Films by Nathaniel Dorsky: How Delicately the Light Imbues Our Fleeting Life

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"…to create a film form which, in itself, has all the qualities of being human: tenderness, observation, fear, curiosity, the sense of stepping into the world, sudden murky disruptions and undercurrents, expansion, pulling back, contraction, relaxation, sublime revelation. ...Silence allows these delicate articulations of vision which are simultaneously poetic and sculptural to be fully experienced." —Nathaniel Dorsky

"With a delicate and unique clarity of focus, the serenely silent 16mm films of Bay Area treasure Nathaniel Dorsky embody a mindful concern for the epiphanies of each passing moment and a rare sensitivity to the ephemeralities of light. In celebration of the Bay Area premiere of four new films—each deeply concerned the delicacy and sorrow of being alive in the world—we present three silent evenings (and one afternoon) of this master filmmaker’s most recent works." — Steve Polta

Nathaniel Dorsky in person at all screenings

Note: This series of four screenings includes one program of four films which is screened on two evenings—Thursday, November 12 & Friday, November 13—and a second program presented in two variations on Saturday evening (November 14) and Sunday afternoon (November 15).

Thursday, November 12 @ 7:30pm: Program 1
- Summer (2013)
Summer in San Francisco is a dry and rainless season. The film, Summer, although photographed during this period of time, is not so much a description of summer, as it is a cinematic response to that world of our being.

- December (2014)
December was photographed during this often turbulent month and edited soon after. It has a purity of form which I find quite rewarding.

- February (2014)
…photographed during the first weeks of early spring in San Francisco. For me there is a haunted sense of restlessness in its form, some desire for a new freedom, a fresh sense of cinema.

- Avraham (2014)
In most of my films I have had the burden of adding a title afterwards. Sometimes the word or words would come automatically, but more often with great difficulty. In the case of Avraham, the title came first. It was not only the film’s inspiration but the very thing that determined every shot and every cut.

Friday, November 13 @ 7:30pm: Program 2
Sames as program 1

Saturday, November 14 @ 7:30pm: Program 3
- Song (2013)
Song was photographed in San Francisco from early October through the winter solstice in late December, 2012.

- Intimations (2015)
How delicately the light imbues our fleeting life.

- Prelude (2015)
It is a profound and rarified pleasure to be photographing and editing film at this most tentative of times. To do so is to behold the soulful beauty and tenderness of cinema, its depths and joys as human experience.

Sunday, November 15 @ 2pm: Program 4
- Spring (2013)
Spring was photographed during the months following the winter solstice. I wanted to see if I could make a film that was in itself a garden, a film that like the world of plants, would yearn and stretch in the oncoming light.

- Intimations (2015)
How delicately the light imbues our fleeting life.

- Prelude (2015)
It is a profound and rarified pleasure to be photographing and editing film at this most tentative of times. To do so is to behold the soulful beauty and tenderness of cinema, its depths and joys as human experience.

Admission: $10 general/$5 members
Advance tickets available here.

Image Gallery: 

February (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2014)
February (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2014)

Venue: 

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts - San Francisco, United States

Dates: 

Repeats every day until Sun Nov 15 2015.
Thursday, November 12, 2015 (All day)
Friday, November 13, 2015 (All day)
Saturday, November 14, 2015 (All day)
Sunday, November 15, 2015 (All day)

Category: 

Dates: 

Thursday, November 12, 2015 (All day)
Friday, November 13, 2015 (All day)
Saturday, November 14, 2015 (All day)
Sunday, November 15, 2015 (All day)
  • 701 Mission Street
    94103   San Francisco
    United States
    37° 47' 8.8728" N, 122° 24' 8.7264" W