Series Site
August 14–29, 2026
Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler have lived in the Bay Area since 1971, relocating here from New York City and its environs. Their lives are intertwined as filmmakers, life partners, and lovers of art, poetry, and the natural world. One of their favorite haunts is BAMPFA, where they have attended countless programs as devoted members of our audience.
Both Dorsky and Hiler are articulate about their approach to filmmaking, sharing what motivates each project and, in turn, how their view of life and the world have grown. Hours for Jerome, Parts 1 & 2, filmed between 1966 and 1970, is a beautiful portrait of their lives together on the East Coast. The second program, a selection of five lyrical films by Dorsky, includes Alaya, a meditation on landscape with an uncanny sense of scale, from the particulate to infinite space. Hiler will share four works distinguished by his interest in color and philosophical musings, including his pivotal Words of Mercury and his most recent film, Careless Passage. The series concludes with Dorsky’s monumental Arboretum Cycle, seven exquisite works filmed in Golden Gate Park and edited within the course of one year.
BAMPFA is proud to represent both Dorsky and Hiler as their archive of record; each filmmaker has entrusted our institution with the long-term care and preservation of their films. This series offers a wonderful occasion to share some of the gems from the BAMPFA collection.
—Susan Oxtoby, Director of Film and Senior Film Curator