Do-Over Music Series - Holiday Extravaganza
Djll / Brown / Wright / Jordan / Evangelista / Glenn
Thursday, December 4, 2025
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:

Ari Brown - trumpet
Tom Djll - electronics/trumpet

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

Cory Wright - reeds
Lewis Jordan - alto sax
Karl Evangelista - guitar
Jordan Glenn - drums
Shapeshifters Cinema Performance Group - expanded film projections

PLUS!!!!! cookie potluck, latkes and house-made beer

Punk Rock Docs - Louder, Faster, Shorter & I Get Knocked Down
Presented in partnership with Nixed
Sunday, December 7, 2025
5pm
Admission: $10 (discount for members)

Punk Rock Docs is a monthly film series highlighting the origins and legacy of DIY/punk music and culture in the Bay Area and beyond.

Louder, Faster, Shorter is a short film by Mindaugis Bagdon documenting 5 of the 14 bands (UXA, Dils, Avengers, Sleepers and Mutants) who performed at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens in March 1978 for the punk rock benefit show in support of striking Kentucky coal miners.

I Get Knocked Down is a surreal, punk version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol told through Dunstan Bruce, the former frontman of the anarchist band Chumbawamba, 20 years after his fall from grace, as he reckons with his past and tries to square it with his life as a middle-aged, retired radical. This is the untold story of Chumbawamba and Dunstan's personal redemptive voyage as well as a call to arms to those who think activism is best undertaken by someone else.

You Don't Know Me: A selection of films from the 7th Cosmic Rays Film Festival
Friday, December 12, 2025
7pm
Admission: $12 (discount for members)

The Cosmic Rays Experimental Film Festival was founded in 2017 by filmmakers and educators Sabine Gruffat and Bill Brown to showcase non-commercial short films, live-cinema, and new media projects to audiences in the Triangle region of North Carolina and across the Southeastern U.S. You Don't Know Me is a selection of films from the 7th iteration of the festival. This program includes films that question the roles our bodies play in an age of disembodiment—the data they generate, the avatars they adopt, and the traces they leave behind. Films that ask if we're evolving into something new, or just heading for extinction.

Program: "I’m Not Your Monster" (2024) by Karen Yasinsky, "Lizzy" (2024) by Susanna Wallin, "Exo Gestus #2" (2024) by Yvette Granata, "Listening In, Resounding Out" (2023) by Eislow Johnson & Dominic Bonelli, "Night Music" (2024) by Edwin Rostron, "Species of Analogy" (2023) by J.M. Martínez, "File No. 2304" (2024) by A. S. M. Kobayashi, "An egg, the white is gone but the yellow remains" (2023) by Mohamed Thara, "ESP" (2024) by Laura Kraning, "The Big Day of Coloane" (2023) by Keng U Lao

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.

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.

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.

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.