Diaries, Notes, Sketches: A Film Screening & Journaling Event for the New Year
Stelo Arts
Thursday, January 1st, 2026 | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM | 6PM Doors & 7PM Screening
Co-presented by the Portland Diary Summit, Experimental Exposure, and Stelo Arts
Ticket Price: Sliding Scale $10-$25.
The Portland Diary Summit is back! We return with a special New Year’s Day film and journaling event. Partnering with Experimental Exposure, a film programming group presenting experimental films in their original analog format, and Stelo Arts, a community-oriented art space on Portland’s North Park Blocks, Diaries, Notes, Sketches offers Portlanders a rare opportunity to see 16mm and super8 diaristic films by Vivienne Dick, Holly Fisher, Isa Hesse-Rabinovich, and Edward Owens. During this relaxed screening event, we will savor these films together, taking breaks after each film to spend time journaling with prompts inspired by the films. Join us at Stelo to take a moment to reflect on and learn from 2025, and dream and fortify yourself for 2026. Bring your notebooks and we’ll provide the snacks and tea.
Inspired by the late great diary filmmaker Jonas Mekas, who intended to call all of his films “diaries, notes, sketches,” curators Julie Perini and Cadie Godula present here four filmmakers who are less well-known than the avant-garde giant Mekas, but whose work is no less potent and relevant today. Vivienne Dick is an Irish filmmaker whose early punk films from New York City helped define No Wave Cinema in the 1970s. Holly Fisher is a prolific filmmaker and printmaker living in New York City. Isa Hesse-Rabinovich was a Swiss artist and filmmaker who made her first film at the age of 50. Edward Owens was a queer African-American filmmaker from Chicago, who started making experimental films at age 18. These filmmakers offer first person points of view on their worlds, blending diaristic modes with conventions of portraiture, the travelogue, and fictional filmmaking.
During our group journaling, you are invited to share as much or as little as you like: introverts are welcome. The primary dialog you’ll have at this event is with yourself. Do you need a space to sit quietly and hear your inner voice? Do you want to feel and release a bit of rage or grief? Would it help you to get grounded in your values so you can join struggles against our current police state? Do you want to draw circles on a page, and you don’t know why? We are your people. Come hang out with us on January 1, 2026.
Ticket price: sliding scale $10-$25.
All funds go directly to support filmmakers and film distributors.
Buy tickets at portlanddiarysummit.com or send money via venmo to @Julie-Perini
Stelo is ADA accessible with two restrooms and a ground-floor entrance with double doors, making sure programs follow ADA guidelines.