Hear from the team behind Into the Archives, a groundbreaking augmented reality project including a photo exhibition, documentary series, and newly-launched immersive photobook, featuring Damien McDuffie, Theo Schear, Michael Bobino, and Amir Aziz. 

The docuseries follows director and host Damien McDuffie as he brings history to life by activating monuments, murals, and archives in Black communities. Attend the program and get the chance to take home the immersive photobook for free!

About the films

Into the Archives: The First Monument

Until 2021, there was not a single official monument erected for the legendary Black Panther Party. This finally changed when Fredrika Newton, the widow of former Minister of Defense Huey Newton, worked with the city of Oakland to commission a bust of Mr. Newton that now stands on the block where he was killed. Following sculptor Dana King from conceptualization through the unveiling ceremony over a year-long period, The First Monument offers an exclusive look at the process and the significance of this groundbreaking memorial for an iconic Black movement.

Into the Archives: Black Panthers in Augmented Reality 

In an unassuming house in Sacramento, one of the most comprehensive private collections of Black Panthers material sits on the shelves of original Party member and archivist William “Billy X” Jennings. In Black Panthers in Augmented Reality, Damien McDuffie merges the physical archives of the Black Panther Party newspaper by overlaying them with digital video and imaging.

About the Into the Archives team

Damien McDuffie is a creative technologist, digital archivist, and augmented reality (AR) artist and developer. He is the founder of Black Terminus AR, an augmented reality camera company that lets artists and museums create, sell, or commission AR artworks. All that’s needed is the Black Terminus AR mobile camera app that helps bring artwork to life. His mission is to keep redlining out of the metaverse by developing and inspiring the next generation of Black creative technologists. 

Theo Schear is a documentary filmmaker from Oakland, California. His first docuseries Hard To Swallow premiered at Canneseries 2024. He was a 2021 SFFILM FilmHouse Resident and a member of Detroit Public Television’s National Documentary Unit. His films have played on public television and at major museums and film festivals. His writing has appeared in SFMOMA’s Open Space, Documentary Magazine, Nieman Lab, and Film Threat.

Michael Bobino is an accomplished audio engineer, location sound mixer, and augmented reality book publisher based in San Francisco, California. Currently, he works as the audio operator for NBC Sports Bay Area, mixing pre- and post-game shows for the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants, San Jose Sharks, San Francisco 49ers, and Oakland A’s. He is also the founder of F&M Publishing, a creative technology company dedicated to enhancing print and written media experiences through augmented reality.

Amir Aziz is a photographer and visual strategist from Oakland, California. He has spent over a decade capturing culture and changes in his community and abroad through images and documentary films with a mission to connect communities globally. Formerly a photojournalist at The Oaklandside and 2022 CatchLight Local Fellow, his work has also been featured in The New York Times, SF Chronicle, The Globe and Mail, KQED, ARTnews, and more. Recently completing a photography residency and exhibit in France, he now works independently in the New York Metropolitan area.

Ticket info

Free. Seating is limited and unassigned. Tickets for the film screenings and panel are distributed in front of the Koret Auditorium an hour before the program begins, first come, first served. This does not include admission to the museum.

Contact info

Public Programs
publicprograms@famsf.org
415.750.7694