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An upcoming screening presented by the ������ɫ Cinema Department will provide public access to rarely screened experimental films sourced from archives not typically available outside specialized academic or institutional contexts.

Titled “To Whom It May Concern,” the event will take place at 6 p.m. April 10 at the Bundy Museum of History and Art, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Led by Assistant Professor of Cinema Sofia Theodore-Pierce, the screening is curated by students in her Personal Cinema course and features a selection of short works drawn from international film archives. The event is free and open to the public.

The Bundy Museum was involved in planning the event from its early stages, positioning the screening as a collaboration between the University and a local arts institution.

The screening centers on “personal cinema,” a mode of filmmaking that emphasizes first-person perspective while engaging broader social and cultural questions. Theodore-Pierce, who designed the course after joining the University in 2023, described the event as an extension of classroom conversations into a shared, public experience.

“This screening was an opportunity to bring the core themes of the course to a broader audience and give students a chance to curate something that represents how we approach personal cinema,” she said.

By presenting work that ranges from experimental nonfiction to films exploring identity, health and lived experience, the screening aims to move audiences through a variety of emotional and intellectual tones, from challenge to humor to reflection.

To build the program, students explored materials from several archives, including Vtape, Cinenova, and Frameline. These organizations are dedicated to preserving and distributing experimental, feminist, and LGBTQ+ media, as well as artists’ moving image works, documentaries, and installations. Their collections include both contemporary and historical pieces, many of which are rarely screened in public settings.

Funding from the School of the Arts and ������ɫ’s SP-4 Community Engagement Grant supported the screening’s public-facing focus, including early collaboration with the Bundy Museum and efforts to involve local artists. The funding also covered film rental costs and supported use of the Bundy Museum as a venue, expanding access to works that are typically limited to academic settings.

“This kind of public program wouldn’t have been possible without that support,” she said.

The collaborative curation process allowed students to shape the program directly, selecting films that reflect both their individual interests and the collective themes of the course. The final lineup features works under 15 minutes in length, creating space for a wide range of voices and perspectives.

For students, the chance to work with the archive has underscored just how unusual the opportunity is.

“I’m most excited for people to just experience the films,” said Samantha Buckles, a junior cinema major. “I think these archives we have access to are something we will only ever see once in our lives. I didn’t know about experimental cinema before coming to Bing, and I think it’s something everyone should be able to experience.”

The program will also include a poetry reading by Suzanne Richardson, a PhD student in the English department, who will open the evening with work from her upcoming book, selected in dialogue with the films. Theodore-Pierce also issued an open call to local poets as part of the event’s community outreach.

Beyond the screening itself, Theodore-Pierce emphasized the event’s role in connecting artistic practice with the broader community through public access and collaborative programming. In the classroom, students often respond to films through free writing and discussion; the event also opens up the possibility of inviting the audience into a similar mode of engagement.

“A large part of the class is about thinking of personal cinema as something that engages with the world and with community,” she said. “This project gave students a way to do that directly.”