{"id":599,"date":"2023-09-12T18:53:40","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T18:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/cema\/?page_id=599"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:38:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:38:04","slug":"events","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/cema\/events\/","title":{"rendered":"Events"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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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<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\n \n Artist Workshop <\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n A LISTENING SOCIETY with Budhaditya Chattopadhyay\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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This workshop foregrounds how mindful, intersubjective, and collective listening practices affectively and inclusively engage with everyday lived environments and its cohabitants. The intervention underscores how this mode of co-listening suggests a pluriversal process of personal and community-driven sonic engagements and helps focusing on the contemplation and capacity for reciprocity in listening-ship. This approach generates an inclusive mode of engagement with lived environments, the community and co-habiting others by a production of context-aware intersubjectivity. Departing from Jean-Luc Nancy\u2019s work Listening (2017) and Michel Chion\u2019s listening modes discussed in his book Audio-Vision (1994), A Listening Society offers alternative, decolonial perspectives on intersubjective and collective listenings leaning towards sonic medi(t)ation that encourages listening without making immediate judgments by transcending ontological and epistemological constraints of sound. The workshop revolves around listening as a mindful act to compassionately engage with the interconnectedness of a distributed self and the lived environments, and bodies that co-habit the environments, namely humans, plants, animals, and other sentient beings in beyond-human societies. Challenging Western modernist ideas of listening as immediate meaning-making by deductive conclusions to facilitate everyday navigation, this workshop collectively proposes that listening beyond the self carries emancipatory potential to generating an acoustic solidarity and empowerment to the societies providing solace, care, and empathy in times of planetary turmoil and crises.
\nThursday, April 2nd, 2026<\/strong>
\n4:00\u00a0– 6:00\u00a0PM<\/strong><\/p>\n

USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex
\nRoom SCA 120A
\n900 W 34th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007<\/p>\n

FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL USC STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, ALUMNI, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.<\/p>\n

RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.
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\n\n \n Artist Talk <\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n ATMOSPHERES with Budhaditya Chattopadhyay\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Atomspheres is a series of performances on elemental listening engagement and meditative environmental attunement, leading to a participatory performance with the co-listeners. The performances attune to the macro-scale crises of the climate and ecology in a planetary context and bridges its intersection with micro-level coping strategies to the crises in a regenerative gathering. The performances resonate with the tradition of free improvisation as well as communal and participatory sonic gatherings for affective and discursive engagement with crises and conflict, practiced in many Global Souths cultures. These performance gatherings involve field recordings of climate variables like wind, water, and woods, comprovised by chance generative processes, accompanied by radio interferences transducing situated weather patterns, weaved together by meditative instrumental interventions of traditional instruments, as well as live electronics and algorithmic interpretation of data and assemblages embracing free improvisational techniques and ethos. As an invocation, the series invites the co-listeners into an exercise of slow listening and slow breathing that try to suspend time, control, ego, and individuality to tap into a humbler mode of fatalism and a distributed self-hood. This philosophical positioning stresses the subjugation of events or actions to fate or destiny and is commonly associated with an attitude of acceptance in the face of future events, which are thought to be inevitable. This approach manifests into yielding control by an emergent form of togetherness, intersubjectivity, and kinship when listening transcends an overt causality, and the psychosomatic condition embraces slow breathing to contemplate, and affective attunement. The project is inspired by the micro-level entanglements of human, more-than-human, and other life forms in a survival context, and explores sensory transduction of environmental conditions to figure how to make them post-immersive and attuning experiences in an openly circular, collaborative performance setting.
\nThursday, April 2nd, 2026<\/strong>
\n7:30 – 8:30\u00a0PM<\/strong><\/p>\n

USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex
\nRoom SCA 120A
\n900 W 34th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007<\/p>\n

FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL USC STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, ALUMNI, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.<\/p>\n

RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n\n \n Film Screening <\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n Films by Diana Allan\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Partition<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Partition fuses archival footage from the British occupation of Palestine with audio recorded of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, tracing lines of continuity left by seismic displacement. Silent films gathered in imperial collections hold histories that have barely been told, and ways of colonial seeing that seep into the present; <\/span>Partition<\/span><\/i> uses dialectical montage and asynchronous sound to examine both. Recovering Palestinian presence through story, voice and song, unraveling colonial pasts through soundscapes of the precarious present, <\/span>Partition<\/span><\/i> is a meditation on what bodies remember and empires forget.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Dear, So Lovely<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Service taxi driver Abu Hosam, a Palestinian with a varied past, a doubtful future and a majestic present, drives the streets of Beirut and the map of memory, speaking his mind with wild energy and wit. <\/span>So Dear, So Lovely <\/span><\/i>is a song of grief and exuberance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thursday, March 5th, 2026<\/strong>
\nDoors at 6:30\u00a0PM, films begins at 7:00\u00a0PM<\/strong>
\nRuntime: 84min<\/p>\n

USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex<\/p>\n

Room SCA 112<\/p>\n

900 W 34th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007<\/p>\n

FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL USC STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, ALUMNI, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.<\/p>\n

RSVP to\u00a0CEMA<\/span>@usc.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n

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\n\n \n Workshop with Diana Allan <\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n Portrait of a Stranger in the Archives\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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In this workshop you’ll be working in pairs with found footage and original sound to make a personal portrait of a someone you encounter in an archive. I suggest having a look in advance at the National Film Preservation Foundation or Prelinger websites\u2014or other resources of your own choosing\u2014for material that resonates with you. You and your partner can make a final selection on the day of the workshop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Friday, March 6th, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Space in this workshop is limited. Interested participants should send a short description about why they wish to participate by 3\/1 to CEMA@usc.edu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n

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\n\n \n Film Screening<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n Films by Raven Jackson\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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NETTLES<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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.<\/span>
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ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

A discussion with Raven Jackson and\u00a0All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt<\/em>\u00a0Producer Maria Altamirano to follow the films.<\/p>\n

Thursday, February 19th, 2026<\/b>
\n<\/b>Doors at 6:00 PM, films begins at 6:30 PM<\/b>
\n<\/b>Runtime: 148 minutes<\/span><\/p>\n

USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex<\/span>
\n<\/span>Room SCA 112<\/span>
\n<\/span>900 W 34th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007<\/span><\/p>\n

FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL USC STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF, ALUMNI, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.<\/span><\/p>\n

RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu<\/b>
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\n<\/b>This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n

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\n\n \n Workshop with Raven Jackson<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n Evoke The Feeling\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Friday, February 20th, 2025<\/b>
\n<\/b>2:00 PM – 5:00 PM<\/b><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu<\/b><\/p>\n

This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n

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\n\n \n CEMA Visiting Artist Calendar <\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n Spring 2026 Visiting Artist Series \n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Featuring: Su Friedrich, Raven Jackson, Diana Allen, and Budhaditya Chattopadhyay. <\/strong><\/div>\n
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Email CEMA@USC.EDU<\/a>\u00a0to join our mailing list and find out more information about each event.\u00a0We look forward to seeing you!<\/div>\n
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\n\n \n Film Screening<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n Films by Su Friedrich\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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SINK OR SWIM\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

RULES OF THE ROAD<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Rules of the Road<\/span><\/i> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s existence. Even long after their separation, this tangible reminder of their life together\u2014and thousands of its imitators\u2014continues to prowl the streets of the city, haunting the woman who no longer holds the keys either to the car or the other woman\u2019s heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through spoken text, popular music, and images from the streets of New York, <\/span>Rules of the Road<\/span><\/i> takes a somewhat whimsical, somewhat caustic look at how our dreams of freedom, pleasure, security, and family are so often symbolized by the automobile.<\/span><\/p>\n

Su Friedrich in person with a Q&A to follow the films.<\/p>\n

Thursday, January 15th, 2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Doors at 6:30 pm. Films begin at 7:00 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Runtime: 78 min<\/p>\n

RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu<\/b><\/p>\n

This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n

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\n\n \n Artist Talk<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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\n How to Drag Your Private Life, Kicking and Screaming, Into the Public: Looking Back at Forty-Seven Years of Filmmaking\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Su Friedrich will present a \u201cclip talk\u201d that surveys a range of her twenty-seven films, from <\/span>Sink or Swim<\/span><\/i> (1990), <\/span>Hide and Seek<\/span><\/i> (1996) and <\/span>Seeing Red <\/span><\/i>(2005) to more recent works like <\/span>Gut Renovation <\/span><\/i>(2012), <\/span>I Cannot Tell You How I Feel <\/span><\/i>(2016) and <\/span>Today <\/span><\/i>(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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thursday, January 15th, 2026<\/span><\/p>\n

2:00 – 4:00 PM\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RSVP to CEMA@usc.edu<\/b><\/p>\n

This event is co-sponsored by USC Center for Ethnographic Media Arts and USC School of Cinematic Arts<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n

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\n Don’t miss out on future events\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n \n \n\n Join our Mailing List \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n Follow us on Instagram \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":542,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-599","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEvents - Center for Ethnographic Media Arts<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n