Do-Over Music Series - BRISTLE / Fowl Figures
Thursday, July 2, 2026
7pm
Admission: $10 (discount for members)

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 sound performance by BRISTLE

Randy McKean - alto sax, clarinets
Cory Wright - tenor sax, clarinets, flute
Murray Campbell - violin, oboe & English horn
Lisa Mezzacappa - acoustic bass

Set 2 (8pm): expanded cinema + improvised music by Fowl Figures (Anthony Russell & Marissa Deitz):

Films, film loops and other visual interventions by Ellie Vanderlip

Mare's Nest by Ben Rivers
Sunday, July 5, 2026
2pm
Admission: $15 (discount for members)

Mare's Nest unfolds in a world without adults, where main character Moon wanders through unfamiliar landscapes, encountering solitary figures who reveal alternative ways of living. Guided by a sage and her interpreter in a remote mountain hut, she seeks meaning amid uncertainty. Inspired by a text written by author Don DeLillo, the film reflects the ongoing fascination of director Ben Rivers with lives unfolding apart from mainstream society and follows Moon's quiet observations as she moves through this enigmatic realm towards an open, unknowable future.

Vital Signs is a new film series organized by Bay Area filmmaker and curator Jonathan Kiefer to showcase new and recently-released, feature-length, contemporary, independent and artist-made films that have shown around the international film festival circuit but may or may not have been picked up by distributors and are otherwise hard to find. Films may feature obscure themes, unusual perspectives or eccentric material, but they have all been sifted through the Vital Signs filter so you can be sure they are all films worth leaving your home to see in community with like-minded art film/film art appreciators. Screenings will take place at Shapeshifters every first Sunday at 2pm unless otherwise noted.

Read the recent article written about Vital Signs by KQED's Sarah Hotchkiss
Read the recent article written by David Hudson for the Criterion Collection website

Strangers’ Prompts: Found Ephemera Generative Writing Workshop
Instructor: Ben Bernthal
Sunday, July 12, 2026
12-5pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $70 (Discount for Shapeshifters members)

Join Ben Bernthal of Strangers' Poems for a generative writing workshop in conversation with materials from the Shapeshifters image collection. Part art assignment, part Fluxus score, part structured writing time. We’ll dig through slides and film reels, engage with found footage, delineate parameters, and explore our intuition through automatic writing. Poetry or prose, all writers welcome. Filmmakers are also welcome to document these happenings.

Ben Bernthal is a writer and social practice artist whose project Strangers' Poems stages poetic interventions in public spaces several days a week across the Bay Area, using poetry, performance and writing prompts as vehicles for embodied human connection. Through street performance, workshops, and activations at institutions including SFMOMA and the de Young, Bernthal’s work invents ceremonies, invites presence, and creates apparatuses for connection.

The Shapeshifters Summer Youth Media Makers Camp is a week-long, hands-on, workshop-style camp for youth, ages 12-17 to learn a variety of DIY, experimental film and sound-based processes from experienced Bay Area-based artists and educators.

Session 1 last week was a blast! Campers made some excellent work, including panorama crankies with Risa Lenore, found sound compositions with Cheryl E. Leonard, cut paper collage animations with Lydia Greer, multimedia poetry with Kathleen Quillian and handpainted/scratched film loops with Ellie Vanderlip.

Here is an exquisite corpse poem the campers made together as a warm-up exercise on Day 4:

Sunshine melting the fallen snow
 Quiet chirps of birds in the distance
 It felt as if a new season had begun
 But I was left behind, in the pollen and bloom
 Born a machine, used like a machine, but human in heart
 The time is now for a Terminator, press to start

We are still looking for more campers to join us for Session 2 (July 20-24) during which we will explore:

Shadow Puppets, with Lydia Greer
Virtual Sound Making, with Jon Leidecker
Pre-Cinema Optics, with Kathleen Quillian
Creative Coding, with Gilbert Guerrero
Phytography, with Ellie Vanderlip

Scholarships are available for students registered in a Title I school.

Find out more and register now

New Member Glasses Have Landed!

Shapeshifters members at the Clairvoyant level and higher get one free beer at every event hosted at Shapeshifters Cinema (and 10% off every beer thereafter) that are served in a special member glass.

