Film Programming
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Below, find a list of all the films I’ve programmed along with brief personal thoughts about the screenings.
Links to official screening announcements are at the end of each blurb. View my posters for each program here.

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Tone Glow Presents The Texas Chain Saw Massacre & Aaron Dilloway
March 14th at Anthology Film Archives in New York



A rare 35mm screening of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in light of the soundtrack’s official release on Waxwork. Aaron Dilloway plays an opening set. More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Simple Fascinations”
February 23rd at Elastic Arts in Chicago



PROGRAM 1 @ 1:30PM

1. Plausible Light Source (1976, 1 min, color, silent)
2. Cuticle Torture (1981, 2 mins, b/w, silent)
3. Self-Portrait As a City (1977, 5 mins, color, silent)
4. Newt Leaders (2020, 4.5 mins, color, silent)
5. Newt Pauses (2016, 7.5 mins, color, silent)
6. 4 Fingers, 5 Toes (2022, 11 mins, color, silent)
7. My Dear Evaporant, (2022, 5.5 mins, color, silent)
8. Ginko Yellow (2022, 5 mins, color, silent)
9. Pouring Grain (2008, 2.5 mins, color, silent)
10. Slow Fireworks (2019, 2 mins, color, silent)

TRT = 46 mins

PROGRAM 2 @ 3:00PM

1. Filament (The Hands) (1975, 7 mins, b/w, silent)
2. Unowned Luxuries #3 (2020, 2 mins, color, silent)
3. Pythoness (1979, 2 mins, b&w, silent)
4. #27 (2019, 3 mins, color, silent)
5. Study for Cigarette Burn (1976, 2 mins, color, silent)
6. Cigarette Burn (1978, 7.5 mins, b&w, sound)
7. My Mink (Unowned Luxuries #2) (2020, 5 mins, color, silent)
8. Emit a Beam, See a Light (2022, 3.5 mins, color, sound)
9. Access to the View (2000, 2 mins, color, sound)
10. Hula (2022, 6 mins, color, sound)
11. Cheshire Smile (2012, 5 mins, color, sound)
12. Injury on a Theme (2012, 7 mins, color, sound)

TRT = 52 mins

A 22-film Amy Halpern retrospective. All films shown on 16mm except for the first three, which were only available digitally. Part of a three-day, multi-venue retrospective called “Palm Down,” done in collaboration with the Block Museum and Inga Books. More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Terrestrial Scrutiny”
January 30th, 2025 at GNRation in Braga, Portugal

1. Ernie Gehr, Glider (2001, 20 mins, USA)
2. Eislow Johnson, In Place of a Hollow Tree (2024, 8 mins, USA)
3. Ewelina Rosinska, Unstable Rocks (2024, 25 mins, Germany/Portugal)
4. Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade, Solmatalua (2022, 15 mins, Brazil)

TRT = 68 mins

This program was part of the inaugural SQUARE Festival. Films were shown digitally on loop in a black box theater. More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “The End is Here”
December 27th-29th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27TH @ 7PM
“Modulating the Sublime”

1. Vincent Grenier, While Revolved (1976, 9 mins, color, silent)
2. Vincent Grenier, Interieur Interiors (To A-K) (1978, 15 mins, b&w, silent)
3. Vincent Grenier, Closer Outside (1981, 9 mins, color, silent)
4. Vincent Grenier, World in Focus (1976, 16 mins, color, silent)
5. Vincent Grenier, Time's Wake (Once Removed) (1978, 12 mins, color, silent)
6. Vincent Grenier, Tremors (1984, 13 mins, color, sound)

TRT = 74 mins

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28TH
“Seeing the Light” Program 1 at 7PM

1. Malcolm Le Grice, Berlin Horse (1970, color, sound, 7 mins)
2. J.J. Murphy, Print Generation (1974, color, sound, 50 mins)

TRT = 57 mins

“Seeing the Light” Program 2 at 8:30PM

1. Stan Brakhage, The Shores of Phos: A Fable (1972, color, silent, 10 mins)
2. Stan Brakhage, The Text of Light (1974, color, silent, 67 mins)

TRT = 77 mins

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29TH @ 7PM
“Impermanent Tableau”

1. Patrick Bokanowski, Déjeuner du matin (1974, color, sound, 12 mins)
2. Patrick Bokanowski, L’Ange (1982, color, sound, 70 mins)

