James DeLisio

James DeLisio is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles and San Diego. His filmmaking practice uses experimental nonfiction to explore the histories and ecologies of Southern California.

Still from Lobsteropolis

Monrovia, 1971

Monrovia, 1971 recontextualizes the story of 13-year-old Mark Edward Allen, an African American boy who was found hanging from the bars of his jail cell in the police department of Monrovia, CA.Co-directed with Ian Guzman, 16mm, Work in Progress

Dogfish

Koi fish drifting through water and the movements of a three-legged dog are intercut and overlayed until they seem to form a single, impossible, hybrid body.4 minutes, 16mm, Work in Progress

Naming Henry

A car crash with a black bear leads to a confrontation with the legacy of trained animals in early cinema, exposing humans' often violent urge to turn wild animals into symbols, pets, and spectacles.Digital & 16mm, Work in Progress

Lobsteropolis

The California Spiny Lobster does not have claws, leaving it especially vulnerable to exploitation. From commercial fishing vessels to natural history archives, Lobsteropolis silently observes a series of encounters between the California Spiny Lobster and the industries of San Diego, California.22 minutes, Digital, 2025

Screenings:
Science New Wave 2025 Genetic Code, November 2025, Labocine, Online
oneshot, November 2025, Zero Gravity Creative Space, Taipei, Taiwan
Slow Film Festival (World Premiere), September 2025, Leytonstone, London, UK

Velella Velella

A cameraless film in the tradition of Stan Brakhage's "Mothlight," which takes celluloid as the medium for an encounter between the moving-image, and the materiality of San Diego's shoreline ecosystems.2 minute loop, 16mm, 2025

Screenings + Exhibitions:
The New Film Underground Volume 14, March 2026, Los Angeles, CA
16mm Film Festival, November 2025, Mumbai, India
Buffalo International Film Festival, October 2025, Buffalo, NY
UNPOP Short Film Festival, September 2025, San Diego, CA
Athenaeum 33rd Annual Juried Exhibition, July - October 2025, The Athenaeum, La Jolla, CA
North Park Film Festival Avant-Garde Weekend, July 2025, San Diego, CA
Moving Image + 16mm, June 2025, Visual Arts Facility, San Diego, CA

Under the Overpass

A flock of Cliff Swallows oscillates between their nest along the Interstate 5 Freeway, and the San Dieguito River. The border between the concrete and the estuary becomes blurred between a poem and a scientific research paper.3 minutes , Digital, 2025

Screenings:
Films of Return, September 2025, A La Luz, Online
Living With Buildings VIII, July 2025, Disappear Here, Coventry, UK
Birds on Record, March 2025, Labocine, Online
Eco Film + Media Arts Festival, February 2025, Los Angeles, CA
National Film Festival for Talented Youth (Jury Award Nominee: Best Experimental), April 2025, Seattle, WA

Dos Palmas Preserve

Commissioned piece for Labocine's "Scenes from the Forest" initiative. A 60 minute static shot of the Dos Palmas Preserve, in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. Over the course of the hour, the rising sun produces a constantly evolving composition as the light illuminates the palm trees. The endangered Yuma Clapper Rail can be heard throughout the piece.60 minutes , Digital, 2024

Screenings:
Scenes From the Forest, February 2026, Brooklyn Children's Museum, NYC, NY
Labocine, August 2024, Online

Alacrity

An exercise in ecological time and durational cinema. As cars stop and start at an urban intersection, a colony of snails crawl toward their destination.10 minutes , Digital, 2024

Screenings:
Mindfulness, September 2025, Labocine, Online
Cinemata Film Festival, September 2024, Oberlin, OH
ART JOY Arts & Music Festival, June 2024, La Jolla, CA

Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals follows the volunteers at High Point Lookout, one of the last remaining fire lookout towers in California, as they question the role of the fire lookouts in the face of rapidly advancing technology and climate change.24 minutes , Digital, 2024

