Pittsburgh Sound + Image

What is PFMI, you ask? That would be an initialism of Pittsburgh Filmmakers Incorporated, the one-time legal name of the equipment share, school, and exhibitor that drove so much creativity beginning in the 1970s. Two significant PFMI group shows from the 70s and 80s inspired our shindig this Friday!

As promoted in the 1982 poster seen here, PFMI celebrated over a decade of local filmmaking by touring a package of local 16mm and Super 8 work around the world. The 1982 Pittsburgh Filmmakers Traveling Film Program included work by many of our friends and idols. It was a testament to the reach of Pittsburgh film with audiences outside of our city.

The second image is part of the 1974 poster for the first group show of artists affiliated with Pittsburgh Filmmakers.

This Friday, we bring together an eclectic group of films connected with Pittsburgh Filmmakers in the 1970s. We’ve rounded up 16mm and Super 8 films from filmmakers, archives, and arts institutions all across the US for one of our most ambitious shows yet.

While this is not intended to be a comprehensive view of PFMI in the 1970s (an impossible task for one show), we’ve got quite the crash course in store for you, in under two hours. And Pittsburgh Sound + Image has not shown any of these films before!

Tippi Comden • Sally Dixon • Paul Glabicki • Victor Grauer • Roger Jacoby • Dave Lee • Leonard Lies • Janis Crystal Lipzin • Lynn Squilla • Harriet Stein • Dane Todd • Leo Vale • Natalka Voslakov

On 16mm, Super 8, and digital

ESSENTIAL PITTSBURGH: 1970s PFMI is Friday, June 26th at 8:00pm at @theglitterboxtheater. $12 or free for Pittsburgh Sound + Image members. Tickets in bio!