Co-sponsored by the San Francisco Art Institute.

Nov 20 & 24 Wednesday & Sunday 7:30 PM

On the fifth anniversary of the death of Harry Smith–legendary filmmaker, painter, folk musicologist, anthropologist, linguist and Naropa Institute resident ‘shaman’–Smith archivist Rani Singh presents two exciting evenings of rare films and slides. The enigmatic Smith was a great innovator: he was one of the first to paint directly on film in the 1930s, his “American Folk Music” and “Kiowa Peyote Meeting” recordings were groundbreaking, and his studies of mysticism and alchemy heavily influenced early San Francisco Beat culture. On Wednesday, Nov. 20 Rani will present a biographical slide show on Smith’s colorful life, including his classic film Early Abstractions. Sunday, Nov. 24 includes films: Heaven and Earth Magic with actual Magic Lantern projections, a newly discovered 3-D film from 1948-51, Late Superimpositions and more.