Screenings:
San Diego Film Week, November 2024, San Diego, CA
Catalina Film Festival, September 2024, Avalon, CA
14th Annual Adam D. Kamil Media Awards (Finalist), May 2024, San Diego, CA
National Film Festival for Talented Youth, April 2024, Seattle, WA
UCSD Film Festival (Best Documentary), April 2024, La Jolla, CA

Repairing the Push Rods on a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle

The repair of a VW Beetle engine becomes the jumping-off point for meditations on brotherhood, and what it means to try and understand someone.7 minutes , Digital, 2023

Screenings:
Film Fest @ UC Davis (Best Documentary), May 2025, Davis, CA
Revelle Creative Arts Show, May 2025, San Diego, CA
15th Adam D. Kamil Media Awards, May 2025, San Diego, CA
Binghamton Student Experimental Film Fest, November 2024, Binghamton, NY

Four Years of Solitude

An international student’s hoped-for campus home turns into an isolated social vacuum filled with never-ending construction, with his impending summons to Korea’s military duty hovering nearby.Co-directed with Seojin Ryoo, 5 minutes , Digital, 2023

Screenings:
San Diego Asian Film Festival, November 2024, San Diego, CA
UCSD Film Festival, April 2024, La Jolla, CA

Good Morning News

Public access television personalities Gabe and James host a morning news show as their reality crumbles around them.Co directed with Gabe Thomas, web series, 6 episodes, Digital, 2022

Video Essays

Scholarly & analytical video essays on film & media topics, available on YouTube, vimeo, or elsewhere.

Education

University of Southern California: M.A. in Cinema & Media Studies
UC San Diego: B.S. in Cognitive Science, Summa Cum Laude
Studies abroad in Tokyo, Japan

Complete Filmography

Monrovia, 1971, Experimental Documentary, Co-directed w/ Ian Guzman, 16mm, Work In Progress
Dogfish, Experimental, 4 minutes, 16mm, Work In Progress
Naming Henry, Essay Film, 16mm & digital, Work In Progress
Lobsteropolis, Experimental Documentary, 22 minutes, digital, 2025
Velella Velella, Experimental, 2 minutes, 16mm, 2025
Under the Overpass, Experimental, 3 minutes, digital, 2025
Long Live Holly 2035, 2 channel installation, Assistant Editor (directed by Louis Hock), 15 minutes, digital, 2024
Dos Palmas Preserve, Experimental Documentary, 60 minutes, digital, 2024
Alacrity, Experimental Documentary, 10 minutes, digital, 2024
Smoke Signals, Documentary, 17 minutes, digital, 2024
Repairing the Push Rods on a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle, Essay Film, 7 minutes, digital, 2023
Four Years of Solitude, Essay Film, Co-directed w/ Seojin Ryoo, 5 minutes, digital, 2023
TAIKO, Documentary, 8 minutes, digital, 2022
Good Morning News, Web Series, Co-directed w/ Gabe Thomas, 31 minutes, digital, 2022

Selected Screenings

2026 - The New Film Underground Volume 14, Los Angeles, CA
2025 - 16mm Film Festival, Harkat Studios, Mumbai, India
2025 - oneshot, Zero Gravity Creative Space, Taipei, Taiwan
2025 - Science New Wave 2025 Genetic Code, Labocine, NYC, USA
2025 - Buffalo International Film Festival, Buffalo, NY
2025 - Slow Film Festival, London, UK
2025 - Films of Return, A La Luz, Online
2025 - North Park Film Festival Avant-Garde Weekend, San Diego, CA
2025 - Disappear Here: Living With Buildings VIII, Coventry, UK
2025 - National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Seattle, WA
2025 - Birds on Record, Labocine, Online
2025 - USC Eco Film + Media Arts Festival, Los Angeles, CA
2024 - Student Experimental Film Festival Binghamton, Binghamton, NY
2024 - San Diego Asian Film Festival, San Diego, CA
2024 - San Diego Film Week, San Diego, CA
2024 - Catalina Film Festival, Avalon, CA
2024 - Scenes From the Forest, Labocine, Online
2024 - National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Seattle, WA
2023 - UCSD Film Festival, La Jolla, CA

