We are so grateful and humbled by the outpouring of support from the community in response to our emergency fundraiser. Over the past week, 197 donors have chipped in with donations of all sizes, bringing us 1/3 of the way to our goal. Thank you to every single one of you. We appreciate this more than we could ever express.

That said, we still have quite a way to go to reach our $60,000 target. Sharing the link to the fundraiser with your community via social media, email and even word of mouth is an excellent way to help. And if you are in a position to support our organization and haven’t had a chance to donate yet, we would be so very grateful.

The Lizard Point & Aux Meadows
March 12, 2026
7pm
Admission: $15 (discount for members)

Named after the opening track of Brian Eno's Ambient 4: On Land, The Lizard Point are Conor Devlin (Half Film, [the] caseworker) and Geoffrey Scott (Slowness). The Transatlantic duo craft elegant instrumentals that evoke a nocturnal, pastoral space. This performance is a celebration of their third LP, In The Red Earth, which will be released March 10, 2026 on Hidden Shoal Recordings.

Oakland-based Aux Meadows is an instrumental "ambient country" and Cosmic Americana trio formed in 2021 by J. Imwalle (synth), C. Royalty (guitar), and S. Dawson (lap steel/dobro). Known for their "lonesome planet sound," they blend traditional country instrumentation with ethereal, spacey, and experimental textures.

The Refracted City - New Films by Mark Street
Co-presented by Canyon Cinema
Friday, March 13, 2026
7pm
Admission: $14 (discount for Friends of Canyon and Shapeshifters members)

NYC-based filmmaker Mark Street will present a program of recent short films rooted in the tradition of street photography. These films toggle between representation and abstraction as he uses magnifiers, lenses and other objects to twist and bend the urban landscapes of New York City, Paris, Belfast and other cities. Juxtaposing the familiar and the unexpected, this work reveals an idiosyncratic view of city vignettes captured while wandering, camera in hand, eyes open wide.

Street's films will be followed by a selection of city-themed shorts from the Canyon Cinema collection curated by Street in collaboration with Brett Kashmere, Zachary Epcar and Ashley Rose Tacheira. A Q&A and discussion with Street will conclude the screening.

SCREENING: River of Days by Mark Street (2025, 7 mins.), all day and all of the night by Mark Street (2025, 13 mins), Lunette by Mark Street (2024, 8 mins.), Clear Ice Fern by Mark Street (2023, 12 mins.), The Grain of Belfast by Mark Street (2022, 6 mins.), An Insomniac's Reward by Mark Street (2026, 6 mins.), Homage to Jean Tinguely's Homage to New York by Robert Breer (1968, 9.5 mins.), Feriado by Azucena Losano (2021, 2 mins.), Manhattan One, Two, Three, Four by Tomonari Nishikawa (2014, 3 mins.), New York (Near Sleep) For Saskia by Peter Hutton (1972, 10 mins.)

Abigail Child: Foreign Film Series
Abigail Child In Person
Presented in association with San Francisco Cinematheque
Friday, April 3, 2026
7pm
Admission: $15 (discount for Shapeshifters and SF Cinematheque members)

As an artist and writer, Abigail Child has worked seriously across a range of media. In all of them, her principal form has been montage, developing, as Tom Gunning writes, "a system founded not on coherence, but on breakdown, not on continuity, but interruption." (Colin Beckett)

Abigail Child has been at the forefront of experimental media and writing since the 1980s, having completed more than fifty film/video works and installations and written six books. An acknowledged pioneer in montage, Child addresses the interplay between sound and image, to make, in the words of the LA Weekly: “brilliant exciting work… a vibrant political filmmaking that’s attentive to form.” In her work, Child has restlessly explored different mediums and modes, often working with preexisting footage—drawn from Hollywood films, advertisements, home movies and many other sources—which she radically transforms in ways that unite formal experimentation and social-political analysis. But what unifies her moving-image work above all is the unparalleled dynamism of her investigations into the relationship between sound and image, the still not-fully-tapped possibilities of cinematic montage, the technique of audiovisual fragmentation and the complex mechanisms of language. Child’s films, videos, and installations activate the potential energy of the cinema to an extraordinary degree. In her first San Francisco appearance since 2013, Cinematheque and Shapeshifters Cinema are thrilled to welcome Abigail Child in person to present a two-program sampler retrospective drawn from her rich and complex body of work. (Program note adapted from Anthology Film Archives)

"We perceive that a set of concerns builds up, with artful indirectness: women's power; the gestures of gender; manipulation of a spectator's sensibility through the medium of film; large-scale political implications of small moments." –Karen Schiff, Big, Red and Shiny).

SCREENING: To and No Fro (2005) by Abigail Child; digital video, b&w, sound, 5 minutes. Mirror World (2006) by Abigail Child; digital video, color, sound, 12 minutes. (If I Can Sing a Song About) Ligatures (2009) by Abigail Child; digital video, b&w, sound, 6 minutes. Salomé (2014) by Abigail Child; digital video, b&w, sound, 20 minutes. vis à vis (2013) by Abigail Child; digital video, b&w, sound, 25 minutes. TRT: 68 minutes.

Abigail Child also appears in person at Gray Area, San Francisco, on Wednesday, April 1 to present Is This What You Were Born For? (1981–1989). Full details here.

Flow State: a reflection on film inspection and archiving
Co-presented by Canyon Cinema
Sunday, April 5, 2026
7pm
Admission: $12 (discount for members)

Flow State is a celebration of film inspection and archival work. Film archivist and library assistant Autumn Armstrong has curated this program of work by renowned filmmakers Toney Merrit, Sandra Davis and Christopher Harris—films that were personally inspected by her while working as an intern at Canyon Cinema. New work by Toney Merritt will be screened as well! Autumn will share some thoughts about her experiences working as a film archivist after the program.

