Please join us in celebrating our student’s thought-provoking work from First Vote, a series of youth-produced short films, still images and comics using the vehicle of storytelling to explore issues of importance to young people as they ready themselves to cast their first ballot in 2020.

Venice Arts and Month of Photography LA (MOPLA) are pleased to present “1915,” the compelling work of photographer Diana Markosian that documents Movses, and other survivors, as they reconnect with their lost homeland: what they had, what they lost, and what they have found again.

Join filmmaker STEVEN ORITT for his documentary American Native, telling the story of the Ramapough Lenape Indians, a tribe shrouded in mystery and living just 30 minutes from New York City, as they fight for recognition as Native Americans.

PREMIERE: NAPA VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL, SHOWN in 13 INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS, WON 3 BEST DOC AWARDS

Join filmmaker MATT OGENS and cinematographer JOHN TIPTON for their documentary Home + Away, following students who cross the border each day to commute from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to their school in El Paso, Texas.

PREMIERE: THE TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Join filmmaker NIJLA MU’MIN, for her feature Jinn, telling the story of Summer, a 17-year-old black girl whose world is turned upside down when her mother converts to Islam, prompting her to reevaluate her identity.

WINNER: SXSW SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR WRITING 

Part of IDENTITIES: A FREE FILM SERIES

Venice Arts and Open Show LA are excited to celebrate Venice Arts' 25th Anniversary with this special evening of artists' talks by some of the wonderful Los Angeles-based photographers who have generously donated a print to be auctioned off at the organization's 25th Anniversary Gala. The evening will start with a reception & opportunity to view the Gala exhibition, followed by a curated selection of interactive talks by donating photographers and two of Venice Arts' talented young photography students enrolled in the Advanced Studies program.

Come hear photographer Dotan Saguy talk about his stunning photo documentary about the extraordinary but endangered culture of Venice Beach. His meticulously composed, compassionate photographs unabashedly praise the rarity of the unique individuals who populate the sands of Venice. Unfortunately, Venice Beach sits on the edge of a knife, as the forces of gentrification and corporate expansion threaten to squash the way of life that has defined Venice for decades. Saguy will talk about his artistic process and sign copies of his monograph Venice Beach: The Last Days of a Bohemian Paradise. Don't miss your final chance to see the exhibition before it closes.

Join us for the premiere of photographer Dotan Saguy’s stunning photo documentary about the extraordinary but endangered culture of Venice Beach. His meticulously composed, compassionate photographs unabashedly praise the rarity of the unique individuals who populate the sands of Venice. Unfortunately, Venice Beach sits on the edge of a knife, as the forces of gentrification and corporate expansion threaten to squash the way of life that has defined Venice for decades. Allow yourself to be mesmerized—as Dotan Saguy has been—by this way of life, before it fades away.

Initiated in November 2012 by Aperture Foundation and Paris Photo, the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards celebrate the photobook’s contribution to the evolving narrative of photography. Also on view will be the MOPLA Photo Book Exhibition, a juried, submission-based exhibition featuring both independently and commercially published books by emerging and established photographers around the world.

Presented in collaboration with Month of Photography Los Angeles.