TRT = 82 mins

The final screenings at Sweet Void Cinema before their closure. All films on 16mm. More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Unknown Nostalgia: A Complete Retrospective of Will Hindle’s Filmography”
December 8th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago



PROGRAM 1 @ 1PM

1. Pastorale d’été (1958, 9 mins)
2. Non Catholicam (1963, 10 mins)
3. FFFTCM (1967, 5 mins)
4. Billabong (1968, 9 mins)
5. Watersmith (1969, 32 mins)
   

TRT = 65 mins

PROGRAM 2 @ 2:45PM

1. 29: Merci Merci (1966, 30 mins)
2. Chinese Firedrill (1968, 25 mins)

TRT = 55 mins

PROGRAM 3 @ 4:30PM

1. Saint Flournoy Lobos-Logos and the Eastern Europe Fetus Taxing Japan Brides in West Coast Places Sucking Alabama Air (1970, 12 mins)
2. Later That Same Night (1971, 10 mins)
3. Pasteur³ (1976, 22 mins)
4. Trekkeriff (1987, 9 mins)

TRT = 53 mins

All films on 16mm. More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities: A Celebration of Jonathan Rosenbaum”
November 26th, 2024 at Music Box Theatre in Chicago

1. Michael Snow, Breakfast (Table-Top Dolly) (1976, 15 mins)
2. Owen Land, On the Marriage Broker Joke as Cited by Sigmund Freud in Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious, or Can the Avant-Garde Artist Be Wholed? (1977, 18 mins)
3. Peter Bull, The Two-Backed Beast, or The Critic Makes the Film (1978, 45 mins)

TRT = 78 mins

All films on 16mm. Post-Screening Q&A + Book Signing. Tickets + info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “On Our Land”
October 20th, 2024 at Pilsen Community Books in Chicago

1. Marilyn Gaunt, Women Under Siege (1982, 26 mins, color, sound)
   
2. Antonia Caccia, On Our Land (1981, 55 mins, color, sound)

TRT = 81 mins

All projected on 16mm. Followed by an informal discussion led by Raja El Halwani. More info to come.

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Tone Glow Presents “On the Move: Avant-Garde Dance Films & Road Movies”
October 13th and 14th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema



SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13TH @ 2PM

1. Michael Snow, Seated Figures (1988, 42 mins, color, sound)
   
2. Sharon Lockhart, Goshogaoka (1998, 63 mins, color, sound)
   

TRT = 105 mins

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14TH @ 7PM

1. J. J. Murphy, Highway Landscape (1972, 7 mins, color, sound)
   
2. Scott Bartlett, Sound of One (1976, 11 mins, color, sound)
   
3. Robert Nelson, Hot Leatherette (1967, 5 mins, b/w, sound)
   
4. Jonas Mekas, Cup/Saucer/Two Dancers/Radio (1965/1983, 23 mins, color, sound)
   
5. Anna Geyer, Dozer (1999, 15 mins, color & b/w, sound)
   
6. Rudy Burckhardt, Dancers, Buildings and People in the Street (1986, 15 mins, color, sound)
   
7. Gunvor Nelson, Light Years Expanding (1988, 25 mins, color, sound)
   
8. Sharon Couzin, Roseblood (1974, 7 mins, color, sound)
   

TRT = 108 mins 

All on 16mm except for Goshogaoka. More info to come.

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Peripheries Experimental Film & Video Festival, 2024 (Guest Programming)
September 22nd, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago



PROGRAM 1: The States of Place, Pt. 1 @ 2:30PM

1. Francisco Rojas, A Sense of Nothing (2024, 4 mins, color, silent)
2. Alexandra Karelina, L’ailier (2024, 5 mins, color, sound)
3. Leonardo Pirondi, Adrift Potentials (2024, 12 mins, color, sound)
   
4. Onyou Oh, Eternal Depth (2024, 7 mins, color, sound)
5. Sofia Theodore-Pierce, Desire Path (2024, 2 mins, color, sound)
   
6. Eva Giolo, Silent Conversations (2023, 8 mins, color, silent)
7. Blanca García, How to Make Magic (2024, 5 mins, color, silent)
   
