As we close out the year, we wanted to take a minute to look back at everything that happened at Shapeshifters over the the past 12 months.

In 2025 we had the pleasure of hosting 85 events in our space—including 15 workshops, 47 screenings and performances, as well as the debut session of our week-long summer camp for young artists. That’s a lot of activity for one little microcinema—and that’s only part of what we did!

We also served 360 gallons of craft beer made on-site in our microbrewery, as well as over 2,700 breakfast burritos (our best seller), 1,600 cups of coffee and so much more in our café.

There is never a dull moment in the Shapeshifters micro-verse and we have loved every minute of bringing it all to you.

We want to express our deep gratitude to all of the filmmakers, musicians and performers who have shared work in our venue or led workshops over the past 12 months, as well as everyone who came out to experience and appreciate the work as audience, and also to all of the extra-generous folks who supported us financially, including donors, foundations and our sustaining community of members. We couldn’t do any of this without you!

We are taking the next couple of weeks off to reset our batteries, but wanted to send one more email missive to remind you of upcoming events. We’ve also added a few more items to the Opportunities section at the end of this newsletter with deadlines coming up in early January. Don’t miss those!

Thank you for a great year! We look forward to doing it all again, and more, when we return in January.

Happy holidays!

Kathleen, Gilbert & Ellie

Jennifer Reeves: Screening + Blu-ray compilation release
Wednesday, January 14, 2025
7pm
Admission: $15 (discount for members)

Film maven Jennifer Reeves joins us from NYC to screen new digital masters of nine of her 16mm film-based works which have just been released on a new Blu-ray compilation by Re:Voir. Join us to celebrate this release and to revisit a selection of Reeves' works made over the past several decades in all-new 2K form.

Screening: Fear of Blushing (2001), We Are Going Home (1998), Landfill 16 (2011), Color Neutral (2014), Strawberries in the Summertime (2014), Pigment-Dispersion Syndrome (2022), Configuration 20 (1994), Girls Daydream About Hollywood (1992), and The Girl's Nervy (1995).

Zoe Beloff: Life Forgotten & Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse People
Friday, January 16, 2025
7pm
Admission: $10 (discount for members)

NYC-based media archeologist Zoe Beloff joins us to screen two of her latest films—both set in the artist's Lower East Side neighborhood, both looking at its history as a place of immigrants and at different ways that popular entertainment brings people together.

Set in New York's Lower East Side in the early years of the twentieth century, Life Forgotten (2025, 16mm film shown on DV) centers on a real storefront cinema—Frank Seiden's Variety Theater—where silent movies were presented with improvised dialog and Yiddish ballads by Frank and his sons to an audience that didn't hesitate to join in or argue back. It was a welcoming space for women and the film follows a group of radical young garment workers who gather here to figure out how to fight for women's rights and change their world. Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse People (2025, DV) is a work of remembrance that asks but does not answer the question how does everyday art bring people together? One by one, the community that is the Mouse People, recite the text of Franz Kafka's short story in quiet places on New York's Lower East Side. The film presents Josephine's story, as something transmitted across time, something that comes from inside the body of an oppressed people; spoken alone, summoned mysteriously, at the edge of consciousness. Why was it that Josephine's voice so captivated them?

Build Your Own Crankie
Instructor: Risa Lenore
Sunday, January 11, 2026
12-5pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $75 (+ $25 materials cost) (Discount for Shapeshifters members)

Learn how to make a "crankie" with puppeteer and artist Risa Lenore, artistic director of Possibly Puppets Handmade Theatre. A crankie is a pre-cinematic device consisting of a moving panorama, or painting that scrolls through a viewing frame when turned with cranks. Participants will learn about crankies and how they work and then build one with simple materials and an illustrated scroll. This is a beginner-friendly workshop, open to everyone. Colored pencils, markers, scroll paper and prepared crankie kits will be provided. Participants will need to bring a short story, a song or a poem to illustrate, along with imagination, a playful attitude and the most basic drawing skills. If desired, Risa will help you create simple paper puppets to accompany your crankie. We will share and film our projects at the end of class and you will go home with your very own crankie!

Shapeshifters members are the heart of the organization.

By joining the Shapeshifters Membership Program, you become part of an engaged, diverse, creative community working in and around experimental moving image, sound and time-based art.

