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
San Francisco’s hub for experimental film, media, and performance…
…one of North America’s major showcases for avant-garde and experimental film, video and multimedia work.
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, Rosa Barba, Stephanie Barber, Tommy Becker, Michael Betancourt, Stephen Broomer, Peter Burr, Emily Chao, Paul Clipson, Colectivo Los ingrávidos, Nathaniel Dorsky, Erin Espelie, Kevin Jerome Everson, Karissa Hahn, Mike Hoolboom, Ken Jacobs, Rosa John, Kerry Laitala, Alexandre Larose, Laida Lertxundi, Saul Levine, Jeanne Liotta, Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu, Simon Liu, Jodie Mack, J.M. Martínez, Jesse McLean, Cristiana Miranda, Michael A. Morris, Jeremy Moss, Lydia Moyer, OJOBOCA, Alee Peoples, Miko Revereza, Michael Robinson, Margaret Rorison, Lynne Sachs, Rajee Samarasinghe, Talena Sanders, Sylvia Schedelbauer, Scott Stark, Jamilah Sabur, Jonathan Schwartz, Cauleen Smith, Deborah Stratman, Makino Takashi, Robert Todd, Kit Young 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. Note that the (near) entirety of CROSSROADS 2020 is available for FREE online viewing, through September 30, 2020 here.
Cinematheque seeks submissions of recent films, videos and works of performance cinema for CROSSROADS 2020, the twelfth iteration of our annual film festival. Pending resolution to the COVID-19 pandemic, CROSSROADS 2020 will be held in early June 2021 (San Francisco venue to be determined) with the festival line-up to be announced mid-April 2021. CROSSROADS 2021 will also be presented with a strong online component at www.sfcinematheque.org.