Fri Jan 23 (doors 7pm, films 7:30): AN IDEA VANISHING ~ PRROBLEM Press kicks off 2026 with a program of film & video considering the manifold ways poetry circulates and its incapacity to ever quite say what it means. ~ John Dorr - Do It Yourself Video for Poets (1987) | 8:28 min: EZTV's founder John Dorr, in a sarcastic mood, makes fun of the Los Angeles spoken word scene of the 1980s that routinely approached EZTV asking for free service in getting projects made. ~ Chris Kraus & Sylvère Lotringer - Voyage to Rodez (1986) | 13:57 min: A pilgrimage (of sorts) to Rodez Asylum where Artaud received 51 electro-shock treatments under Dr. Jacques Latremolière, whom Lotringer confronted in an interview in 1983. ~ Diane Burns - Alphabet City Serenade (1992) | 2:00 min: An indictment of the gentrification of Loisaida and the treatment of First Nations Americans, Chemehuevi and Anishinaabe poet Diane Burns walks the streets of New York’s Lower East Side. ~ Joanne Kyger - Descartes (1968) | 11:11 min: Created and aired on San Francisco public television in 1968 through the Experimental TV Project—a psychedelic adaptation of Kyger's poem by the same name. ~ Cecilia Vicuña - ¿Qué es para usted la poesía? AKA What Is Poetry to You? (1980) | 23:20 min: Vicuña asks residents of Bogotá—men and women, schoolchildren, sex workers, fellow artists, poets, street performers, scientists - what is poetry to you? Their responses range in tone from the lyrical (“poetry is that wild animal that converts his song into a cry for freedom”) to the political (“poetry is the theft of a plaster typewriter, a disruption of peace”). ~ Program Total Runtime: 57 min

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Fri Jan 30 (doors 7pm, films 7:30): EXPERIMENTS IN EARLY CINEMA ~ Mark Garrett presents a curated selection of short films by Maya Deren, Dimitri Kirsanoff, Jean Painlevé, Émile Reynaud, and Hans Richter. A showcase of early experiments with the cinematic form, tracing the evolution of experimental film language from its beginnings in animation and documentary to fully abstract works shaped by movement, rhythm, and light. *** “It is not the natural movement of film that gives the objects their expression, but the artistic movement […] a rhythmical movement regulated by itself in which variations and pulsations form a part of the artistic design.” — Hans Richter *** “[Painlevé’s films] smuggle images from the laboratory into the popular cinema, reinvigorating the cold gaze of objective observation with the spirit of curiosity and wonder." - Oliver Gaycken on Jean Painlevé *** “Artistic freedom means that the amateur filmmaker is never forced to sacrifice visual drama and beauty to a stream of words…to the relentless activity and explanations of a plot…” - Maya Deren

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Sat Feb 14 (doors 7pm, film 7:30): AMANDA AND THE ALIEN (directed by Jon Kroll, 1995, 96 mins, color, sound) ~ "If Clueless was zapped into a movie where Gen X icon Nicole Eggert (Baywatch) falls in love with a body-snatching extraterrestrial, it still wouldn't be enough to describe the mind-warping charm of Amanda and the Alien... Amanda is an artist who leads a quiet life. That is, until she falls in love with a hunky alien who can only survive by swapping human hosts every few days. This bizarro sci-fi comedy is an explosion of 90s nostalgia, featuring navel rings, CGI morphing effects, an indie rock soundtrack from Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Gos and Sparks, and an unforgettable sex scene involving paprika. A smash hit when it premiered on Showtime in '95, Amanda and the Alien has been newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative." VIEW TRAILER