8. Bruno Delgado Ramo, Labores en curso (2024, 30 mins, color, sound)

TRT = 73 mins

PROGRAM 2: The States of Place, Pt. 2 @ 4:00PM

1. Ewelina Rosinska, Ashes by Name is Man (2023, 20 mins, color, silent)
2. Allan Gilbert Balon, Si Longtemps (2020, 8 mins, color, sound)
3. Kamal Aljafari, UNDR (2024, 15 mins, color, sound)
4. Rawane Nassif, Msaytbeh, the Elevated Place. (2024, 20 mins, color, sound)

TRT = 63 mins

All projected digitally excerpt for Labores en curso on Super 8. More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “You Wouldn’t Steal A Movie”
September 14th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago

1. Guy Sherwin, At the Academy (1974, 5 mins, b/w, sound)
2. Craig Baldwin, Stolen Movie (1976, 9 mins, color, sound)
3. Julie Murray, If You Stand with Your Back to the Slowing of the Speed of Light in Water (1997, 18 mins, color, sound)
   
4. Sharon Couzin, Deutschland Spiegel (1980, 12 mins, color, sound)
   
5. Abigail Child, Mutiny (1983, 11 mins, color, sound)
6. Kerry Laitala, Retrospectroscope (1997, 5 mins, b/w, silent)
   
7. Amy Halpern, By Halves (2012, 7 mins, color, silent)
   
8. Peter Kubelka, Poetry and Truth (2003, 13 mins, color, silent)
   
9. Phil Solomon, Nocturne (1980, 10 mins, b/w, silent)
   
10. Standish Lawder, Raindance (1972, 16 mins, color, sound)

TRT = 105 mins

Projected on 16mm except for Stolen Movie. More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents Dirk de Bruyn’s Homecomings (1987)
September 8th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago

1. Dirk de Bruyn, Frames (1986, 7 mins, color, sound)
   
2. Dirk de Bruyn, Homecomings (1987, 98 mins, color, sound)
3. Dirk de Bruyn, Understanding Science (1992, 17 mins, color, sound) [16mm, Chicago Only]
   

TRT = 105 mins + 17 mins

Projected digitally. Shown at multiple microcinemas across the US: Chicago (Sweet Void Cinema), Spectacle (NY), The Beacon Cinema (Seattle), and Spacy (Dallas).

More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Experiential Excess”
August 9th & 10th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago



FRIDAY, AUGUST 9TH @ 7PM

1. Tony Conrad, The Flicker (1966, 30 mins, b/w, sound)
   
2. Tony Conrad, Straight and Narrow (1970, 10 mins, b/w, sound) [With Beverly Grant]
   
3. Tony Conrad, Articulation of Boolean Algebra for Film Opticals (1975, 10 mins, b/w, sound) 
4. Tony Conrad, The Eye of Count Flickerstein (1967, 7 mins, b/w, silent)
   
5. Tony Conrad, Film Feedback (1974, 15 mins, b/w, silent)
   

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10TH @ 1PM

1. Michael Snow, La Région Centrale (1971, 193 mins, color, sound)

This two-day event took place the weekend before my school year started, serving as a “final hurrah.” I was interested in showing Tony Conrad’s films because they’re works that only really make sense when seen on film, and if people have seen his stuff, it’s usually just The Flicker. Having shown Paul Sharits’ Ray Gun Virus earlier this year, I find that its intense soundtrack made for a more visceral experience, and that the monotonous sound Conrad employs helps to isolate the rhythm of the black/white screens—it’s meditative in the way that La Monte Young’s works are, and you’re more cognizant of what is happening (as in, it’s easier to think about what is happening compared to the Sharits). There was an intermission after The Flicker as to not make the experience so overwhelming. I informed people that The Flicker’s introductory music and title card position it as a sort of parlor trick, and that the mischiveous nature of his works crop up in his other films. Straight and Narrow is a more interesting piece for how its lines create afterimages, and the music is a fun, continuous rock groove (though notably not a sort of motorik Krautrock thing), and while exciting, can’t help but feel like an elaboration of what was done in The Flicker. Articulation is fun and kind of looks like the first ever music visualizer. Count Flickerstein is the most subtle film in the program and points towards Conrad’s background in math; the lines that seem to form from the different particles look a bit like wave functions or just the sort of thing that’s created from mathematical equations. Film Feedback is a fun, bewildering exercise. The latter of these two reminded me of Sharits’ works as well: Apparent Motion and 3rd Degree, respectively. The response to these films was great, and projectionist Ben Creech showed The Flicker on the rewinds for those interested in seeing what it looked like.

