Join Western Neighborhoods Project (WNP) for a very special screening of Obsessed with Light (2023), hosted in partnership with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) to celebrate the Legion of Honor on its 100th anniversary.

Obsessed with Light pulls back the curtain on Loïe Fuller, one of the most daring American creators of modern dance, who originated a completely new kind of spectacle combining dance, fabric, and lighting. Anyone who has been to a rock concert has seen a modern version of her lighting designs. Fuller shot to international stardom after performing at the Folies Bergère in Paris. She became the embodiment of the Art Nouveau movement with her elaborate productions of ephemeral, shape-shifting abstractions. Her rise to fame also intertwined with the very beginning of cinema and her Serpentine dance became an iconic subject for the earliest filmmakers like Georges Méliès and Alice Guy Blaché. It was also among the earliest footage ever to be hand-colored.

Obsessed with Light is about a woman who became famous on her own terms– unapologetic about her body type and open about her sexual preference. Fuller was a visionary artist who disrupted the prevailing notions of dance and the imagined limits of the human body. Creating a dialogue between the past and the present, the documentary delves into the astonishing influence Fuller's work has on contemporary artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift, Bill T. Jones, Shakira, and William Kentridge.

WNP Executive Director Nicole Meldahl will introduce the film, highlighting Fuller’s connection to the Legion of Honor and the Richmond District. A conversation with filmmakers Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum, moderated by Isabella Lores-Chavez, Associate Curator of European Paintings at FAMSF, will screen after the film. In celebration of Big Alma’s birthday, we’ll also have free slices of cake (first-come, first-served) from local baker Francesca (known for their recently retired project Fear the Feast!) The program begins at 7:00pm. Tickets sales support both WNP and the 4 Star Theater.