The image for this year’s glass (that we are affectionately calling a tall-girl glass) was created by Bay Area illustrator and animator Anna Firth and features a two-sided, interactive design that changes with the level and contents of the glass. Immerse yourself in the magic of this design as faces and shapes appear and disappear! Did that really happen? Have another beer and find out!

If you are currently a Shapeshifters member at the Clairvoyant level or higher, your glass will be waiting for you in the cinema to enjoy your member beer every time you come in for a screening or event. At the end of your membership year, the glass is yours to keep.

Come on by and enjoy your next member beer in this new member glass!

Take a look at all the great perks waiting for you when you join the Shapeshifters Membership Program.

The Shapeshifters shop features a variety of media (LPs, audio cassettes, books, prints, DVDs and more) all made by artists who have presented or performed in our space, and/or that represent and celebrate the spirit of our DIY, creative community.

Recent additions to the Shapeshifters shop include Agnes Martian’s The Future Light Cone audio cassette, Sadie Greyduck’s audio casette baa, Covering the Surface audio cassette by Marcia Bassett & Sergej Vutuc, 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 available items.

Volunteer at the Taste of Jack London Food and Beer Fest! The Jack London Improvement District is proud to present the Taste of Jack London Beer and Food on Saturday, August 15, 2026. The festival is looking for volunteers to help with set up, ticket sales, MOOPing, and potentially working at a food or beer booth. In exchange you will receive a free tasting ticket so you can enjoy the beers and food. Volunteer shifts are only for the first part of the event or at the end of the event, so all volunteers will have at least 2 hours to enjoy the party. Must be 21+ to participate. Find out more.

ATA Monthly Open Screenings: Artists’ Television Access (ATA), the stalwart experimental microcinema holding ground in SF’s Mission District since 1984, hosts Open Screenings every first Thursday. This free community film/video show welcomes short format work (15 min or less) from all genres made by independent filmmakers, experimental artists, rogue visionaries and inspired tinkerers who work with the moving image. ATA’s Open Screenings happen the first Thursday of every month at 8:00 pm. Entries must be received by 7:00 pm on show night. Find out more.

Communications Coordinator Position, Audium SF: Audium (San Francisco) is seeking a thoughtful and creative Communications Coordinator to join its small, passionate team of artists, technologists, and sound lovers. This is a flexible, part-time role (up to 15 hours/week) with room to grow. They are looking for someone excited to help shape the public face of a one-of-a-kind sound theater and to connect their work with new audiences. Position is open until filled. Find out more.

Exploratorium Artist-in-Residence Program: The Exploratorium is currently accepting applications for the 2026–2027 Artist-in-Residence Program. The Exploratorium AIR program allows artists to embed within the unique culture of the institution, affords access to a dynamic and distinct staff, and provides opportunities for cross-pollination with a diverse public. Residencies typically unfold over two years and include both an exploratory and project-development phase. Applicants to the program should be inherently curious and deeply invested in inquiry as a part of their practice. Deadline to apply is June 29, 2026. Find out more.

Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival Early Bird Call for Submissions: Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival is the UK’s festival of experimental film and artists' moving image, taking place each spring in the Scottish Borders. Across an international program of cinema screenings, live performances, moving-image exhibitions and new commissions, the festival is known for the openness, solidarity, humor and non-competitive nature with which it is delivered. Early bird deadline to submit for the 2027 festival is July 31, 2026. Find out more.

Images Festival 2027 Call for Submissions: Images Festival (Toronto) seeks short, mid-length, feature-length films and video installations completed in the last 3 years to be considered for the 2027 festival. Deadline to submit is July 31, 2026. Find out more.

Alternative Exposure Grant Award (Round 20) Call for Submissions: Alternative Exposure funds the presentation of Bay Area visual art projects by multiple artists. Selected projects receive awards of up to $5,000 to provide the seed funding to present artist-led visual art programs that are open to the public and presented outside of traditional art spaces. Possible projects include: exhibitions; publications, zines, or print series; festivals or events with a visual component; public learning opportunities for visual artists; new or ongoing projects; non-institutional spaces for art and artists; performances; screenings; web-based projects; and so much more! Deadline to submit is August 10, 2026. Find out more.