In exchange for your generous support, we offer a wellspring of fantastic benefits including:

• 10% discount on tickets, registrations and everything purchased in both the cinema and café (Seer level, $60)

• A special, limited edition beer mug (with original image designed this year by Anna Firth!) + one free beer at every on-site event you attend (Clairvoyant level, $100)

• Shapeshifters T-shirt or tote bag (Conjurer level, $150)

• One free admission to every screening hosted in our cinema (Magus level, $300)

• Named sponsorship of one Shapeshifters Fellow (Shapeshifters level, $500)

Help ensure the future of Shapeshifters Cinema. Become a member now.

Want to support the organization without committing to a membership? Consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, San Francisco Cinematheque, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. All donations go directly towards covering the costs of operating our venue, without which we can’t continue to do what we do. And if the company you work for offers matching donations, you can double your impact! Every donation makes a huge difference and is greatly appreciated.

Give the gift of experimental media art this holiday season

Our storefront shop is a thoughtfully-curated collection of publications, prints, recordings and other limited edition, handmade and singular items—made primarily by artists who have performed or presented in our space over the years. Recent additions to our shop include Lynne Sachs and Lizzie Olezker’s Hand Book: A Manual on Performance, Process, and the Labor of Laundry, Marielle V Jakobson’s Star Core LP and Analog Cookbook, Issue #8: All Recipes.

Take a look at all the items available in the Shapeshifters Shop.

Or…..gift cards for everyone!

Shapeshifters gift cards can be purchased in any amount you choose and can be used in both the cinema and café. That means that your recipient can use it to buy whatever they want! A latte, a book and a ticket to a film screening; or, a beer, a record and admission to a workshop. The variations are endless! Not only are you giving your favorite creative person access to a treasure trove of great things (and experiences), you are also supporting your favorite microcinema/brewery/café. It’s a win-win scenario! Buy a gift card now.

Single Frame Call for Submissions: Single Frame has opened up its call for entries of experimental documentary shorts under 20 minutes for its 5th annual event happening on April 19, 2026 at UNEXPOSED, a microcinema facilitating the growth of experimental and avant-garde film in the Triangle, NC. Deadline to submit is January 1, 2026. Find out more.

Public Domain Film Remix Contest: Filmmakers, artists, and creatives of all skill levels and backgrounds are invited to celebrate Public Domain Day 2026 by creating a 2-3 minute short film using creative works that will enter the public domain on January 1st, including classic literature, early sound films, cartoons, music, and art. Participants are encouraged to use materials from the Internet Archive’s collections to craft unique films that breathe new life into these cultural gems. Deadline to submit is January 7, 2026. Find out more.

CU Boulder Assistant Professor of Cinema Arts Position: The Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts at the University of Colorado at Boulder seeks to fill an Assistant Professor of Cinema Arts position starting Fall of 2026.  The ideal candidate possesses strong conceptual, theoretical and technical understandings of the cinematic arts in narrative forms that can bridge areas such as classical, emerging, avant-garde, slow and transcendental cinema, Second Cinema and Third Cinema. Candidates must have strengths in technical aspects of creating narrative films, including directing, cinematography, editing, sound design, producing, and/or screenwriting. Deadline to submit is January 12, 2026. Find out more.

CROSSROADS 2026 Call for Submissions: San Francisco Cinematheque seeks submissions of recent films, videos and works of performance cinema for CROSSROADS 2026, the seventeenth iteration of our annual film festival. CROSSROADS 2026 will be held September 4–6, 2026  at Gray Area/Grand Theater in San Francisco. Early submission deadline is January 31, 2026. Find out more.

Prismatic Ground Film Festival Call for Submissions: Prismatic Ground is a New York festival centered on experimental documentary and avant-garde film, and for the first time accepting performance, music and poetry/live reading submissions. Hosted with media partner Screen Slate at handful of venues across NYC, the festival will hold its sixth edition April 29-May 3, 2026. Deadline to submit is March 1, 2026. Find out more.

Extremely Shorts 2026 Call for Submissions: Submissions for Aurora Picture Show’s 29th annual Extremely Shorts Film Festival are now open. Extremely Shorts is an open-call, juried competition of three-minutes-or-shorter films and videos of all kinds and from around the world. Screenings will be presented at Aurora Picture Show in Houston, TX in late May, with some participating filmmakers in attendance and receptions. Deadline to submit is March 10, 2026. Find out more.

Found Footage Magazine Call for Submissions: Authors are invited to submit essays, interviews, video-essays, film and book reviews for Found Footage Magazine, Issue #12. Deadline to submit is June 1, 2026. Find out more.