In person: Cauleen Smith. 

Using the language of structural filmmaking, Southern California-born multimedia artist, filmmaker, and educator Cauleen Smith (b. 1967) has created some of the most indelible explorations of the female Black experience in the American avant-garde. Drawing from science fiction and Third Cinema, and rooted in an inquisition of truth, her more than 30 short- and long-form works bring to light the vulnerabilities of Black women in America, which are often silenced or rendered invisible. Completed while studying for her Bachelor’s in Creative Arts at San Francisco State University, Daily Rains is a measured, poetic work that confronts head-on the micro- and macro-aggressions faced by young Black women. Shot in West Oakland, her early coming-of-age feature Drylongso follows teen artist Pica on her quest to take photos of young African American men, whom she fears are becoming an increasingly “endangered species.” 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will not be screening Daily Rains as originally planned.

Note by Academy Museum Associate Director, Film Programs K.J. Relth-Miller.  

Daily Rains | Restoration World Premiere
DIRECTED BY: Cauleen Smith. WITH: Bridget Goodman, Dorian Sylvain, Tracey Williams, Candance Renee Green. 1990. 13 min. USA. Color. English. 16mm. Restored by the Academy Film Archive.

Drylongso | Los Angeles Restoration Premiere
DIRECTED BY: Cauleen Smith. WRITTEN BY: Cauleen Smith, Salim Akil. WITH: Toby Smith, April Barnett, Will Power, Channel Schafer. 1998. 86 min. USA. Color. English. 4K DCP. Restored by the Criterion Collection, Janus Films, and the Academy Film Archive. Supervised by Cauleen Smith.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.