The Ceremony

Fri September 4th Open 10 AM–5 PM Join us for an afternoon screening of Nagisa Ōshima’s The Ceremony (1971). In The Ceremony, the youngest generation of a Japanese family are forced to submit to a series of cruelly enforced traditions. Moving through time in fragments, the film layers narratives and exploring the politics of desire as individual lives confront the demands of family and ritual—an aesthetic world that closely echoes GaHee Park’s own. Look closely, and you may recognize the shot that inspired Park’s Seafood Heaven (2024). Enjoy the film and themed snacks as part of this series inspired by GaHee Park’s exhibition Behind the Curtain. Come early or stay late to visit our galleries—free admission is included with your ticket! Ticket includes the film, themed snacks—while supplies last—and gallery admission. The film starts promptly at 2pm and there are no trailers. Please arrive a few minutes early to be seated. About the series: Through an Open Window

 Co-curated by filmmaker Michael Vass and artist GaHee Park, Through an Open Window offers a highly personal survey of cinematic inspirations, as well as a kind of funhouse mirror reflecting various themes and motifs found in Park’s YBCA exhibition GaHee Park: Behind the Curtain. Some of the films included are direct influences on Park’s paintings, while others provide a more general cinematic parallel to her aesthetic universe, echoing core elements of her practice: layered stories and nested narratives; fantasy and dream sequences; social rituals and taboos; doppelgangers and mistaken identities; voyeurism and theatricality; personae and performance; natural splendour and cocktail charm. Ranging from silent films to recent releases and spanning several genres and countries of origin, the films featured in Through an Open Window are linked by their psychological sophistication and formal complexity, with a particular focus on the suggestive ambiguities that emerge from the tensions between narrative and pictorial space, which Park explores so memorably in her work. Print Source: Janus Films Year: 1971 Running Time: 124 minutes Format: MPEG-4 Director: Nagisa Ōshima Country: Japan Join us for more films in the series Through an Open Window Saturdays, August 15–October 31, 2026, 2 PM Co-Presented by GaHee Park, Michael Vass & YBCA Saturday, August 15, 2026, 2 PM Co-Presented by GaHee Park, Michael Vass & YBCA Saturday, August 29, 2026, 2 PM Co-Presented by GaHee Park, Michael Vass & YBCA Saturday, October 3, 2026, 2 PM Co-Presented by GaHee Park, Michael Vass & YBCA Saturday, October 31, 2026, 2 PM Lead image: The Ceremony. Courtesy of Janus Films. YBCA programs are made possible in part by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Blue Shield Of California, Bob A. Ross Foundation, City and County of San Francisco, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Malia Simonds, Mayor Daniel Lurie, National Endowment for the Arts, Pisces Foundation, The Ron Conway Family, Salesforce, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The Svane Family Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy, Yerba Buena Partnership, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Board of Directors and Members. Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 7 PM Co-presented by Creativity Explored & YBCA Wednesday, October 14, 2026, 5–8 PM August 7, 2026–January 3, 2027 Co-Presented by GaHee Park, Michael Vass & YBCA Saturdays, August 15–October 31, 2026, 2 PM