"The short films in this program reflect a mix of formal experiments and collaborations that often feed into and fuel some of my longer poetic narratives, essay and autobiographical films, spanning my 45 year practice. Formally, the first half of the program are mid-career works which experiment with techniques of fragmentation through shooting, editing optical printing and through photo-chemical processes.

The term 'spaghetti style' refers to pouring and agitating film in a developing tank, much like stirring spaghetti. Some view this as a cheap, non-standard approach that deviates from regulated processes. However, for those who venture outside institutional norms and believe in the accidental beauty that emerges from deficiencies and lacks, it represents a precious alternative method. Inside the darkness, films overlap, brush each other, and leave their traces. When the lid of the tank and the door open, the light enters the darkroom.

M. Woods’ Commodity Trading: Dies Irae is a surrealist nightmare wrapped in a documentary chronicling the void that emerged with the election of Donald Trump. The movie weaves a narrative through political hells, using 16mm film, mixed media digital experimentation, and archival footage to paint a hallucinatory landscape of Southern California’s break from reality.