FILMS
1961-2004
2010-Present
SUNDAY
1961
17:09
SUNDAY has been widely honored as the first social-protest film of the 1960s. It was shot in one day (April 9th, 1961) on 16mm black and white film.
SUNDAY's awards include: The Robert Flaherty Award • Prix Special du Jury, Tours • 1st Special Jury Prize, Oberhausen • Three awards at the Boston Intl. FIlm Festival • Special Jury Prize at San Francisco Intl. Film Festival • Awards at the Spoleto and Bergamo Festivals SUNDAY is part of the permanent film collection at New York's Museum of Modern Art and has been shown at numerous film festivals and symposia since its restoration in 2008
In 2008 SUNDAY was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, with the support of Martin Scorsese's Film Fund. As of the mid-2020s it is still being shown at international film festivals.
A full-length documentary about communication with the departed via modern electronic technology
CALLING EARTH
2014
95 Minutes
See a 5-minute preview here
SCOLE: THE
AFTERLIFE
EXPERMENT
2009
80 Minutes
A full-length documentary about the longest-running, most successful experiment ever conducted in physical mediumship and afterlife communication
"X"
1962
18:30
I originally produced this little ragtag social satire in 1962. It was filmed mainly in 35mm, but some scenes had to be shot in grainy 16mm due to budgetary constraints. For that and other reasons I was unhappy with the film and chose not to release it at that time despite its having received an Honorable Mention at the Oberhausen FIlm Festival. So it remained on the shelf for over 60 years.
But after taking a fresh look at it, making some editorial tweaks and doing a digital cleanup, I think it's viewable - at least as a token of its day, with a few echoes that reach across time into today's world. I hope you enjoy it.
- Dan Drasin, February 2025
HI! I'M A
SKEPTIC
2024
5 minutes
A five-minute computer-animated satire about how a scientist may be skeptical but a skeptic may not be scientfic!
LIKE, TOTALLY...
2003
2:20
“Like, Totally...” is a short cultural satire, written by, and starring, the offspring of my best Los Angeles friends. It premiered at the 2004 Mill Valley Film Festival.
​
“One of my all-time favorite short films.”
- Karen Davis, Senior Programmer, Mill Valley Film Festival
MAKE A WISH
2004
4:09
I shot “Make a Wish!” by accident one day in 2004 at the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair in San Francisco. Someone I’d planned to meet there didn’t show up, so having an hour to kill and a camera in my hand I decided to make a home movie, just for fun.
IT'S ALL IN THE BALANCE
2002
7:04
While shooting a documentary about San Francisco rock-balancing artist Bill Dan, I encountered yoga teacher Dina Amsterdam. Dina had become enchanted with Bill’s remarkable work and teaching, and took Bill’s lessons into her yoga classes. When she was offered the possibility of hosting a TV show she asked if I might put together a quick demo for her. This was the result.