Frames of Reference Film Series: Ephraim Asili

Join the Department of Art & Art History for the Frames of Reference series, an annual program of artists' films and videos. The event is programmed and organized by Jeremy Drummond, associate professor in visual and media arts practice.

Frames of Reference showcases some of the most creative, challenging, thoughtful, and visionary artists working in film, video, and alternative media today. Programs feature artists and artworks that resist conventions and ideologies of mainstream media; explore creative, innovative approaches to narrative and experiments in time-based media; and embrace unique viewpoints, perspectives, or frames of reference. Learn more about the Frames of Reference series. Follow the series on Instagram at frames_of_reference_rva.

The program features film screenings followed by a Q&A with Ephraim Asili.

Ephraim Asili is an African American artist, filmmaker, DJ, and traveler whose work focuses on the African diaspora as a cultural force. His childhood and adolescence were imbued with hip-hop music, Hollywood movies, and television. Often inspired by his day-to-day wanderings, Asili creates art that situates itself as a series of meditations of the everyday. He received his B.A. in film and media arts from Temple University and his M.F.A. in film and interdisciplinary art at Bard College. Asili is currently the director of the Film and Electronic Arts Program at Bard College, where he is also an associate professor teaching film production and film studies.

Asili’s films have screened at festivals and venues all over the world, including the New York Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, the Berlinale, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Co-sponsored by the Department of Art & Art History, School of Arts & Sciences, and University of Richmond Museums as part of the 2025-26 Tucker-Boatwright Festival of Literature & the Arts.

image credit: Cauleen Smith, My Caldera (2022)