La Région Centrale was really thrilling because I was unsure if it would even work. I have been told by numerous people about the failed attempts at screening this film and, when I saw it last year at MoMI, I was pretty alarmed at the state of the print taken from the Film Coop. When I was renting this film, they told me to just get it from Canyon because of how beat up theirs was, and indeed, Canyon’s print looked much neater. There were a few emulsion scratches here and there but it still looked gorgeous. We pulled off a DIY changeover system with my projector and one rented from CFS (both Elmo 16CLs). What was most alarming about this screening was how different it felt in a more intimate space. Most notable is how, during the moon sequence, a ring formed around the image itself. That was pretty crazy and felt like something that could only happen with the projector being in the space and because the screen itself did not change in size to match the size of the image. I found the film to be less exciting at MoMI because of how limiting it felt. Because of its ambition, I was constantly made aware of the limitations of the frame itself, and any sort of rotation felt like I needed to see more; to feel that desire was cool, though. Here, with the limitations already clearly visible with the smaller image, I was more attuned to its rhythms and the space that was being filmed, and didn’t feel any sort of limitation even during the rapid sequence near the end that reads as a Teo Hernández film. Fun times. Jiayi Chen served as the projectionist and wrote additional notes for the projectionist because Michael Snow’s were not that clear (e.g. he says an X will appear at the end of reel 1 but there are multiple Xs that appear throughout the film lol). Lino Gil at Sweet Void also helped to make sure the changeover was as smooth as possible. Everything in this program was projected on 16mm, prints courtesy of Canyon Cinema.

More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents Tiananmen 天安门 (1991)
July 7th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago



Tiananmen 天安门 (1991) is split into eight episodes:

1. The Old City
2. Residencies
3. On the Street
4. On Stage
5. Going Places
6. Guest Performers
7. On the Way
8. Memories

As with everything else I had programmed up to this point, this screening came about extremely quickly. I had been in contact with Sam C. Mac for years as he was my former editor at In Review Online, and was always familiar with his interest in independent Chinese film. He had made entries on Letterboxd talking about this 8-part documentary series, which led to me asking if we could collaborate and bring this to Chicago. I immediately asked Sweet Void Cinema if July 7th could work, they said yes, and then we were good to go. I mention how easy this was because of how incredible the circumstances were for this film to even be shown. Sam works at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard and started programming films there, and in his correspondences with Chinese directors was able to acquire films that have been subtitled to be fit for screening. Tiananmen was never shown publicly, making this a historic screening. Sam gave an important intro that placed the documentary in context, situating it as one of the very first independent productions (depending on how you define that) as well as one of three long-form Chinese documentary works from around this time (the other two are The Chinese and The Great Earthquake, both of which were never completed). I was especially moved by the oral history of “The Old City,” the meditative camerawork in “Residencies,” Cui Jian’s performance in “On Stage,” the depictions of an interracial marriage in “Guest Performers,” and the unexpected switch in formal strategies in “Memories.” I felt the need to program all these in one day because the cumulative effect is huge and because there are bits of various episodes that are in subtle dialogue with one another. I felt really moved by the conversations I had with some of the folks who came, and given there was a 30+ minute Q&A with Sam after the screening, my impression was that people enjoyed being able to talk about all this too. This marks the first in a series of collaborative programming that me and Sam are planning to do, all focused on various Chinese independent films both new and old. Tiananmen was shown digitally with existing hardcoded subtitles and additional subtitles that were made specifically for this screening.

More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Inventing Eternity: The Undersung Films of Late-Era Stan Brakhage”
June 28th-30th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago



FRIDAY, JUNE 28
Program 1: The Subconscious Storehouse: From Stan Brakhage to Phil Solomon @ 7PM

1. I Take These Truths (1995, 17'44", color, silent)
   
2. We Hold These (1995, 11'35", color, silent)
   
3. I… (1995, 27'06", color, silent)
   
4. Concrescence (1996, 3'08", color, silent) [Made with Phil Solomon]

Program 2: Tortured Dust @ 9PM

1. Hymn to Her (1974, 2'19", color, silent)
   
2. Jane (1985, 13', color, silent)
   
3. Tortured Dust (1984, 88'09", color, silent)
   

SATURDAY, JUNE 29
Program 3: Closed-Eye Visions: The Roman, Egyptian, and Babylon Series @ 2PM

