A screening of Robert Weine’s expressionist classic with a contemporary original soundtrack + recitals of poetry and prose.
Beyond Baroque presents a screening of the silent-era horror classic, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Directed by German filmmaker Robert Wiene, and released in 1920, the film has been widely influential to filmmakers and writers exploring psychological horror and visual storytelling.
The film follows Francis, who recounts his encounters with Dr. Caligari, a sinister figure who manipulates a sleepwalker, Cesare, into committing murders. The story unfolds through claustrophobic spaces and wildly distorted geometric set designs–hallmarks of German Expressionism that transform the film’s psychological unease into a striking visual nightmarish landscape.
The screening in the Wanda Coleman Theater will begin with readings by poet Adrian Ibarra, author of Rivers of Human Blood, and fiction writer Atina Hartunian. Hartunian, who has developed craft talks exploring facets of the horror genre, will also introduce The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
Experience the film in community with an original soundtrack composed exclusively for this program by L.A.-based musicians Mason Moy, Jesse Brindze, and Grump, using an array of electronic, string, and wind instrumentation.
Doors Open: 7:00 PM I Readings & Screening: 7:30 PM
About the authors:
Adrian Ibarra is a poet living in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of the chapbook Rivers of Human Blood.
Atina Hartunian is a writer, independent scholar, educator, and first-generation Armenian American based in Los Angeles. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University in 2023. Her honors include a Teaching Fellowship from Anaphora Arts (2024), the Pacific University MFA Merit Scholarship (2021), and residencies with the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop, Rockvale Writers’ Colony (2025), and the Carolyn Moore Writing Residency (2026). Hartunian’s work explores horror, perception, memory, diasporic identity, and the unseen through fiction, flash nonfiction, and craft scholarship. Her chapbook Love at First Sip was shortlisted for the C&R Press Summer Tide Pool Chapbook Awards (2025), and her flash piece I’d Rather Lose My Tits Than My Hair received an Honorable Mention in the 2026 Plentitudes Flash Fiction Prize. She is currently developing a five-part Horror Lecture Series that combines literary criticism, close reading, and generative writing.
About the musicians:
Jesse Brindze is a musician, DJ, and artist that can occasionally be found haunting the cinemas and goth clubs of Los Angeles. They enjoy making strange noises with a variety of tools, including guitars, synthesizers, and turntables. You can hear more from them on intermittent Fridays at Club Underground ( or find their other work at www.jessebrindze.com.
Mason Moy is a tubist, bass trombonist, and composer currently in Los Angeles, CA. He frequently makes music exploring extended just intonation, free improvisation, and occasionally using Supercollider. His compositions focus primarily on the use of extended just intonation to push the limits of tonal music. His music has been programmed across the United States by the Hear Now Festival, the James Madison University Wind Ensemble, Kevin Stees, Matt LeVeque, and the Los Angeles Brass Alliance.
Grump is an LA based multidisciplinary artist and curator. Their musical work experiments with sound collages, woodwinds, unorthodox rhythms and drones using samplers, effect pedals and other miscellaneous instruments. They are also the founder and sole operator of online radio and mixed media interface, bed crumb show.
About Beyond Baroque
Beyond Baroque is one of the United States’ leading independent Literary | Arts Centers and public spaces dedicated to expanding the public’s knowledge of poetry, literature and art through cultural events and community interaction. Founded in 1968 as an experimental literary magazine, Beyond Baroque is based out of the original City Hall building in Venice, California. The Center offers a diverse variety of literary and arts programming including readings and workshops. The building also houses a bookstore with a large collection of new poetry books for sale.
Tickets will be available at the Beyond Baroque bookstore on the day of the event, but we recommend registering in advance through Eventbrite. Masks are encouraged while inside our center. Please arrive early.
Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, staff, fellow attendees, or performers.
