Careless Passage (2024) by Jerome Hiler
CROSSROADS push[es] together the outer limits of narrative logic, experimental abstraction, and documentary… an essential festival for contemporary moving-image art.
— James Hansen, The Brooklyn Rail
…the most expansive showcase for experimental media in the United States…
— Alex Fields, In Review Online
Founded by filmmaker Bruce Baillie in 1961, San Francisco Cinematheque is the Bay Area’s premier venue for avant-garde/experimental, underground and personally expressive film, video and performance work. In its dedication to exhibiting works of aesthetically radical cinema from all historical eras and geo-political locales, Cinematheque cultivates the international field of artist-made cinema, inspiring aesthetic dialog and critical discourse and encouraging appreciation across the broader cultural landscape.
Inaugurated in 2010, CROSSROADS is San Francisco Cinematheque’s annual film festival, dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary avant-garde film, video and performance work. Artists featured in previous years have included Malic Amalya, Ephraim Asili, Stephanie Barber, Stephen Broomer, Peter Burr, Heehyun Choi, Paul Clipson, Charlotte Clermont, Colectivo Los ingrávidos, Nathaniel Dorsky, Ayana Dozier, Carl Elsaesser, Erin Espelie, Kevin Jerome Everson, Federica Foglia, Siegfried A. Fruhauf, Blanca Garcia, Janie Geiser, Friedl vom Gröller, Karissa Hahn, Christopher Harris, Jerome Hiler, Mike Hoolboom, Sky Hopinka, Alexandre Larose, Karl Lemieux, Saul Levine, Jeanne Liotta, Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu, Simon Liu, Jodie Mack, J.M. Martínez, Lindsay McIntyre, Angelo Madsen Minax, Cristiana Miranda, Jeremy Moss, Zack Parrinilla, Alee Peoples, Adam Piron, Charlotte Pryce, Morgan Quaintance, Michael Robinson, Sylvia Schedelbauer, Daïchi Saïto, Rajee Samarasinghe, Tulapop Saenjaroen, Scott Stark, Jonathan Schwartz, Cauleen Smith, Rhea Storr, Deborah Stratman, TT Takemoto, Makino Takashi, Paige Taul, Sofia Theodore-Pierce, Richard Tuohy, Micah Weber, Erin Weisgerber, Matt Whitman and Antoinette Zwirchmayr.
CROSSROADS is curated annually by Cinematheque’s Artistic Director Steve Polta.
A history of CROSSROADS (including past line-ups) is available here.
Cinematheque seeks submissions of recent films, videos and works of performance cinema for CROSSROADS 2026, the seventeenth iteration of our annual film festival. CROSSROADS 2026 will be held September 4–6, 2026 at the San Francisco venue known as Gray Area with the festival line-up to be announced mid-July. Pending funding (and other uncertainties), CROSSROADS 2026 may be followed by an online “echo,” featuring works included in the theatrical presentations, at www.sfcinematheque.org.
ENTRY GUIDELINES
Access our online submission form here (also embedded below).
COMPLETION DATE:
As a celebration of recent/contemporary film, video and performance, CROSSROADS prefers to preview film/video work completed 2024–2026. If you have work completed prior to 2024 that you strongly feel would be right for CROSSROADS feel free to send it along, keeping our curatorial preference in mind.
GENRE:
There are absolutely no hard and fast genre restrictions governing the CROSSROADS curatorial process. That said, CROSSROADS tends to lean strongly toward presenting works that engage with the histories and traditions associated with forms of cinema identified as avant-garde, experimental, underground, personal, graphic, abstract, expanded, “visionary,” etc etc etc, including work that is otherly challenging (in terms of form and content) and also including “conceptual” work and work that is expansive or boundary-crossing (whatever these terms might means). Multi-projector work, film/video performance,pieces involving dance/motion performance, presentations with live music (or other live components) and other “expanded cinema” forms are staples of the CROSSROADS experience. We are open to being challenged and do what we can to accommodate such work so if this is what you do, please share. (Please know however that we are generally unable to present installation work or work otherwise intended for gallery or other non-theatrical contexts.) We are open to works of all durations, ranging from infinitesimally short to challengingly long. We are also interested in formally innovative narrative and documentary forms, animated works and the like. We are less interested in traditionally-formatted narrative films (of any durations) or topically-oriented documentary films. We delight in new forms and surprises so if you think your film is right for CROSSROADS please share. Please see this history of CROSSROADS for examples of past exhibitions and to get a sense of what we do.
PREMIERE POLICY:
We are quite honored to present world, national and local premieres of work and proudly reference such status in promoting the festival and its programs. The CROSSROADS curatorial process is open, however, to all works regardless of “premiere status.” We hold no policy of inclusion or exclusion based on this status and such status has little bearing on our selection decisions.
EXHIBITION FORMATS:
Viable formats for cinema space exhibition include 8mm, Super-8mm, 16mm, QuickTime/ProRes and Blu-ray. Please note that we cannot present work as DCP or 35mm. We also seek submissions of cinematic (and “cinema adjacent”) performance, multi-projector (“expanded cinema”) projection works and other works of para/proto/quasi cinema but (unfortunately) cannot present installation work or works intended for gallery presentation. In almost all cases, preview media is required for work to be considered but feel free to include written or visual documentation of non-standard works as you feel necessary; please email this to festival@sfcinematheque.org with a note that explains what’s going on. Works screened in the CROSSROADS 2026 Online Echo (if it happens) will be presented as digital video (QuickTime ProRes files preferred).
SUBMISSION FORMATS:
Our strong preference is that entries be submitted as streaming online video. If it is necessary for you to share your submission as physical media (e.g. DVD, Blu-Ray, film print, hard drive, etc.) please contact us at festival@sfcinematheque.org to discuss.
Access our online submission form here (also embedded below).
DEADLINES & ENTRY FEES:
PLEASE NOTE: Cinematheque pays rental fees for all works screened in CROSSROADS.
Early Submission Deadline: January 31, 2026 ($25 per entry)
Late Submission Deadline: February 28, 2026 ($30 per entry)
Payments can be made via PayPal (please use PayPal for credit card payments), Venmo (@sfcinematheque) or check/money order are accepted.
Checks/Money Orders (payable to San Francisco Cinematheque) can be mailed to:
CROSSROADS FILM FESTIVAL
San Francisco Cinematheque
55 Taylor Street
San Francisco CA 94102 USA
NOTE: Entry fees are waived for Cinematheque members (with no limit on number of entries). Become a member here and save!
SELECTED FILMS
Entrants of films selected for CROSSROADS 2026 will be informed via email approximately mid-June 2026. Final information on the work and the artist(s)—film note, bio, images, etc—will be requested at this time. You will be asked to provide an exhibition copy of your work (film or digital video) by July 31, 2025. All physical exhibition media will be returned at the conclusion of the festival.
PLEASE NOTE that all dates and details relative to CROSSROADS 2026 are tentative and subject to change.
Questions? Please contact CROSSROADS at festival@sfcinematheque.org.
Don’t forget the entry fee! Please click the button below to pay via PayPal!
NOTE: Entry fees are waived for Cinematheque members (with no limit on number of entries). Become a member here and save!