Nara Denning uses antique elements to create seductive, turbulent dreamscapes inhabited by spirits of subversive whimsy.

Denning’s measured direction aims to paint each frame as a freestanding work of art. This and her classic minimalist effects have earned her comparisons to the innovative silent-era French auteur, Georges Méliès.

Her latest series, Neurotique, is an expressionistic exercise in erotic neurosis. Coupling aspects of underground mid 20th-century art films with classic narratives and acting postures more grounded in the 1920’s, Denning achieves a new form perfectly suited to her subject matter: “Fetish, Fear, and Folly,” a post-modern, neo-silent compendium of romantic tragedies. Denning was awarded “Best New Silent Filmmaker 2009” by the SF Weekly and received the 2010 “Investing in Artists” grant from the Center of Cultural Innovation. She is a San Francisco native.