1. Roman Numeral I (1979, 4'50", color, silent)
   
2. Roman Numeral II (1979, 6'38", color, silent)
3. Roman Numeral III (1980, 1'33", color, silent)
4. Roman Numeral IV (1980, 1'37", color, silent)
   
5. Roman Numeral V (1980, 2'12", color, silent)
   
6. Roman Numeral VI (1980, 8'58", color, silent)
   
7. Roman Numeral VII (1980, 3'51", color, silent)
   
8. Roman Numeral VIII (1980, 2'56", color, silent)
   
9. Roman Numeral IX (1980, 1'47", color, silent)
   
10. Egyptian Series (1984, 18', color, silent)
    
11. Babylon Series #1 (1989, 4'45", color, silent)
    
12. Babylon Series #2 (1990, 2'09", color, silent)
    
13. Babylon Series #3 (1990, 4'48", color, silent)
    

Program 4: Brakhage and the Composers of the Avant-Garde @ 4:30PM

1. Loud Visual Noises (Sound Version) (1987, 2'03", color, sound)
   
2. Christ Mass Sex Dance (1991, 3'48", color, sound)
   
3. Matins (1988, 2'15", color, silent)
   
4. Passage Through: A Ritual (1990, 49', color, sound)
   

Program 5: Peculiar Laws: The Faust Films @ 8PM

1. Faustfilm: An Opera (1987, 42'40", color, sound)
   
2. Faust’s Other: An Idyll (1988, 40'23", color, sound)
   
3. Faust 3: Candida Albacore (1988, 25'16", color, sound)
   
4. Faust IV (1989, 38', color, sound)

SUNDAY, JUNE 30
Program 6: The Vancouver Island Quartet, Part 1 @ 2PM

1. A Child’s Garden and the Serious Sea (1991, 70'39", color, silent)
   
2. The Mammals of Victoria (1994, 34'09", color, silent)
   

Program 7: The Vancouver Island Quartet, Part 2 @ 4:30PM

1. The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him (2000, 47'52", color, silent)
   
2. Panels for the Walls of Heaven (2002, 35', color, silent)
   

Program 8: Death is a Meaningless Word: An Assortment of Brakhage’s Final Films @ 8PM

1. Max (2002, 3'42", color, silent)
   
2. Worm and Web Love (1999, 3'42", color, silent)
   
3. Birds of Paradise (1999, 2'22", color, silent)
   
4. The Earthsong of the Cricket (1999, 1'48", color, silent)
   
5. Cricket Requiem (1999, 2'30", color, silent)
   
6. The Lion and The Zebra Make God’s Raw Jewels (1999, 5'35", color, silent)
   
7. Cloud Chamber (1999, 2'58", color, silent)
   
8. Stately Mansions Did Decree (1999, 5'33", color, silent)
   
9. Micro Garden (2001, 3'10", color, silent)
   
10. Rounds (2001, 13'39", color, silent)
    
11. Occam’s Thread (2001, 6'47", color, silent)
    
12. The Jesus Trilogy and Coda (2000, 20'15", color, silent)
    
13. Resurrectus Est (2002, 7'51", color, silent)
    
14. Divertimento (1997, 2', color, silent)
    
15. Dark Night of the Soul (2002, 2'57", color, silent)
    
16. Ascension (2002, 2'08", color, silent)
    
17. Commingled Containers (1996, 2'42", color, silent)
    
18. Self Song/Death Song (1997, 3'45", color, silent)
    
19. Chinese Series (2003, 2'18", color, silent)
    
    

I had traveled to the Film Coop to see a bunch of Stan Brakhage’s films before but I realized that the easiest way to see a bunch more would be to just program an entire festival of his works. I had 51 films shown during this festival, all on 16mm. I mocked up these programs before seeing a lot of them and found it easy to do so based off what I’d read about them. When these films all arrived at my home, I watched all of them so that way I could know what to say for the intros, which I did for every program except for Tortured Dust (that was done by Nick Swanton, who showed a video intro that R. Bruce Elder made for the film years back). Given that I had only done two other film programs in Chicago in the past, I was a little nervous about how this would all pan out but I think that my experience as a teacher (specifically, organizing various logistical things and improvising on the spot to solve problems) made everything an incredibly smooth affair. The Faust and Vancouver Island Quartet films were rented from the Film Coop while the rest was taken from Canyon (this was due to their respective pricing of the various films). I made lists for those who had fest passes (or would stay for all the programs in a specific day) and used my teacher stamps to keep track of that! Thought that was funny.

