Painting, 1974)
http://wwwbrainwashm com
A stop motion movie of Sally Richardson's paintings and collages with a soundtrack by Dave Krzysik incurring a subliminal message of "Artists against Fascism!"
Michael LaRocco
LULLABY TO MY FATHER (2019)
Digital video, 5:20 SFAI Alumni (BFA New Genres, 2019) http://wwwmlarocco com
A filmmaker pieces together fragments of his father’s military service in order to explain his absence
Juan Luis Matos
The World is Not Our Home (2025)
Digital video, 27:01
SFAI Alumni (BFA FIlm, 2018)
https://juanluismatos.info
The World is Not Our Home is an exploration of migration, nonfiction, and mythology filmed during Matos's residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris Here, he becomes the unreliable narrator; he weaves the story of Saad Eltinay, a Sudanese artist in exile at the residency, with the histories of other American and Caribbean artists who found refuge in Paris throughout the 20th century He interviews Eltinay and narrates impressionistically: identifying the unknown haunts of artists like James Baldwin, "directing" a sunset, recounting tales that may or may not be true The World is Not Our Home includes footage by the Lumière Brothers and the anthropologist Félix Regnault who used chronophotography from the Ethnographic Exhibition of West Africa at the Champ de Mars- now understood as a human zoo, to further the colonial agenda
Lynn Marie Kirby & James Kirby Rogers ONE (2020)
Digital video, 9:59
SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 1980)
https://lynnmariekirbycom
A collaboration between mother and son, dance and film, an abandoned pier and summer weather, filmed during the pandemic in Aquatic Park, San Francisco, June 6 to August 8, 2020.
Julie McNiel FOGLINE (2017)
Digital video, 4:00
SFAI Alumni (MFA Painting, 1999) https://juliemcniel com
'Fogline' is a 4 minute-long meditation on art, time, and motion inside a men's prison Hand-drawn on a white board with black marker by artist and teacher Julie McNiel McNiel has taught arts classes inside of a men's prison for 10 years, through the non-profit William James Association
Daniel Melo Morales
estos paisajes nos están encendiendo (2025)
Digital video, 2:30
SFAI Alumni (MFA New Genres, 2015)
https://wwwdanielmelo com
The title translates as "these landscapes are setting us on fire". The video was recorded while in residence in New Cuyama, California, a rural community of six hundred people in northern Santa Barbara county. There, I reflected on how extractive practices and ecocide frequently mirror back onto us as burning landscapes which alter and relocate human, nonhuman, and sonic bodies.
In the fall of October 2024, I recorded myself improvising on the lap steel inside 745 Washington St , Roy Lichtenstein's former home and studio That recording of an improvisation forms the basis of the video's sound component
Toney Merritt
APART / A PART (2024)
Digital video, 6:36
SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 1979)
https://wwwtoneymerritt com
"The title itself contains a Buddhist-like koan Fascinating how breaking ‘apart’ the word brings us into coherence as ‘a part’ of nature A linguistic mystery visualized, eyes wide open This must be the footage from the Amazon(?) you mentioned some months ago that you recalibrated to provide a POV experience of merging with the rowboat paddling through the jungle grasses, bringing us into kinship with the riverway I loved seeing the wildlife cam footage of the bear and the mountain lion your stewardship of the land merging with the travel footage And the fire sequence resembled a flaming flower!" Kathleen Sweeney - Eco-Artivist
John Muse & Brendamaris Rodriguez GIROSCOPIO (2021)
Digital video, 8:00 SFAI Alumni (MFA Photography, 1988) https://wwwinstagram com/johnmuseartist
giroscopio is a short experimental film by two artists, one in Pennsylvania and one in Puerto Rico, each in pandemic lockdown, each disoriented Objects seem to control them; their bodies are unbalanced, unwieldy, comical The horizon spins; the ground falls away; and yet a strange wonder reigns
giroscopio es un cortometraje experimental de dos artistas, uno en Pensilvania y otro en Puerto Rico, cada uno en confinamiento por la pandemia, cada uno desorientado Los objetos parecen controlarlos; sus cuerpos son desequilibrados, difíciles de manejar, cómicos El horizonte gira; el suelo se cae; y, sin embargo, reina una extraña maravilla
Gunvor Nelson MOONS POOL (1973)
16mm transferred to digital HD, 15:14
SFAI Faculty (1970–1992)
https://wwwfilmform com/artists/1305-gunvor-nelson
The explicit body politics in Nelsons popular Take Off is developed further in her highly personal Moons Pool The film begins with shots of naked bodies in a bath and transgresses into depicting male and female bodies swimming naked underwater The latter part of the film is almost totally liberated from speech, and has a dreamlike, complex soundtrack consisting of sounds of waves, voices, water and music woven together into a seamless web of sounds
Gunvor Nelson FIELD STUDY #2 (1988)
16mm transferred to digital HD, 7:46
SFAI Faculty (1970–1992)
https://wwwfilmform com/artists/1305-gunvor-nelson