Kingdom of Not, Plonsey Scheme & Victoria Victrola
Saturday, April 11, 2026
7pm
Admission: $16 (discount for members)

Kingdom of Not is absurdist writer/performer Dan Carbone and surrealistic one-man band, Andrew Goldfarb and special guest performer Baby-Ding-Dong. They sing from their hearts and play from their guts about demon children, demon blackbirds, demon dogs, demon Eskimos and most of other popular demon themes beloved by all the people. THE ONLY EXHIBITION OF ITS TYPE IN NORTH AMERICA! “KoN gets under your skin, and into your brain.” Ben Graham/ The Quietus (U.K.) “It’s magnificent stuff!” – Kramer (Bongwater/ Shimmy Disc) "A Riotously Funny Two-Headed Sideshow Assault!” -SF Weekly

Plonsey Scheme is a collaboration between Dan Plonsey (compositions and structures for improvisation) and Mantra Plonsey (words, song), in which neither tells the other what they're going to do until it happens. Dan has a pedigree over which he constantly trips, while Mantra repeatedly fails to prove that she is not a robot. A third collaborator, Kattt Atchley, is responsible for projecting images of tableaux of dolls (still or on turntables) with backdrops of art. The three will be joined by Cory Wright, reeds; Fred Lonborg-Holm, cello; and Tomek Sinclair, guitar.

Victoria Victrola (she/her) is the front woman of Victoria and the Vaudevillians. She throws the occasional whimsical boozy tea party, the occasional séance, owns 3 Victrolas, surprisingly zero cats, and never enough books. You can often find her standing still, falling down stairs, and pounding on the piano. Her music ranges from soft and whispery to clangy bangy piano rock. She is, much to her own disappointment, not the author of Sweet Valley High.

Summer Camp Registration is Now Open!

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. This year we are offering two sessions: June 22-26 and July 20-24 covering panorama crankies, found sound, cut paper collage animation, multimedia poetry, material cinema, shadow puppets, virtual sound making, apparent motion, creative coding and phytography. Guest artist-instructors this year are Cheryl E. Leonard, Lydia Greer, Risa Lenore & Jon Leidecker. 

Find out more and register now

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.

We have re-stocked our collection of the popular 6-in-1 flipbook series (and added a new one!) in our shop. These are innovatively-designed flipbooks made in Spain featuring six different image sequences in one book. Each book focuses on work by pioneering artists related to pre-cinema and early cinema history, including Eadweard Muybridge, Étienne-Jules Marey, Georges Méliès, Lotte Reiniger, The Lumière Brothers and Josepth Plateau. We have a limited stock of each book. Get them while you can!

Other 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.

We also have gift cards! 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.

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.

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.

USF Visiting Artist-Scholar Endowment: The University of San Francisco’s newly endowed Ann Getty Institute of Art and Design invites applications for up to three Visiting Artist-Scholars during the 2026-27 academic year. Candidates will be able to spend 8 weeks in residency at USF (dates to be finalized with candidates). The residencies are open to artist-scholars with national and/or international reputations whose ongoing research, creative activity, and teaching will contribute to USF’s creative work across the Arts. Deadline to submit is March 13, 2026. Find out more.

Open Call: Regeneration Art Exhibition: The office of Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii is seeking artwork from Berkeley community members that celebrate the theme of Berkeley's regenerative culture, whether that is renewal, material reuse, or the art of giving new life. All mediums and backgrounds welcome. Selected works will be showcased in the Mayor’s office January-April 2026. Deadline to submit is March 31, 2026. Find out more.

CROSSROADS 2026 Call for Submissions Extended: 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. Submission deadline has been extended to March 31, 2026. Find out more.

Roxie Mixtape #9 Call for Submissions: The Roxie is calling all Bay Area filmmakers to be a part of its on-going mini-festival, Roxie Mixtape, a Bay Area tradition featuring diverse and engaging short works showcasing talented voices from The Bay. All submitted films will be considered for screening on May 20th, in the Big Roxie theater. All genres are welcome, including but not limited to animation, documentary, narrative, experimental, live performance with a film component, music video, and found footage. Deadline to submit is April 2, 2026. Find out more.

Creative Capital 2027 Open Call: Creative Capital For Artists seeks proposals from individual artists in all 50 states for new artistic works in Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Film, and Literature. The Creative Capital Award provides unrestricted project grants of up to $50,000 to individual artists to create new work. The new State of the Art Prize provides unrestricted artist grants of $10,000. The application portal opens on Monday, March 2, 2026. Deadline for submission is April 2, 2026. Find out more.

Film-Makers’ Coop New Year/New Work Festival: Calling all filmmakers, video-makers, and moving image artists! Film-Makers Cooperative (NYC) is now accepting submissions for its 13th annual New Year/New Work festival. The festival will take place at The Film-Makers' Cooperative screening room over two evenings: Thursday, May 7th, and Friday, May 8th, 2026. The deadline to submit is April 10, 2026. Find out more.

Little Scuzzy Film Fest Call for Work: Initiated in 2012, Little Scuzzy is a rag-tag event held on a farm on the outskirts of Carbondale, IL. Films are screened outdoors with festival-goers setting up blankets and chairs around fire pits. They are seeking work by artists who especially feel aligned with this ethos. This year’s fest will take place on Saturday, June 13, 2026. Deadline to submit is May 15, 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.