Gray Area Grand Theater: SF Cinematheque presents: Jennifer Reeves: The Gloria of Your Imagination
Cinematheque rings in the new year welcoming filmmaker Jennifer Reeves, in person to present The Gloria of Your Imagination, an evocatively edited double-projected 16mm/digital mash-up exploring sexuality, gendered power relationships and motherhood in the context of the burgeoning field of psychotherapy in 1960s America.
The Gloria of Your Imagination: In 1964, 30-year-old waitress and single mother Gloria Szymanski agreed to engage in psychotherapy sessions on film with three of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century, each a leader in a competing therapeutic school—Carl Rogers (Client Centered Therapy), Fritz Perls (Gestalt Therapy) and Albert Ellis (Rational-Emotive Therapy). These filmed sessions were released to the public in 1965 (under dubious ethical circumstances) as Three Approaches to Psychotherapy (dir. Everett L. Shostrom). In Gloria…, Reeves distills and expands this 1960s educational film with a superimposed montage. Excerpts from Gloria’s unguarded sessions are woven into other film artifacts from her lifetime. Newsreel clips, home movies, commercials, cold war propaganda and educational films from the 1930s to the 1970s conjure the absurdity, rage and profound revelations that arise as Gloria bares her secrets to the experts, to be exposed publicly against her consent. Daughter of Polish immigrants, Gloria’s spiritual journey takes flight from the confining therapy chamber. Reeves’ kaleidoscopic montage lays bare the unspoken threads of influence in Gloria’s struggle. From Catholic schoolgirl to teenage bride and psychotherapy patient, Gloria forges her own way and principled self, becoming a remarkably independent thinker and generous soul before her life is cut short.
Brooklyn film artist Jennifer Reeves (b. 1971, Sri Lanka) has made 25+ filmworks to date, from experimental shorts and features to multiple projection performances scored by live music. Reeves’ visceral 16mm film works immerse viewers in intricate, unfamiliar cinematic territory. They investigate themes of mental health and recovery, feminism and sexuality, and the beauty and decay of the natural world. A Blu-ray collection of ten of her films—When It Was Blue: Selected Works 1992–2022—was released by Re:Voir Video late in 2025 and will be available at screenings. The collection will be available for streaming from Re:Voir in 2026.