Basement Films: 30 Years of Undependent Media

CCA Cinema Gallery | July 15–October 15, 2022
On view during regular CCA Cinema operating hours | Free

CCA is celebrating the 30^th anniversary of fellow nonprofit, Basement Films, with an exhibition featuring print ephemera, sculpture, and experimental films in the CCA Cinema Gallery, curated by No Name Cinema founder Justin Clifford Rhody. The video component of the exhibition has been curated from Basement Films’ longstanding festival, Experiments in Cinema, and features artists Raven Chacon with Cristobal Martinez, Monique Romero, Marika Borgeson, Wago Kreider, Georg Koszulinski, and M.C. Jonet with L.A. Williams, presented on a single channel monitor with supplied headphones.

Basement Films Event Flyer, laser copy, 8.5×11″

Basement Films’ Film Archive. Photos by Justin Clifford Rhody.

Basement Films is an Albuquerque-based organization that supports experimental, independent, and under-represented forms of film and video making. Founded in 1991, the nonprofit microcinema was part of a first wave of independently operated venues specializing in moving image arts that exist outside of the mainstream theatrical distribution system. CCA recognizes and values Basement Films’ accomplishments as an institution that both facilitates creators and educates audiences in the realm of arts and culture.

Microcinema Panel Discussion & Live Film Projection

with Beth Hansen, Bryan Konefsky, Keif Henley, Justin Clifford Rhody
September 18 | CCA Cinema

Join us for an in-depth discussion on underground cinema culture and the nature of microcinemas—small-scale exhibition venues that provide noncommercial, nontheatrical options for experimental films. The panel will feature Beth Hansen (Basement Films, Vice President), Bryan Konefsky (Basement FIlms, Current Present); Keif Henley (owner/operator of The Guild & former president of Basement Films); and Justin Clifford Rhody (founder & co-operator of No Name Cinema). The conversation will be moderated by CCA’s Head of Cinema Programming, Luke Henley.

After the panel discussion, Beth Hansen will present a unique 45-minute film program of selections from Basement Films archive of 16mm film prints—a cerebral celebration of celluloid, cultural ephemera and orphaned media!

2024 Copyright Center for Contemporary Arts – Santa Fe. All rights reserved.

The Board of Directors for the Center for Contemporary Arts of Santa Fe (CCA) has voted to close the organization after serving the Santa Fe and northern New Mexico community on its forty-fourth year of operation. The decision was reached after careful consideration of options presented during its current strategic planning initiative.

“Closing a cherished, community organization like CCA is one of the most difficult decisions a board can make,” said David Muck, CCA Board Chair. “However, we simply couldn’t secure the level of individual donations required to achieve the high quality of programming and exhibitions envisioned by CCA’s professional staff and board of directors,” he continued.

Many nonprofits in the U.S. were hit hard by Covid and CCA is a good example. The CCA Cinema closed during Covid, and attendance was slow to resume, reflecting national downward trends in moviegoing post-Covid as reported in multiple news outlets, such as IndieWire and others. In 2023, the organization forecast the cinema to perform at only 50% of pre-Covid levels, resulting in monthly losses. Though grants and individual donations to the organization were up significantly in 2022 and 2023, they simply weren’t enough to make up the difference in the annual budget and cover both current and planned exhibitions and operations.

“This tough decision did not come lightly,” said Danyelle Means, CCA Executive Director and Head Curator. “For a nonprofit institution that operates independently of state support, the annual donations needed to sustainably continue operating was not enough, especially in the wake of challenges from pandemic closures and reduced attendance,” Means continued.

CCA did have its share of recent successes: CCA Executive Director Danyelle Means had secured a three-year grant of $100,000 per year from the Ford Foundation, with an option to renew for another three-year period. The organization was also the recipient of a $50,000 inaugural grant from Ruth Arts Foundation, as well as other granting organizations. Self-Determined, a 2022 CCA exhibition, was listed as one of the world’s Top 50 Exhibitions of 2022 by Hyperallergic magazine and CCA’s new monthly Closer Looks cinema series was a hit with film enthusiasts.

The CCA board of directors considered closing the organization in December of 2021, but voted to remain open in 2022 in hopes of a recovery post-Covid. However, despite the hard work of CCA staff and the accomplishments like the ones mentioned above, the shuttered period during which the cinema was closed proved too challenging to overcome. CCA Cinema’s final day of public operations is Thursday, April 6, and all upcoming CCA gallery exhibitions and public programs are cancelled.