Group Exhibitions

2026 - Scenes From the Forest, Brooklyn Children's Museum, NYC, NY
2025 - Arts & Humanities Night of Research & Creative Activities, San Diego, CA
2025 - Athenaeum 33rd Annual Juried Exhibition, Athenaeum Music & Arts, La Jolla, CA
2025 - Moving Image + 16mm, UCSD Visual Arts Facility, La Jolla, CA
2025 - 15th Adam D. Kamil Media Awards, La Jolla, CA
2024 - 14th Adam D. Kamil Media Awards, La Jolla, CA

Video Essays

Pending Publication - Samurai/Cowboy/Spaceman: Transnational Webs of Influence, 7 minutes
2025 - Documentaries where the journey is the destination, 7 minutes, featured on Unspoken Cinema
2024 - Late Spring, After Life: Seasons of Memory, Memories of Seasons, 1 minute
2024 - TV Dictionary - Neon Genesis Evangelion, 3 minutes, published in [in]Transition
2023 - The Real Boy Blues, co-created with Max Ranieri, 2 minutes
2023 - Reflections of Colonialism in The Devil's Backbone, 8 minutes, published in Cinegogia
2023 - Cinema in Pain: Decoding Mad God, 8 minutes, featured in Sight & Sound magazine
2023 - can you sit through this scene without getting bored?, 5 minutes, featured on Unspoken Cinema

Awards, Grants, & Fellowships

2025 - Science New Wave Luminary Awards: Nominee
2025 - UC San Diego URH Travel Scholarship
2025 - National Film Festival for Talented Youth Jury Award Nominee: Best Experimental
2024 - Thurgood Marshall College Impact Grant
2024 - William Male Foundation Art Grant
2024 - Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts Fellowship
2024 - 14th Adam D. Kamil Media Awards Finalist Prize
2024 - Kathleen Denno Scholarship - for studies abroad in Tokyo, Japan
2024 - Russell Foundation Grant
2023 - Sight & Sound: Best Video Essays of 2023

Film Curation & Programming

2026 - Shortlist Juror, USC Eco Film + Media Arts Festival, University of Southern California.
2025 - Programmer, “The Environmental Video Essay. ” Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. Ithaca, NY
2025 - L for Leisure with director Lev Kalman, Film Stock, San Diego, CA
2025 - Steina: Early Video Harmonics with Alena Williams, PhD., Film Stock, San Diego, CA
2024 - Le Samourai with Daisuke Miyao, PhD., Film Stock, San Diego, CA
2024 - The Works of Armand Yervant Tufenkian & Tamer Hassan, Film Stock, San Diego, CA
2024 - News From Home with Babette Mangolte, Film Stock, San Diego, CA
Ongoing - Community Organizer, The Essay Library (Videographic Criticism Collective)

Conference Presentations, Invited Talks, Guest Lectures

2025 Panelist, Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts Annual Fellows Forum
2025 Guest Lecture, VIS 180A: Documentary Theory & Practice, UC San Diego
2025 - “Toward a Nuclear Ecocinema: Atomic Epistemologies in Crossroads and Sound of a Million Insects, Light of a Thousand Stars.” SUNY New Paltz Undergraduate Art History Symposium
2025 - “In Water (Lilies): Hong Sang-Soo’s Cinematic Aesthetics of Blur.” Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium. Johns Hopkins University.
2024 - “Samurai/Cowboy/Spaceman: Transnational Webs of Influence.” Global Hollywood: Histories, Markets, & Audiences. Leibniz University Hannover.
2024 - “Reimagining Japanese & American Genre Film as Transnational Cultural Exchange.” Conference for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities. UC San Diego.