A flatbed editing table is snapped on. A woman’s hands reach in and out of the frame, cutting and editing a reel of film. She splices, scrubs, rewinds and rolls the sound and images. Fragments of animated archival footage flash across the screen: women walking in chains, protesting with placards, speaking at podiums. We hear bursts of words and the percussive whir and click of the Steenbeck—until a “message” is finally revealed.

Assembly is an experimental short, written and directed by Jenn Strom, featuring a rhythmic soundscape and paint-on-glass animation. It was inspired by Studio D filmmakers and is dedicated to the memory of Kathleen Shannon.