Blog

Documentary shorts exploring a diverse range of topics in creative and engaging ways. Beyond talking heads, they deliver a message to your heart.

The Moon Will Contain Us
Dir Kim Torres, 2023 Costa Rica 18 minutes
As a magical moon creeps in, different timelines entwine in the mysterious and stagnant town of Manzanillo.

The Echo Of Her Voice
Dir.Rodrigo Guzmán Espíndola, 2023 Mexico 14 minutes
In an immeasurable search for justice for her daughter’s death, Margarita discovers that her voice can form part of a larger struggle that has emerged in the face of the current wave of femicides in Mexico.

Remember Us
Dir Pablo Leon, 2024 USA  14 minutes
A journalist documents the experiences of people who lived through the tragic 12-year-long Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s, exploring themes of childhood loss, violence against women and the indigenous population, and regaining a sense of hope for the future that spans over three generations.

The Ballad of Tita and the Machines
Dir Miguel Angel Caballero, 2023 US 15 minutes
In a near future where Artificial Intelligence in the workforce is a societal norm, Tita, an injured and elderly fieldworker, reluctantly hires an artificially intelligent humanoid substitute worker to fill in for her picking strawberries and unexpectedly attracts the curiosity of the creators of this technology when their AI workers are unable to do her back-breaking work.

52 Minutos
Dir. Jean Chapiro, 2024 Mexico  11 minutes
Ana, a young woman with anorexia, is caught up in the struggle between sanity and restriction.

Makam Maj (Where are you going?)
Dir Sofía Ptacnik Rosas, 2023 Mexico 24 minutes

Taupp, a young Cucapa woman living in the 16th century, finds out through dream visions that bind her with modern Mexico City that she is the one chosen to preserve humanity by giving birth to the future race.

SPELLETICH + 99 HOOKER + DANIEL +

Our second live-cinema screening is shaped by its proximity to Election Day, so that Kal Spelletich can more effectively conjure his curse on candidate D.Trump and his Nazi posse! ProPublica hero-reporter AC Thompson and sound artist Mansur Nurullah aid Kal’s American Aria live remix of never-seen Jan. 6th footage, towards an energized condemnation of the QAnon election-deniers. Co-billed is that nationally-touring video-poet 99 Hooker, a welcome member of the OC family and an electronic artiste whose work approaches stream-of-thought image-generation. AND also here is none other than Bill Daniel, with one of his 16mm double-projection collabs with local musicians. Tommy Becker, too, makes the scene, with the world premiere of his Stars Bright on a Blue Field, while long-time ATA fave Mike Kavanagh brings in his desperately needed critique of AI. PLUS Russ Forster on Banjo, Pussy Riot, Indecline, Vic Berger, and a hilarious battery of anti-Trump punches. $14

3RD HAND COLLECTIVE + TRIGILIO + SCOBIE + BARTEN +

A special feature of every OC calendar, our Live A/V shows proudly showcase a particularly West Coast cine-practice: Motion Picture pieces PLUS Sound tracks, respectively, performed in situ and in real-time conversation! Headlining this first of a program-pair is the much-loved Frisco ensemble Third Hand, a multi-tasking multi-media crew organized around, in this case, J Lee’s truly marvelous Rear-Projection stagings—here in Operation Theater they explore the living mechanics of the human body, as probed by electronic sensors. Jetting up from San Diego is ex-SF hero-artist Mike Trigilio, who’s taking a break from his UCSD duties to debut his dazzling digi-animations, both as single-channel abstractions and as in-the-moment video-synthesizer performances. Our beatnik homegirl Linda Scobie also dives in to demonstrate what she’s been up to with her water-color painting on found 35mm slides, tonight in collaboration with audio-artists Country Dolls. AND Rebecca Barten graces us with her presence and the world premiere of her Amelia–yes, on that amazing aviatrix. ATA janitor Craig Baldwin sweeps into the mix his stereoscopic twin-projection Double Helix, after a playful potpourri of optical tricks punctuate the pre-show reception! $14