Assembly Screening and Conversation

This event is presented in partnership with the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) and in conjunction with NEXUS Black Art Week.

 
Assembly — a feature documentary by Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons — is a genre-bending journey into Black and queer futures that refuses to be boxed in. Part documentary, part multisensory performance, the film takes audiences behind the scenes of Newsome’s groundbreaking installation at New York’s Park Avenue Armory, transforming a bastion of white military power into a vibrant celebration of queer joy, resistance, and possibility.

Blending music, dance, projections, sculpture, holograms, and African fractal patterns, Assembly channels the energy of the queer underground while delivering sharp political commentary. At its center is Being (the Digital Griot) — a voguing, storytelling, non-binary AI informed by the writings of Black feminist thinkers. Through the film, Being underscores the urgency of decolonization and envisions a future where machines amplify diverse voices rather than silence them.

From breathtaking visuals to powerful tributes — including an homage to Black trans women and a journey to Ghana to commune with enslaved ancestors — Assembly is at once a vision of intergenerational resilience and a love letter to queer Black excellence.

Following the screening, join directors Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons in conversation with Key Jo Lee, chief of curatorial affairs and public programs at MoAD.

About the Speakers

Key Jo Lee is chief of curatorial affairs and public programs at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. Lee oversees the strategic direction for the museum’s exhibitions and programs; leads globally on identifying and promoting emerging artists from the African diaspora; and works to expand MoAD’s reach and influence locally, nationally, and internationally. She is responsible for the overall management and execution of the museum’s curatorial vision, including its exhibitions, publications, and public and educational programs, and plays an important role in the organization’s outreach, communications, and digital strategy. Lee has a master’s degree from and is PhD candidate in History of Art and African American Studies at Yale University. Her first book, Perceptual Drift: Black Art and an Ethics of Looking, was published by Yale University Press and the Cleveland Museum of Art in January 2023.

Rashaad Newsome is an award-winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist whose work merges film, performance, technology, and community organizing. His visionary practice creates immersive experiences that challenge dominant narratives and make space for Black, queer, and trans stories to flourish. Newsome’s projects often combine animation, sculpture, music, and artificial intelligence, reflecting a philosophy of collage that deconstructs and reimagines the world through expansive, inclusive perspectives. He holds an honorary doctor of fine arts degree from the University of Connecticut and has exhibited and performed internationally at institutions including the Whitney Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Hayward Gallery (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Kampnagel (Hamburg), SXSW Film Festival, BFI Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival. With more than 15 short films presented in art spaces, festivals, and on PBS, Newsome’s work is celebrated for its innovation and cultural resonance. Recent honors include the 2025 Creative Capital Award, 2025 USA Artist Fellowship, 2022 NewFest Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Award, and the 2022 Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Computer Animation. Across mediums, his work reframes art and technology as tools for liberation, visibility, and joy.

Johnny Symons is an Emmy-nominated Bay Area filmmaker specializing in LGBTQ+ documentaries. His latest film, Assembly (2025), premiered at SXSW, BFI Flare, and Hot Docs and will air on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2026. His film Daddy & Papa (2002) premiered at Sundance, was broadcast in more than a dozen countries, and garnered 12 festival awards. His other feature documentaries include Out Run (2016), which premiered at Full Frame and aired on public television, and Ask Not (2008), which was broadcast nationally on PBS and screened at the US Capitol. Symons is co-producer of the Academy Award-nominated Long Night’s Journey Into Day (2000), which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, and executive producer of Pray Away (2020), which premiered at Tribeca and is streaming on Netflix. He is a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University and has an MA in documentary production from Stanford. Symons is a documentary branch member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility accommodations such as American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and assisted listening devices are available upon request 10 business days in advance.
Please email publicengagement@sfmoma.org, and we will do our best to fulfill your request.