Chicago filmmaker Laurie Dunphy will present two films which deal with politically charged subjects in powerful and challenging ways. Lived in Quotes (1987) was shot in South Africa during the 1986 state of emergency. “Language reconsidered and conventional editing shelved, the film thinks itself poetic ethnography.”—L.D. A Western (1987) deconstructs found-footage into a critique of the Puerto Rican sterilization program.

Cinematheque welcomes back Bay Area filmmaker Toney Meritt with three recent films and videotapes. Meritt has been active in San Francisco on many fronts: as artist, teacher, and curator. “I believe that personal film is equivalent to strangers exchanging ‘snap shots’ with one another. While it may already be apparent that they come from different backgrounds, they soon realize how much they really have in common with one another. So it is with personal film, and I stress personal as opposed to experimental: as I, for one, am not experimenting with anything. What you see is what you get.”—T.M