Tommy Becker

Tommy Becker attended the San Francisco Art Institute before receiving an MFA in Film/Video/Performance from the California College of Arts. In 2001, he began his work on "Tape Number One," a never-ending mix tape that acts as a depository for his experiments in cinema.

A self-described "poet trapped in a camcorder," Becker's art rock films take a collagist approach to thematic investigation by combining original songwriting, spoken word, performance, costuming, animation, and in-computer design. Educational preludes, historical footage, and thematic lyrics lend a documentary component to his work that balances meaning with personal, often humorous, poetic expression.

His films have been shared nationally and internationally including the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, SFCinematheque Crossroads, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Wexner Center for the Arts, Headlands Center for the Arts, Currents New Media, Perth International Film Festival, The Black Maria Film Festival, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Zebra Poetry Film Festival (Berlin), Kassel Documentary Film Festival, Experiments in Cinema (Albuquerque), Swedenborg Film Festival (London), Alchemy Film Festival (Hawick), Boston Underground Film Festival, Milwaukee Underground Film Festival and Athens International Film and Video Festival (Ohio).

Becker often presents work from tape as expanded cinema with regular local performances at Other Cinema / Artist Television Access, SF, CA (2023)(2022)(2021)(2020)(2019)(2018)(2017)(2016)(2015)(2014)(2013)(2012)(2011) and Shapeshifters Cinema, Oakland CA (2022)(2018)(2017)(2014)(2012).

He taught visual arts at Gateway High School between 2003-2023 in San Francisco, CA and often translates his film concepts into 2D mixed media works and zine publications.

http://www.tommybecker.com