Spanning four weeks, Fort Nights: Magic will feature films through the different lenses of light, water, sky, the heart, and the unseen — all of which have a great influence on the art of magic. Happening adjacent to Off the Grid, make it a night out! And don’t forget to look for the Silent Disco booth to rent headphones for free!

LIGHT: (April 21, skybridge between buildings B and C) The first week features selections from the San Francisco Veterans Film Festival with films by and about Veterans projected onto the sky bridge between two of this decommissioned military base’s buildings; the space and the films connecting in a unique and illuminating way. Attendees will see works from filmmakers Rebecca Murga, Chris King, Chris Patterson, and Kate Nartker.

WATER and SKY: (April 28, skybridge between buildings B and C) The second week features the GAZE film series — prioritizing the works of women, trans, genderqueer, and non-binary artists — from ATA (Artists’ Television Access), an organization that “cultivates and promotes culturally-aware, underground media and experimental art.” This night of film will explores themes surrounding water and sky with works from Mallary Abel Heaton, Adrianne Finelli, Targol Mesbah, and Tessa Siddle.

THE HEART: (May 5, Firehouse, 8 p.m.) The third week features “Prepare to be Unprepared,” a live performance and video from Constance Hockaday in FMCAC’s unique Firehouse space. “Prepare to be Unprepared” is a cinematic and performative lecture that includes a stream of associations exploring sandy beach survival strategies, homemade boats, linguistic investigations of the word “hope,” Wallace Steven’s poem: “Angel of Paisans,” and personal anecdotes, which come together to illustrate the terrifying and liberating ways people make sense of their lives in the age of disaster.

THE UNSEEN: (May 12, skybridge between buildings B and C) The last week features a film installation by artist Bradley Smith, addresses the questions: What is Fort Mason? What is magic? What is the unseen?
What is a film? What is a screen? Who are the actors?

With these questions in my mind, Smith sets out to explore the campus of FMCAC and create a site-generated video and light installation about how the snippets of history that people remember and the transitions yet to come swirl around someone’s constant becoming — the overflowing senses, the tides of emotion and unique experiences — across the unseen element that allows us to perceive any magic at all: time.

Free Admission

This event is funded in part by California Arts Council, a state agency