Lynne Sachs - The Washing Society + Handbook, A Manual on Performance, Process, and the Labor of Laundry
Presented in collaboration with Friends of Canyon Cinema
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
7pm
Admission: $10 (discount for Shapeshifters members; free for Friends of Canyon)

NYC-based filmmaker Lynne Sachs joins us for a deep, poetic dive into laundry—an area of focus she has examined over the past decade, through her film The Washing Society (co-directed with Lizzie Olesker) and a new book, Handbook, A Manual on Performance, Process, and the Labor of Laundry, just released by Punctum Books.

Along with a screening of The Washing Society, Lynne will present a performative reading, with Shapeshifters Programming Director Kathleen Quillian, of excerpts from Handbook, A Manual as well as engage in a discussion about the book, film and process with Canyon Cinema director Brett Kashmere.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and can be signed by the artist after the event.

Do-Over Music Series - Jakobsons / Golightly / Oba / Mezzacappa / Glenn
Thursday, November 13, 2025 (NOTE SPECIAL DATE)
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:

Marielle V Jakobsons - violin/electronics +
David Golightly - keys

Set 2 (8pm): expanded cinema + improvised music with:

Jakobsens/Golightly joined by
Erika Oba - flutes
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Jordan Glenn - percussion
Shapeshifters Cinema Performance Group - expanded film projections

Composing with Found Sounds
Instructor: Kirk Pearson
Sunday, November 16, 2025
12-4pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $55 (Discount for Shapeshifters members)

How can the textures of a city become the basis for composition? This collaborative workshop between Dogbotic Labs and Shapeshifters Cinema invites participants to explore the acoustic life of Oakland through the lens of sound as material. Rather than beginning with instruments, we’ll begin with the act of listening: tracing how the built environment, weather, and human activity form a constantly shifting score around us, and then learn practically how to structure larger musical ideas out of found sounds in ways that are novel and poetic.

Participants will make short field recordings in the neighborhood, guided by prompts that emphasize attention, timing, and perspective. Back at Shapeshifters, we’ll share these recordings and explore simple ways to work with them--cutting, arranging, layering, and using structure to draw out the music already present in the noise.

The workshop is open to anyone interested in sound, whether or not you consider yourself a musician. By the end of the session, we’ll have assembled a collective composition shaped by the city’s own voice, and compiled an impressive sample library of downtown Oakland.

Tangible Media: Magnetic Tape & Creative Reuse
Instructor: John Davis
Sunday, December 14, 2025
12-5pm
In-person at Shapeshifters Cinema
Admission: $60 (+ $25 materials cost) (Discount for Shapeshifters members)
NOTE: Registration will close November 13th to allow us time to purchase materials!

For artists and consumers alike, the rapid shift from analog to digital media platforms over the past few decades presented both an economy of means and a seemingly unlimited range of possibilities. Though some artists, driven perhaps by nostalgia or curiosity, continue to work with obsolete media, inspired by the fundamentally unique materials and aesthetic properties inherent in them.

This workshop, led by musician/filmmaker John Davis, digs into the past to mine some veins of discarded media culture—more specifically, the creative use (and re-use) of magnetic audio tape technology. We'll take a brief look into its history and look at some of the ways the technology has been used creatively and unconventionally. We'll also demonstrate some accessible ways of using the media, while covering practical tips and strategies for sourcing playback and recording machines, new and used tapes, as well as some related tools and equipment. Participants will be encouraged to independently expand on the information provided, as the workshop serves as a jumping off point for those curious about working with magnetic tape for artistic exploration and experimentation.

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.

New in our shop! Inspired by Helen Hill’s classic community-sourced booklet Recipes for Disaster, Analog Cookbook, Issue #8: All Recipes is a curated compilation of analog media recipes, techniques, and tutorials, compiled by Kate Hinshaw and the staff of Analog Cookbook with new and updated material for a new generation of filmmakers. From alternate chemical recipes using household items to optical sound and home printmaking techniques, this issue fosters a spirit of generosity, experimentation, and open exchange among artists sharing their analog filmmaking methods.

Available in our storefront shop or purchase online here.

Cosmic Rays Film Festival Call for Submissions: The Cosmic Rays Film Festival is an annual celebration of short films that expand our idea of what film is and what it can be. The festival presents several programs of short films made by filmmakers from North Carolina and around the world that are formally inventive; speak with a personal voice; and are inspired by the possibilities of film as art. Deadline for submissions is November 16th, 2025. Find out more.

Associate Professor of Film & Media, Grinnell College: Grinnell College is currently accepting applications for an Assistant/Associate Professor of Film & Media Studies. The ideal candidate is a scholar who can contribute to the core curriculum and develop new courses in their area of expertise. Deadline for applications is November 17, 2025. Find out more.

Cauldron Film Festival Call for Submissions: Cauldron Film Festival (Salt Lake City) seeks unorthodox film narratives, rogue documentaries, avant-garde cinema, video mashups, abstract video art, genre-bending storytelling of all kinds with an eye towards innovation, iconoclasm, personal visions, and any/all unique motion picture experiences for its next festival happening in Feb/March 2026. Deadline to submit is December 15, 2025. Find out more.

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.

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.

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.