Helen Hill was an experimental animator, filmmaker, educator, artist, writer and social activist who lived her last years in New Orleans, Louisiana. Featuring puppets, hand-drawn animation, found footage and hand-processing techniques, Hill's short films have been screened at festivals all over the world. Thanks to the Harvard Film Archive for making the screening possible.

Grab a chair and a blanket and join us for a free outdoor screening of SHOWING UP, a film about art and relationships presented by Filament and Living Room. A sculptor preparing to open a new show must balance her creative life with the daily dramas of family and friends in Kelly Reichardt's vibrant and captivatingly funny portrait of art and craft. Co-presented by Living Room.

BLUE HERON, director Sophy Romvari’s feature debut, expands upon the vital and highly personal body of work established in the Canadian filmmaker’s short films. Set in the late nineties, it follows an eight year old girl and her Hungarian immigrant family, whose new life on Vancouver Island is upended by the behavior of her troubled older brother. Introducing Eylul Guven as a fictionalized version of Romvari, the film draws upon biographical events to craft an inspired meditation on memory and storytelling. Blue Heron had its world premiere at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival, where it was awarded the Swatch First Feature Award.

Suns Cinema and Filament are pleased to present an evening with filmmaker Caroline Golum for the DC premiere of her new feature, REVELATIONS OF DIVINE LOVE. Set against the backdrop of the Black Plague, the Peasants' Uprising, and medieval religious mysticism, the film adapts the writings of Julian of Norwich, a 14th century visionary and memoirist, who was the first woman to author a book in English, tracing her spiritual path from suffering to ecstasy. Shot on a shoestring budget through crowdfunding, REVELATIONS OF DIVINE LOVE premiered at FID Marseille in 2025 and is Golum’s second feature.

The whimsical animations of “Nanny” Lynn Ochberg have inspired many theories about the identity of their creator. Blending technological curiosity with folk surrealism, the videos were created using a Commodore Amiga in the nineties to entertain her grandchildren. What began as a family pastime grew to mythical proportions as they circulated underground in bootleg copies over the decades. In 2020, the creator revealed her identity, and the rest is history. Join us for a screening of Lynn Ochberg’s work followed by a remote Q&A with the artist. Notes and Program by Sam Gurry. Thanks to James Thatcher & Lynn Ochberg.

MILESTONES, Robert Kramer, 1975, 195 minutes Fifty years ago, Robert Kramer’s epic capturing the disillusionment of post-Vietnam America solidified his reputation as one of the nation’s preeminent political filmmakers. Casting a glance across a large ensemble of characters, the sprawling docufiction tracks hippies, farmers, immigrants, Native Americans, and activists as they come to terms with the new status quo. Come catch this under-appreciated and rarely screened touchstone at Suns Cinema on March 31 at 8:45 pm. Guest picked by Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer.

DEBUT, OR OBJECTS OF THE FIELD OF DEBRIS AS CURRENTLY CATALOGUED, Julian Castronovo, 2025, 78 minutes Through a collage of webcam footage and slideshow presentations, an aspiring filmmaker investigates what may be the perfect subject for his first film when he discovers that his apartment was owned by a missing art forger. Starring director Julian Castronovo as a fictionalized version of himself, DEBUT is a lo-fi mystery for the internet age, detailing his descent into obsession using an essayistic hybrid of documentary and narrative. HEAVEN, Kai Tattersall, 2022, 17 minutes It will be preceded by the short film HEAVEN by Kai Tattersall. A girl tries to cure a magical tree in a modern fairytale that uses emerging technology to combine live action with animation.

THE MAIDEN, Graham Foy, 2022, 132 minutes From rising Canadian filmmaker Graham Foy comes a surreal and dreamlike coming of age story about a group of teenage friends in rural Alberta coping with grief in the aftermath of a tragic accident. Shot on atmospheric 16 mm film, THE MAIDEN conjures a liminal state where fantasy and reality begin to blur. AUGUST 22, THIS YEAR, Graham Foy, 2020, 15 minutes It will be preceded by Foy’s short film AUGUST 22, THIS YEAR. Upon learning the date of the end of the world, a group of people begin preparing for the apocalypse in their unique ways, some by embracing normalcy, others by celebrating the world they once knew.

