Available Space

Su Friedrich is a groundbreaking experimental artist whose approach to diaristic filmmaking has helped shape queer cinema. Her more than two-dozen moving-image works have screened in festivals and museums worldwide, and have inspired more than 30 career retrospectives at prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art; and the Rotterdam International Film Festival. In each of her films, including the two featured in this program, Friedrich rewrites cinematic language to reflect her own experiences, including her childhood encounters with religion (Damned If You Don’t) and her complicated relationship with her father (Sink or Swim). In 2015, Sink or Swim was honored with a place in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry, a testament to its cultural and artistic significance and enduring legacy.

This program features world premieres of new 16mm preservation prints from the Academy Film Archive, and welcomes Friedrich in person to discuss the evolution of her practice, visions of girlhood, prolific creative output, and more.

Program and note by K.J. Relth-Miller.

Thanks to Los Angeles Filmforum, where a program of Friedrich’s work will screen on Sunday, January 11 at 2220 Arts + Archives.

One of the leading experimental filmmakers of the 21st century, Tomonari Nishikawa began his practice in 2003, exploring the tangible qualities and apparatus of filmmaking. “Just as an artist carries a sketchbook and practices drawing,” Nishikawa said of his early Sketch Film(s) #1–5, “I carried a Super 8 camera and practiced stop-motion animation of the lines and shapes I see in public spaces,” documenting city streets in his native Japan and in New York. Using in-camera techniques and strategic masking to capture life in compounded fragments, Nishikawa creates tiny magic tricks of time and space, elegantly showcased in Ten Mornings Ten Evenings and One Horizon (2016), a contemplative short that features bridges in his hometown of Mount Ōkawairi, Japan, and his “slipstream city symphonies” (Mubi Notebook) like Shibuya – Tokyo (2010) and 45 7 Broadway (2013). Nishikawa’s films have been showcased around the world; lauded at international festivals; and deeply appreciated by his students at Binghamton University in New York. When Nishikawa passed away suddenly in April 2025, at the age of 55, he left behind his influence on a generation of aspiring filmmakers and a collection of remarkable shortform works, showcased in near completion in this program. All films are directed by Tomonari Nishikawa. Special thanks to Miki Nishikawa, Canyon Cinema, and Lightcone. Program and notes by K.J. Relth-Miller. Total program runtime: approx. 70 min.