James DeLisio

Directing

James DeLisio

Born 2003-10-15

James DeLisio is a filmmaker based in Southern California whose work explores the region's ecologies and histories. His films have screened at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the USC Eco Film + Media Arts Festival, the Catalina Film Festival, and more.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Lobsteropolis poster
NR

An examination of the California Spiny Lobster through a series of disparate contexts.

Lobsteropolis

Smoke Signals poster
NR

"Smoke Signals" follows the volunteers at High Point Lookout, one of the last remaining fire lookout towers in California. Alternating between the daily duties of the fire lookouts, and a series of profiles on wildfires that have traced their history, "Smoke Signals" questions the role of the fire lookouts in the face of rapidly advancing technology and climate change.

Smoke Signals

2024

Alacrity poster
NR

Near the busy stop and go of a traffic intersection, a group of snails inch toward their destination.

Alacrity

2024

Velella Velella poster
NR

A cameraless film in the tradition of Stan Brakhage's "Mothlight," which takes celluloid as the medium for an encounter between the moving-image, and the materiality of San Diego's shoreline ecosystems.

Velella Velella

2025

Four Years of Solitude poster
NR

A written testimony by co-director Jin Ryoo on his experience preparing for Korean compulsory military service is juxtaposed with images of an empty UCSD campus, the desolate construction sites sprawling off of it, and the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial.

Four Years of Solitude

2023

Good Morning News poster
NR

Gabe and James, hosts of a small town weekly news show, report on local happenings as their reality begins to crumble around them.

Good Morning News

2022

Good Morning News poster
NR

Gabe and James, hosts of a small town weekly news show, report on local happenings as their reality begins to crumble around them.

Good Morning News

2022

Under the Overpass poster
NR

A flock of Cliff Swallows oscillates between their nest along the Interstate 5 Freeway, and the San Dieguito River.

Under the Overpass

2025