Gravitational Lensing is a curated series dedicated to exploring the visions, voices, concerns and lineage of women, non-binary, genderqueer and trans filmmakers through public film screenings, workshops, conversations and presentations.

Inspired by and named after the scientific phenomenon in which the gravitational pull of celestial bodies clustered together causes a curvature of spacetime strong enough to magnify distant objects, Gravitational Lensing aims to highlight and amplify the work of women, non-binary, genderqueer and trans filmmakers by the sheer magnitude of their collective creative energy when gathered together in common dialogue.

This limited-run, monthly series, spear-headed by filmmaker and feminist film scholar Amy Reid and filmmaker and Director of Programming at Shapeshifters Cinema Kathleen Quillian, will pair films selected from open-call submissions, with known (and maybe not-as-well-known) films made by other women, non-binary, genderqueer and trans filmmakers from across the space-time continuum. These will be curated into programs focused on broader cultural, historical, political and personal topics of interest to women, non-binary, genderqueer and trans artists.

The series will be designed around the films we receive from this open call, so there are no parameters on subject matter, theme or style. We are interested in considering all types of films, including experimental, narrative, documentary and even home movies as long as they represent your vision and further ideas about subjects that are important to you. We are also interested in considering expanded or performance-based moving image work.

Along with monthly screenings, the series will also include workshops and related conversations and presentations, all of which will happen in 2024 at Shapeshifters Cinema in Oakland, CA.

The deadline to submit work is January 7, 2024. We are not charging a fee for work to be considered. But we *will* be compensating all artists who are programmed into the series.

More about the series + a link to the submission form can be found here: http://shapeshifterscinema.com/gravlens/