Art is a reflection of the place from which it emerges. Directed by Griff and Keelan Williams, Tell Them We Were Here chronicles artists living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area who follow a path that is less careerist and more community driven, much like the place itself.

The featured artists extend the legacy of Bay Area activism and social consciousness through their influential yet unconventional careers. In an age of hypercapitalism, these artists represent an empowering alternative worldview, one that emphasizes creativity and community over capital.

The film follows the work of artists Sadie Barnette, Amy Franceschini (Futurefarmers), Jim Goldberg, Tucker Nichols, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Alicia McCarthy, Nigel Poor (Ear Hustle), and Michael Swaine.

Framed within the last 25 years of artmaking in the Bay Area, the film is not an all-encompassing historical document, but rather a glimpse into a select group of artists who’ve chosen a less worn path. It touches on the disappearance of cultural communities due to gentrification and economic instability and celebrates an intertwined art community that has flown just below the radar, but influenced generations.

Movies on the Verge is a series of innovative films curated and presented by Verge which spotlight contemporary art, artists, projects, and ideas.

Image courtesy of Alice Gallery, Brussels

Film Screening: TELL THEM WE WERE HERE