On September 4 2026, JG Thirlwell will perform a live score to the legendary Harry Smith film Heaven and Earth Magic at the Gray Area Grand Theater in San Francisco for the Crossroads 2026 Festival, presented by SF Cinematheque. Heaven and Earth Magic is a 1962 avant-garde stop-motion animation. Its surreal imagery, drawn from cutups of 19th century catalogs, has a mystical and hypnotic quality that has entranced viewers for decades.The program opens with Thirlwell’s 2018 film Sonder.
This will be a solo performance by Thirlwell in immersive four channel sound, performed on keyboards with computer / sample programs and theremin. The score was commissioned by L’Etrange Film Festival in Paris and premiered there in 2024. Details are here and tickets will go on sale soon.