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Sat Feb 21 (doors 11am, film 11:30): SÁTÁNTANGÓ (directed by Béla Tarr, 1994, 439 mins, b&w, sound) ~ "One of the greatest achievements in art house cinema and a seminal work of “slow cinema,” Sátántangó (based on the book by Nobel Prize winning author László Krasznahorkai) is often hailed as Béla Tarr's masterpiece. The film follows members of a small, defunct agricultural collective living in a post-apocalyptic landscape after the fall of Communism who, on the heels of a large financial windfall, set out to leave their village. Shot in stunning black-and-white by Gábor Medvigy and filled with exquisitely composed and lyrical long takes, Sátántangó unfolds in twelve distinct movements, alternating forwards and backwards in time, echoing the structure of a tango dance. Tarr’s vision, aided by longtime partner and collaborator Ágnes Hranitzky, is enthralling and his portrayal of a rural Hungary beset by boozy dance parties, treachery, and near-perpetual rainfall is both transfixing and uncompromising. Sátántangó has been justly lauded by critics and audiences as a masterpiece and inspired none other than Susan Sontag to proclaim that she would be 'glad to see it every year for the rest of [her] life'". VIEW TRAILER  (Marathon screening w/ 20 min intermission ~ RIP Bela Tarr)

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Fri March 6, 5-7pm: FOUND PHOTOS ~ An exhibition of found vernacular snapshots from the collection of NNC janitor, Justin Clifford Rhody. Presented without context, theme, or explanation.

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Fri March 13 (doors 7pm, films 7:30): The short films of ELLA MORTON ~ Ella Morton is a Canadian visual artist and filmmaker whose expedition-based practice has brought her across Canada, Nordic Europe, Greenland, Latin America, Australia and Antarctica. Working primarily with lens-based media, she uses experimental analogue processes to capture the sublime and fragile qualities of remote landscapes. *** An Uncertain Eternity (2025, 36 min): An Uncertain Eternity follows the journey of icebergs that rravel from Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland to the East coast of Newfoundland in Canada. Narrated by Greenlanders and Newfoundlanders, this film explores the political, social, and spiritual implications of the icebergs and how they are changing as the planet warms. *** Crushed Between Ocean and Sky (2023, 25 min): In late 2021, I set out on a unique sailing journey on the tall ship Bark Europa from Uruguay across the South Atlantic Ocean, towards South Georgia and Antarctica. For myself, the voyage was a long-awaited way of celebrating life again after my mother’s death in the spring of 2020. The crew and guests came from all over the world, and each had their own reasons for making the trip, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. One week into the trip, the ship ran into a massive storm and the main mast was struck by lightning. The intended itinerary was cancelled and we spent the next two weeks sailing directly to our end destination of Ushuaia, Argentina. This story is told by crew and passengers aboard the ship during the two weeks sailing towards Ushuaia after the lightning strike. *** Wanderer (2024, 12 min): A music video for Linda Catlin Smith’s contemporary piece, Wanderer. Performed by the Thin Edge New Music Collective in Toronto and filmed on location in the Faroe Islands.

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Sun March 15 (doors 7pm, performances 7:30): SOUND & POETRY PERFORMANCES featuring guitarist SANDY EWEN on tour from New York, poet JOHN CROUSE from Farmington NM, Albuquerque-based sound artist STEVE JANSEN, and poet OSCAR OSWALD

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Fri March 27 (doors 7pm, films 7:30): FILM DIARY NYC ~ Satellite screening showcasing selections from the festival's fourth year. Experimental, autobiographical films that capture the personal history and daily experiences of the filmmaker.

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Tues April 7 (doors 7pm, performances 7:30): SOUND & POETRY PERFORMANCES featuring Santa Fe / Hudson Valley based experimental free-improv trio K/S/R (all three co-founders of NNC!), Santa Fe-based sound artist yewn, and two poets TBA  (Record release event for the new K/S/R + Nihilist Spasm Band split LP!)

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May (exact date TBA): OPEN SCREEN v.9 ~ Open to all local artists working in experimental, personal, animation and/or non-fiction filmmaking. No industry-aspiring work, please. One submission per person, max length: 15 mins (shorter is better), filmmakers must attend screening in-person.  (Submissions open in April)