MRS WILLIAM HORSLEY’S VEXATIONS, Matthew Thurber, 2021 - 2023, 45 minutes After successful forays into the visual arts, the CIA began to infiltrate “Easy Listening” music around 1959. They secretly funded many favorite artists as a way to bolster American global dominance & replace European classical music with Muzak. The CIA saw potential for weaponized sound in Erik Satie’s Vexations, an infamous piano piece that repeats a simple phrase 840 times, requiring 3 days to perform. HELL, Gabriel Achilles Bellone, 2025, 2 minutes VEXATIONS will be preceded by Gabriel Achilles Bellone's short film HELL with a live score by Suburbanabuse.

IN ORDER NOT TO BE HERE, Deborah Stratman, 2002, 33 minutes IN ORDER NOT TO BE HERE is an uncompromising look at the ways privacy, safety, convenience and surveillance determine our environment. Shot entirely at night, the film confronts the hermetic nature of white-collar communities, dissecting the fear behind contemporary suburban design.

Rhizome DC and Filament present the second edition of A Night of Moving Images, a juried showcase of short film and video from the DMV. The screening will take place at Rhizome DC on Thursday, September 4 at 7:00 PM followed by a conversation with the selected artists. Prints of the films will be screened when possible. The selected artists are Gabriel Achilles Bellone, Adam Beuttler, Taylor Elise Colimore, Danielle d'Amico, Jeremy Drummond, Alexander Fingrutd, Brice Goldberg, Eva Grandoni, Jo Jovel, Nick Karpinski, Jessie Kraemer, William Love IV, Alex Menick, Mishkh, Sara El Moustakim, Vasilios Papaioannu, and Natasha Woods. A sliding scale entry fee of $10 to $20 will go toward supporting our mission of providing challenging, community-driven cultural programming. The Film & Video Open Call is organized by Alexander Atienza, Pat Doyen, Rebecca Reynolds, and Vincent Terlizzi.

THE LEFT-HANDED WOMAN, Peter Handke, 1977, 116 minutes When a suburban woman abruptly leaves her husband to pursue a literary career, she must adapt to the unexpected challenges of her new life as a single mother. Frequent Wim Wenders collaborators Robby Muller and Bruno Ganz reunite in an austere adaptation of the novella by Austrian Nobel Prize winner Peter Handke. Restored in 4K by the Wim Wenders Foundation.

NEIGE, Jean-Henri Roger, Juliet Berto, 1981, 90 minutes Known for her roles in films by Rivette and Godard, French New Wave actress Juliet Berto made her directorial debut in 1981 with NEIGE, which she stars in and co-directed with her then-boyfriend Jean-Henri Roger. A gritty and empathetic paean to the urban marginalized, the film follows a barmaid in the Pigalle district of Paris who must fulfill orders by a local drug dealer's clients after he is shot by the police. Restored in 4K by JHR Films and StudioCanal.

AN EVENING SONG (FOR THREE VOICES), Graham Swon, 2023, 86 minutes Graham Swon established himself as a fixture of the indie film scene by producing such notable works as HERMIA & HELENA, CLASSICAL PERIOD, and NOTES ON AN APPEARANCE. He returns to the screen with his sophomore feature, AN EVENING SONG (FOR THREE VOICES), an incantatory glimpse into the minds of a writer, her husband, and their maid as they become enmeshed in a love triangle in the midwest in 1939.

