Film Screenings / Programs / Series
RADICAL LIGHT: ALTERNATIVE FILM AND VIDEO IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
May 6 – May 7
In conjunction with the publication of the book RADICAL LIGHT: ALTERNATIVE FILM AND VIDEO IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, 1945-2000, edited by Steve Anker, Kathy Geritz, and Steve Seid, Anthology will present three programs of films and videos that explore the themes and movements, and trace the historic chronology of alternative film and video in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the premieres of our recent Sidney Peterson preservations. These screenings will be followed by further programs at the Museum of Modern Art on May 8-9.
The history of avant-garde cinema in the region goes back to the 1940s, when Frank Stauffacher began the influential film series Art in Cinema, followed soon after by Sidney Peterson’s collaborative film workshops, some of the earliest filmmaking classes in the country. Many filmmakers began as poets, painters, and sculptors, but as the 60s moved into the 70s more and more came to identify themselves primarily as film- or video-makers. Some made works during relatively brief stays around San Francisco, but others such as Gunvor Nelson, Michael Wallin, and Scott Stark developed long-term careers in the area. The wave of artists who adopted the emerging technology of video as their principal tool of expression included Lynn Hershman, and later, Dale Hoyt. A younger generation of artists includes Anne McGuire and Kerry Laitala.
We are pleased to welcome the curators of these programs who will be here in person, along with some of the contributors to the book and the artists discussed within, to present the screenings and help put the films in context.
The RADICAL LIGHT tour was curated by Kathy Geritz and Steve Seid, Film and Video Curators at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and Steve Anker, Dean of the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts. The tour is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the William H. Donner Foundation.
