Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM
2220 Arts + Archives, Los Angeles
Los Angeles Filmforum presents *Gunvor Nelson Tribute, program 1: Red Shift*. Co-presented by Rotations LA, the Academy Museum, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. In person introduction by Steve Anker. ∆ A pioneer of personal cinema and feminist film who never shied away from challenges, Nelson's innovative films combine painting, collage, and sound experimentation, embodying humor, resistance, intimacy, and tactile sensation. Her early films frequently reflect the inner and outer qualities, thoughts, and voices of women in the 1960s and 70s; homes, daughters, and mothers are particularly important themes in her work. Moving from painting to still photography, from analog film to digital media, as each new medium collides with a multitude of everyday objects, her work delves deeper into the texture of life and the saturated past, uncovering an intuitive yet delicate sensibility that retreats from the real world into another, imaginatively reconstructed one. During her time teaching in San Francisco, Nelson inspired countless experimental filmmakers and artists. After returning to Sweden, she continued exploring and experimenting with new audio-visual languages, leaving us with a rich and unimaginable legacy. This retrospective will cover a range of Nelson's works, from her debut film, a feminist classic, “Schmeerguntz” (1966) (co-directed with Dorothy Wiley), to the late abstract video art “Snowdrift a.k.a. Snowstorm” (2001), with several other essential and influential masterpieces created in the years between. The program trilogy will be co-presented by LA Filmforum, Rotations LA, the Academy Museum, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. ∆ Full program notes and film lineup: https://www.lafilmforum.org/schedule/