OLIVIA & THE CLOUDS, Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat, 2024, 81 minutes Dominican animator Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat makes his feature debut with the dazzling OLIVIA & THE CLOUDS, which conveys love’s complexities by using a diverse array of animation styles to shift capriciously between multiple points of view. TENNIS, ORANGES, Sean Pecknold, 2024, 11 minutes It will be preceded by animator Sean Pecknold’s enchanting stop motion short TENNIS, ORANGES. The beauty of everyday spaces is captured in a robotic vacuum’s wordless journey through a peaceful town, where it encounters two lonely rabbits trapped in repetitive routines.

WEDDING IN GALILEE, Michel Khleifi, 1987, 112 minutes The first Palestinian film to be awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, WEDDING IN GALILEE is a graceful and humanistic depiction of life under occupation. When the village patriarch petitions the Israeli governor to lift the curfew for his son’s wedding, his request is granted on the condition that the governor’s officers attend as guests of honor. New restoration courtesy Sindibad Films and the Royal Belgian Film Archive.

BOOK OF DAYS, Meredith Monk, 1988, 74 minutes Set to a haunting and evocative score, BOOK OF DAYS finds corollaries for contemporary crises in the mysterious visions of a young girl living in a Medieval ghetto. The first feature-length film by multi-hyphenate composer and artist Meredith Monk demonstrates a preternaturally mature grasp of the medium, drawing from multiple storytelling traditions to conjure a parable about modern life. Special thanks to The House Foundation for the Arts.

THE DESERT OF THE TARTARS, Valerio Zurlini, 1976, 140 minutes Featuring a sweeping score by Ennio Morricone and stunning shots of the Bam fortress in Iran, THE DESERT OF THE TARTARS focuses on an army officer stationed at a remote outpost to defend against an invasion that never arrives. Rarely screened in the US since its premiere in 1976, director Valerio Zurlini’s final film brings an epic scope to the novel by acclaimed Italian writer Dino Buzzati. 4K restoration courtesy Cinecittà.

LETHAL FORCE, Alvin Ecarma, 2001, 70 minutes A balls-to-the-wall, guns blazing parody of the action genre, LETHAL FORCE is replete with campy, low budget effects, over-the-top stunts, and cinematic homages recognizable to the seasoned film buff. The directorial debut of DMV resident Alvin Ecarma features many local landmarks such as the Bethesda Metro Station and the Cameron Street Garage in Silver Spring.

DUET FOR CANNIBALS, Susan Sontag, 1969, 105 minutes The young assistant of an exiled academic becomes implicated in a sinister love triangle with his employer's wife. The directorial debut of the writer and intellectual Susan Sontag, DUET FOR CANNIBALS was shot in Stockholm upon invitation by the Swedish studio Sandrews and recalls the work of Ingmar Bergman, whom Sontag praises in her writing. 2K restoration courtesy Metrograph Pictures.

YEAST, Mary Bronstein, 2008, 78 minutes For fans of FROWNLAND and UNCUT GEMS and co-starring a young Greta Gerwig, Mary Bronstein’s YEAST is a feverish and abrasive rediscovery from the indie sleaze era of DIY filmmaking. Capturing a toxic friendship’s disintegration with gritty 2000s digital video and visceral performances, the film transcends its mumblecore trappings and marks the arrival of a distinctive directorial voice.

Rhizome DC and Filament present A Night of Moving Images, a juried showcase of experimental digital and 16 mm short films by DC area filmmakers. The screening will take place at Rhizome DC in Takoma on Friday, September 27 at 7:00 PM and feature a conversation with the selected artists followed by a performance by Providence-based A/V artist Jayden Barber. 16 mm prints of the films will be screened when possible. The selected artists are Jillian Banner, Gabriel Achilles Bellone, Mark Burchick, Tushar Gidwani, CJ Hibbeln, Anna Hogg, Vasilios Papaioannu, Adrien Picquenot, Nathan R. Smith, Erik Sutch, Andrew Tamburrino, Timothy Wisniewski, and Tara Youngborg. Admission is free, but a $12 donation is suggested to help us continue providing challenging, community-driven cultural programming. The Film & Video Open Call is organized by Alexander Atienza with film projection capabilities generously provided courtesy Osheen Keshishian.