Travis Wilkerson's films are committed in their politics and striking in their visuals. Influenced both by his teachers at Cal Arts, including experimental filmmaker James Benning, and by the Third Cinema of Latin American filmmakers such as Santiago Alvarez and Julio García Espinosa, his films can be elegant and visually sophisticated, raw and urgent, or all of the above. Dealing with fact and fiction, drawing on research and speculation, his work centers on marginalized histories and events and emerges from his belief that cinema can be a part of fostering change. The lyrical Superior Elegy (2002, 27 mins, Color) is a documentation of and participation in a twenty-five-hour concert held in Duluth, Minnesota, to commemorate the life of a young man murdered at twenty-five. Three musicians played an hour for each year of their friend's life; portions of their improvisation are intercut with their reflection on the elegiac form. Plus a sneak preview of a work-in-progress, the collectively made The Price of Copper (c. 80 mins), shot in Butte, Montana. Wilkerson's first fiction film is an attempt at a “New Imperfect Cinema.” He welcomes the opportunity to discuss the film, shown in rough-cut stage, with the audience.