Everything sold out and people also showed up at the door to see the films, which ended up working out because there were actually more space than we realized for seating. People traveled from various states (Washington, California, Tennessee, Iowa, Michigan, New York, maybe some others I’m forgetting) and people expressed a lot of excitement about this taking place. I thought it was so sick and it made me realize that I could really do bigger programming projects if I set my mind to it. I loved that multiple friends loved the Faust films, which I am mixed on. I was enthralled that many people loved Passage Through: A Ritual, which is my favorite Brakhage film. I called up Philip Corner (my second interview with him) to talk more in depth about it and he said both Stan and Marilyn agreed it was their favorite work the former ever made. I also especially liked We Hold These, Babylon Series #1 and #3, The God of Day Had Come Down Upon Him (a film that I appreciated way more this time around in the context of the Vancouver Island Quartet), Birds of Paradise, both Cricket films, Stately Mansions Did Decree (a favorite that just confirmed for me is one of his very best), and Commingled Containers (which, alongside Self Song/Death Song and Chinese Series, felt especially impactful at the end of the entire festival). Josh Mabe projected all the films aside from the Faust program, which Jiayi Chen handled. A lot of the Sweet Void folks made this all logistically smooth (Jack McCoy, Jon Anderson, and Lino Gil). And Marilyn Brakhage was crucial as she provided information about runtimes etc. (a lot are inaccurate on various websites) and a generous discount. As far as I know, this was the biggest Stan Brakhage retrospective in the United States since 2010, and certainly the only one I’ve ever seen of this scale happen in the span of a single weekend.

More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Elemental Meditations”
May 17th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago

1. James Cagle, Matrix (1973, b/w, silent, 8 mins)
2. James Cagle, Excavation (1974, color, sound, 5 mins)
3. James Cagle, Metonic Cycles (1974, color, silent, 12 mins)
4. James Cagle, Waterwork (1973, color, silent, 11 mins)
5. Paul Sharits, 3rd Degree (1982, color, sound, 24 mins)
6. Paul Sharits, Ray Gun Virus (1966, color, sound, 14 mins)

I felt it deeply important to show all the works of the late James Cagle (1938-2020), a Midwestern filmmaker whose Waterwork is one of the great structural films. His other films are good too and work well when seen all in context (and I’m fairly certain his films have never all screened together before). In particular, Matrix stands out as a fun little flicker experiment, and Metonic Cycles is a contemplative, mysterious piece that is in dialogue with Waterwork. Given the presence of flicker, I decided to show Ray Gun Virus, which was a killer closer and had a soundtrack that was deeply moving in a theater (it revs up at the end to give some cinematic flair, albeit it’s still very minimalist). Given the presence of water (Waterwork), earth (Metonic Cycles), and light (Ray Gun Virus), I decided to throw in 3rd Degree (one of my favorite Sharits films) because of the presence of fire, hence the name “Elemental Meditations” (yes I recognize the fourth element is actually air). And of course, these films are elemental in the other sense of the word. Thought this screening was killer, multiple people I know were really stoked that they finally got to see Ray Gun Virus in person. Everything was projected on 16mm by Josh Mabe. All films came from the Film Coop.

More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Pop Music as Prismatic Utopia”
April 19th, 2024 at Sweet Void Cinema in Chicago

1. Sadie Benning, Jollies (1990, b/w, sound, 11 mins)
2. Betzy Bromberg, Petit Mal (1977, color, sound, 18 mins)
3. Chick Strand, Angel Blue Sweet Wings (1966, color, sound, 4 mins)
4. Thom Andersen, Olivia’s Place (1974, color, sound, 6 mins)
5. Bruce Baillie, All My Life (1966, color, sound, 3 mins)
6. Warren Sonbert, Friendly Witness (1989, color, sound, 32 mins)

