Blog

  • Mind Shadow Media Workshops

    AI Filmmaking Using Free Tools

    You don’t need cameras or media to make films. You can use free AI tools to assist in writing scripts, getting ideas, as well as generating the shots themselves, even audio. Learn how with free tools online.

     Short Form Filmmaking for Social Media

    TikTok, Instagram reels, Facebook and other websites emphasize the very short form video as the dominant mode of contemporary delivery. Learn how to optimize subject matter choice composition, framing, and editing and sound to create social media ready video content.

  • OpenScreening

    ATA’s free community film/video show welcomes short format work or (15 min or less) from all genres. An open forum for independent filmmakers to show their work, we hold screenings the first Thursday of the month at 8:00 pm. Entries must be received by 7:00 pm on show night, cued and labeled, to be considered. Space is limited!

    Submissions: To submit a digital file, email openscreening@atasite.org. For physical media, label all tapes with name, contact info, title, and length, and mail to: Open Screening, 992 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110. 1–2 weeks advance submissions recommended. If not, just walk in before the show.
    Maximum length: 15 min.
    Formats: Digital file (PC or Mac), DVD, miniDV/DV-cam, VHS, beta, 8 mm, and 16 mm. For 8 mm and 16 mm films give us advance notice.

    Doors at 7:30 pm, show at 8:00 pm, FREE

  • 3rd i Film Festival 2025

    ATA co-presents: 3rd i Film Festival 2025

    Little Jaffna

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Q&A with director Lawrence Valin! The gripping and exuberant crime thriller LITTLE JAFFNA, directed by Lawrence Valin (3rd i Fest Alumnus for THE LOYAL MAN short film, 2020), is layered with nuanced sociopolitical underpinnings. This stunning film is an impressive debut feature that explores identity and belonging within the Tamil Community in Paris, France. Set […]

    Boong

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    A vibrant, endearing and upbeat coming-of-age film, BOONG, written and directed by Lakshmipriya Devi, is about a young schoolboy who, along with the help of a friend, aims to reunite his divided family. Adventurous and mischievous schoolboy Boong and his friend Raju don’t see long distances and state borders as significant obstacles. At least not […]

    Cactus Pears

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    CACTUS PEARS (Sabar Bonda), written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, is gorgeously shot in picturesque vignettes in open landscapes and small villages, with a poetic and open-hearted narrative that skews predictable tropes. Kanawade’s debut feature follows two men navigating societal pressures in a rural community in Western India (Maharashtra). The story centers on Anand, […]

    Farming The Revolution

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Q&A with director Nistha Jain! Nishtha Jain’s (3rd i Fest alumna GULABI GANG, THE GOLDEN THREAD) immersive and stirring documentary captures the unwavering resolve of ordinary people with extraordinary courage, chronicling the revolutionary standoff between Indian Sikh and Punjabi farmers and the Modi government. In November 2020, Gurbaz Sangha, a young farmer from Punjab, embarked […]

    Pinch

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Q&A with director Uttera Singh! A vibrant dark comedy with nuanced and deeply engaging social commentary, PINCH, directed and written by Uttera Singh, is a confident debut feature that shouldn’t be missed. With saturated color, swinging rhythm, and sharp emotional edges, the film dives into the generational fault lines of truth, trauma, and tradition—all through […]

    Humans in the Loop

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Aranya Sahay’s engaging and poignant debut feature, HUMANS IN THE LOOP, offers a nuanced exploration of Artificial Intelligence technology in India through the perspective of a tribal woman’s experience and her beliefs in the natural order. The film portrays Nehma, an Adivasi woman who returns to her Jharkhand village with her children, post-divorce. To sustain […]

    3rd i Shorts 2025

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Q&A with filmmakers! From comic relief to social insights, the 2025 edition of 3rd i’s signature short films spans vast differences—both literally and metaphorically—with films and filmmakers from South Asia to California and throughout the Diaspora. This year’s selection of narratives and docs lifts up stories of immigration, relationships, identity, gender and sexuality, and social […]

    Your Touch Makes Others Invisible

    Roxie Theater 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Q&A with director Rajee Samarasinghe! YOUR TOUCH MAKES OTHERS INVISIBLE, directed by Rajee Samarasinghe, is a surreal and lyrical exploration of disappearances in a small post-war community in northern Sri Lanka, where memories of interactions between the Tamils and the Sinhalese linger. Fusing allegorical magic realism and investigative documentary, and made collaboratively with impacted locals, […]