CEMA hosts workshops and public screenings that feature visiting artists at the forefront of the audiovisual field. Free and open to the public, these events bring together the USC and local community, fostering dialogue and knowledge exchange
Films by Raven Jackson
NETTLES
Nettles are stinging plants. Shot over the course of a year, in six chapters, this short film delicately explores stinging moments in the lives of different girls and women.
ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
A decades-spanning exploration of a woman’s life in Mississippi and an ode to the generations of people, places, and ineffable moments that shape us.
A discussion with Raven Jackson and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt Producer Maria Altamirano to follow the films.
Thursday, February 19th, 2026
Doors at 6:00 PM, films begins at 6:30 PM
Runtime: 148 minutes
USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex
Room SCA 112
900 W 34th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007
FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL USC STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, ALUMNI, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu
This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Evoke The Feeling
Participants will contemplate and create intentional language for themselves and their project(s), using language as a doorway into more deeply understanding what pulls them to make the work they do.
Friday, February 20th, 2025
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Space in this workshop is limited. Interested participants should send a short description about why they wish to participate by Tuesday, 2/17/2026 to cema@usc.edu.
RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu
This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Spring 2026 Visiting Artist Series
Films by Su Friedrich
SINK OR SWIM
Through a series of twenty-six short stories, a girl describes the childhood events that shaped her ideas about fatherhood, family relations, work, and play.
As the stories unfold, a dual portrait emerges: that of a father who cared more for his career than for his family, and of a daughter who was deeply affected by his behavior.
RULES OF THE ROAD
Rules of the Road tells the story of a love affair and its demise through one of the objects shared by the couple: an old beige station wagon with fake wood paneling.
A typical American family car for an atypical American family, it provides the women at first with all the familiar comforts. But when their relationship ends, the car becomes the property of one and the bane of the other’s existence. Even long after their separation, this tangible reminder of their life together—and thousands of its imitators—continues to prowl the streets of the city, haunting the woman who no longer holds the keys either to the car or the other woman’s heart.
Through spoken text, popular music, and images from the streets of New York, Rules of the Road takes a somewhat whimsical, somewhat caustic look at how our dreams of freedom, pleasure, security, and family are so often symbolized by the automobile.
Su Friedrich in person with a Q&A to follow the films.
Thursday, January 15th, 2026
Doors at 6:30 pm. Films begin at 7:00 pm
Runtime: 78 min
RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu
This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.
How to Drag Your Private Life, Kicking and Screaming, Into the Public: Looking Back at Forty-Seven Years of Filmmaking
Su Friedrich will present a “clip talk” that surveys a range of her twenty-seven films, from Sink or Swim (1990), Hide and Seek (1996) and Seeing Red (2005) to more recent works like Gut Renovation (2012), I Cannot Tell You How I Feel (2016) and Today (2022). For each work, Friedrich will give a summary of the motivations, ideas, and formal concerns involved in making the film and then show a three-to-five-minute excerpt.
Thursday, January 15th, 2026
2:00 – 4:00 PM
RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu
This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.