After years of trying to program something in Chicago, I was finally able to do so with Sweet Void Cinema, a microcinema in Humboldt Park. I attended a screening of Shirley Erbacher’s 8mm films (films that I wanted to see at the Coop for my “Colordance” program but couldn’t because they only have a 16mm projector on hand) that was run by Josh Mabe. Erbacher is a Chicago-absed filmmaker inspired by Brakhage and that entire event (the first one with projected film at SVC), led me to asking them if I could do something. The result was this, a program that bridged my love for music and film (which is also what my forthcoming book is about). I had seen all these films in some capacity, most notably Sonbert’s Friendly Witness at the NYPL , and knew it would have to be screened (it is his best work imo). The intent with this program was to start with the personal and move to something more universal. Love all these films, though during the screening I was most surprised by how striking the Strand film was when projected. Incredible soundtrack and colors. The fact this proved a success (and sold out) convinced me that I should just keep programming. Everything was projected on 16mm by Josh Mabe, aside from Jollies which was shown digitially courtesy of Video Data Bank. The rest of the films were rented via Canyon Cinema.

More info here.

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Tone Glow Presents “Colordance”
May 26th, 2023 (with repeat screening on May 30th, 2023) at the Film-Makers’ Cooperative in New York

1. Stan VanDerBeek, Film Form No. 1 (1968, color, sound, 11 minutes)
2. Doris Chase, Dance 11 (1975, color, sound, 8 minutes)
3. Sara Kathryn Arledge, Introspection (1941, color, sound, 6 minutes)
4. Ed Emshwiller, Dance Chromatic (1959, color, sound, 7 minutes)
5. Stan Brakhage, Dance (2000, color, silent, 7 minutes)
6. Jean Sousa, Swish (1982, color, silent, 3 mins)
7. Sharon Couzin, Roseblood (1974, color, sound, 7 minutes)
8. Paul Sharits, Apparent Motion (1975, color, silent, 28 minutes)
9. Standish Lawder, Raindance (1972, color, sound, 16 minutes)

My first film attempt at programming films entirely on my own, sort of on a whim based on films I’d seen at the Coop. The first half presented dance films in color while the second half was meant to be films where you could see “colors dancing.” First screening sold out and, due to high demand, a second film screening took place. First one had projector issues and a new projector was bought before the second one and everything ran smoothly. This screening was important to me because the entire reason I became interested in avant-garde film can be traced to initially seeing Norman McLaren’s Pas de Deux many years ago. That film, and my interest in dance as an artform in general, has been a sizable part of my interest in avant-garde film in general. Before this screening I went to the NYPL to check out the Dance Perspectives issue on “Cine-Dance,” which proved instrumental in helping me learn more about this scene. A few all-timers in here for me, including Dance Chromatic (my favorite Emshwiller, and it must be seen on film to really get the full extent of how beautiful the colors all are), Roseblood (which sparked an interest in learning more about Chicago avant-garde filmmakers), and Raindance (maybe the most playful flicker film ever made). Everything was projected on 16mm by Robert Schneider and Matt McKinzie.

More info here.

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Film Diary NYC Presents “Building Steam with a Grain of Salt” (Guest Programming)
March 31st, 2023 at the Film-Makers’ Cooperative in New York

1. Gary Doberman’s Nimbus (1978, color & b/w, silent, 4.5 mins)
   
2. Myrel Glick's Sentiment (1979, color & b/w, 7.25 mins)
   

This was the first time I ever programmed anything. I had been in touch with Film Diary NYC because I saw the programming they were doing in New York. I eventually reached out and shared a list I made on Letterboxd of Diary Films that they appreciated and used as a resource to host at least one screening. I asked to guest program something for this screening and chose two films (others were initially chosen but we couldn’t get approval in time) that were in the Film Coop’s archive. I had never seen these before, which was a rookie mistake (albeit I’m not so hardline on that), and the Doberman film was unfortuantely faded. I was initially embarrassed about the whole affair because I thought the films weren’t so great, especially in the context of a program that was already quite long, but they grew on me with time, especially Sentiment. Both films were projected on 16mm by Robert Schneider.

More info + entire program here.

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Other Ideas (if you’re reading this, pretend you’re not seeing it:

• The Dream Scroll (2025)
• Independent Chinese Film Series (2025)
• Contemporary Experimental Korean Films at Sweet Void (2025)
  
• Cafe Flesh on 35mm at the Music Box Theatre (2025)
• John Luther Schofill Retrospective on 16mm (2025)
  
• Ernie Gehr retro (2025)
• Rudy Burckhardt Films w/ Bookstore on 16mm (2025)
• Hannes Schüpbach on 16mm (2025)
  
• Elaine Summers Dance Films on 16mm w/ CFS (September 2025)
  

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