A collage film with sequences of live action with animation using cut-outs, found footage and pouring sands A dark delicacy lingers Superimpositions of dark pourings are perceived through the film Suddenly a bright colour runs across the picture and delicate drawings flutter past Grunts from animals are heard
Rye Purvis
SASQUATCH, SO CONFUSING (2025)
Digital video, 10:00 SFAI Alumni, Staff (BFA Painting, 2011) https://wwwinnocnts com/rye-purvis
Animated short about a Northern New Mexican water resource manager Sasquatch experiencing an existential crisis
Raymond Rea
cat’s cradle (2010)
Digital video, 3:36
SFAI Alumni (BFA Film, 1984)
https://raymondrea com
cat’s cradle is an experimental animation, with original 16mm animation footage (1980s) synthesized with a digital edit (2010s) and is a love song to failed attempts
Rock Ross AUTUMNAL DIPTYCH (circa 1990)
Digital video, 5:30
SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 1976)
Light and motion, seasonal beauty, and the drama of nature are on display in this lovely depiction of change by Rock Ross Experimental effects dance on the screen to an emotionally stirring soundtrack
Ouater Sand & Lucia Coppola
SUPER-IMPOSED (2024)
Digital video, 2:39
SFAI Alumni (Dual Degree MA/MFA, 2014)
https://h2osand com
Superimposed is the result of a collaboration between Ouater Sand and Lucia Coppola The interaction between what is written and recorded by Sand and Coppola, and what is perceived by the viewer, suggests an open form that speaks of light, time and flow as if the playfulness amongst these parts is essential to its being
Joel Singer POET IN ORBIT (1980)
Digital video, 1:42
SFAI Alumni (MFA Film, 1977) https://wwwjoelasingercom
A dazzling film portrait of poet and filmmaker James Broughton who taught at SFAI (and was awarded an honorary doctorate)
James was my advisor in the graduate film department We fell in love and were married and lived together until his death in 1999 at the age of 85 Our friend the composer Lou Harrison wrote the original music
Dean Snider BROWN EYED GIRL (1983)
Digital video, 3:35 SFAI Alumni (BFA Film, 1976)
Van Morrison’s song goes off the rails while looking back at relationships
VENUES
ROXIE THEATER
3117 16th St, SF, CA 94103
The Roxie Theater, a San Francisco landmark in the Mission District, brings people together to meet and connect through distinctive cinematic experiences. Guided by the passionate belief that engaging with a movie doesn’t end with the credits, we invite filmmakers, curators, entertainers and educators to interact with our audiences We provide inspiration and opportunity for the next generation, and serve as a forum for the independent film community reflecting the spirit of the diverse Bay Area population We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (SFMOMA)
151 Third St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Founded in 1935 as the first museum on the West Coast devoted to modern and contemporary art, SFMOMA has grown into one of the largest and most influential art institutions in the country With over 170,000 square feet of gallery space, the museum presents a dynamic program of exhibitions, film screenings, artist talks, and educational initiatives SFMOMA’s film program celebrates the moving image as a vital part of contemporary culture, showcasing works from emerging and established filmmakers, as well as rare archival prints Committed to fostering creativity and dialogue, the museum serves as a cultural hub for the Bay Area and beyond.
SHAPESHIFTERS CINEMA
567 5th St, Oakland, CA 94607
Shapeshifters Cinema is an experimental microcinema located in Oakland, CA. Our mission is to 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.
CREDITS AND THANKS
Curatorial Team
April September
Christopher Coppola
Deborah Fort
Marian Wallace
Rye Purvis
Toney Merritt
Venues
SFMOMA
Shapeshifters Cinema
Roxie Theater
Film Distribution Partners
Canyon Cinema, San Francisco
Filmform, Stockholm
Poster Design
Kate Laster
Special Thanks
Andreas Bertman
Ashley Tacheira
Elsa Forsman
Kathleen Maguire
Kathleen Quillian
Paul Hill
Ujjayini Sikha
Zachary Epcar
Contributors
Peet’s Coffee
Poster Print Center
RE/Search
Donors
Studio 8 Film Festival 2025
Annie Reiniger-Holleb
David Sheff
Gordon Knox and all SFAA Donors
SFAA Board
Maria Theresa Barbist (President)
Annie Reiniger-Holleb (Vice-President)
Brianna Hyneman (Secretary)
Jose de los Reyes (Treasurer)
Cristina Velazquez
Deborah Fort
Jackie Buttice
Linda Connor
Lior Bar
Marian Wallace
Toban Nichols
SFAA Advisory Board
April Martin
Becky Alexander
Jeff Gunderson
Rye Purvis
SFAA Liaison Team and all participating SFAI artists!
© 2025 Studio 8 Film Festival. All rights reserved.
All images and texts featured in this catalog are protected by copyright and are the intellectual property of the respective artists and authors. Reproduction, distribution, or transmission of the images and texts in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, is prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holders.
The artists and authors retain their respective copyrights. Requests for permission to reproduce images or text should be directed to the individual copyright holders, whose contact information may be obtained through SF Artists Alumni.
Cover and back image by Kate Laster
Printed on demand via Peecho
Published by SF Artists Alumni
ISBN: 979-8-9920002-2-1
SF Artists Alumni studio8ff@sfartistsalumni org wwwsfartistsalumni org
