Blue Diary at PFA's Radical Light

My 1997 short film, Blue Diary is screening at the Pacific Film Archive on the 21st as part of the PFA's series, "Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area." I will be in attendance and am particularly excited to see all the other work in the program — come on out! Below is the PFA program note:

Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area

Sunday, November 21, 2010
5:15 p.m. 1990–1999

Artists in Person

By the 1990s, many Bay Area filmmakers were products of Bay Area film programs, with some, such as Sandra Davis, Jay Rosenblatt, and Greta Snider, going on to teach. Dominic Angerame continued to run Canyon Cinema, a distributor of experimental cinema; Scott Stark founded Flicker, which documents alternative cinema online; and Jenni Olson programmed for the local lesbian and gay film festival. These were artists who spent a lot of time viewing and thinking about cinema, which nurtured an interest in the particularities of the medium. For Greta Snider and the collaborative group silt, this included hand processing their film. Scott Stark and Jay Rosenblatt found new meaning in footage they found or collected while Kerry Laitala recontextualized antique medical slides. Cauleen Smith fabricated a personal history in her collage film, and Jenni Olson contrasted a recollection of a one-night stand with San Francisco’s urban landscape. In their films, Angerame, Davis, and Timoleon Wilkins each beautifully evoked a specific place.

Short of Breath (Jay Rosenblatt, 1990, 10 mins, Color). Chronicles of a Lying Spirit (by Kelly Gabron) (Cauleen Smith, 1991–, 5 mins, Color). Au Sud (To the South, Sandra Davis, 1991-99, 6.5 mins, From artist). Premonition (Dominic Angerame, 1995, 10 mins, B&W). Shadow of the Son (silt, 1995, 7 mins, Color, Super 8mm, From the artists). Flight (Greta Snider, 1996, 5 mins, Silent, B&W). Secure the Shadow (Kerry Laitala, 1997, 9 mins, Color, From the artist). Lake of the Spirits (Timoleon Wilkins, 1998, 7 mins, Color). Blue Diary (Jenni Olson, 1997, 6 mins, Color, PFA print). Noema (Scott Stark, 1998, 10 mins, Color).

• (Total running time: c. 80 mins, 16mm, From Canyon Cinema, unless indicated otherwise)

Click HERE for full details and tickets!