DISLOCATION OF EXISTENCE
A circular poem. A detective film. A performance of endurance. Hair flips. Hormone injection. Bodies adjoining bodies. Bodies being left behind. Messages from post-apocalyptic times. Dispatches from Standing Rock. The films in this program shift between embodiment and disassociation. They offer ephemeral glimpses into what’s possible and pulverizing flashes of what’s been stolen. Interlacing the physical with the ethereal, affects rapidly alter between despondency and euphoria. (Malic Amalya)
SCREENING: Stones and Water Weight (2017) by Mykki Blanco; The Butterfly Effect (2012) by Sofia Moreno; At Least You Know You Exist (2011) by Zackary Drucker; 3 Films for Untitled (1995) by Stom Sogo; Things We Both Know (Not Our Real Names) (2012) by Finn Paul & Roy Perez; Dislocation Blues (2017) by Sky Hopinka; A Little Bit of Exxxstacy (2011) by Mark Aguhar; The Dragon is the Frame (2014) by Mary Helena Clark.
FULL PROGRAM DETAILS: http://www.sfcinematheque.org/screenings/infrared-program-2.
INFRARED: IN CELEBRATION OF THE COMPTON TRANSGENDER DISTRICT
In 2017, the City of San Francisco indicated intention to designate a portion of its Tenderloin neighborhood (a portion which includes CounterPulse and the office of San Francisco Cinematheque Cinematheque) as the “Compton’s Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual District” in reference to a 1966 protest action held at Compton’s Cafeteria, located at the intersection of Turk and Taylor Streets in San Francisco. This pre-Stonewall action is recognized as a significant milestone in queer and transgender political activism. In celebration of this designation—the first legally recognized municipal transgender district in the world—San Francisco Cinematheque is proud to present INFRARED, four nights of experimental films by and about transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming artists curated by transgender filmmaker Malic Amalya.
From the 1969 Stonewall Riots to Standing Rock; from the 1992 presidential election to post-apocalyptic communes: these programs showcase trans experiences, perspectives, and legacies. These films survey light refractions and the art of hair flipping, craft orifices and sites of injections into portals of transcendence, and extol anti-police riots and community uprisings. INFRARED begins with Madsen Minax’s experimental narrative, Kairos Dirt and the Errant Vacuum. Amid the post-industrial decay of the American South, a middle school lunch lady, an androgynous student, and an astrologer-life coach-phone sex operator discover a fantastic and carnal alternate dimension occupied by a transworldly apparition. Program 2: Dislocation of Existence is a collection of short films that contemplate the weight of being and disintegration of knowing. Program 3: Slow/Sheltering/Shattering features short films that unpack moments of seismic shifts, unveil the intricacies of prolong permutations, and make demands for immediate social restructuring. INFRARED concludes with Jeff Preiss’ experimental documentary, STOP, filmed over the course of sixteen years. In the tradition of home movies, STOP begins in his child’s early years and concludes in his child’s teenage years–in this case, coinciding with his child proclaiming gender self-determination.