Jesse Hawthorne Ficks's 2018 Eyes

The San Francisco Bay Area is still home to a rich cinephilic culture nurtured in large part by a diverse array of cinemas, programmers and moviegoers. I'm honored to present a selection of favorite screenings experienced by local cinephiles in 2018. An index of participants can be found here. 

Seven-time IOHTE contributor Jesse Hawthorne Ficks is a film history educator at the Academy of Art University, a writer for 48 Hills, and a programmer of screenings under the MiDNiTES FOR MANiACS moniker.

Ficks' Picks of films watched in 2018 that were new to me on the big screen.

Eight Hours Don't Make A Day image provided by contributor

Eight Hours Don't Make a Day (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972) @ Alamo Drafthouse New Mission - DCP, 495 minutes

Chameleon Street image provided by contributor

Chameleon Street (Wendell B. Harris, Jr., 1989) @ SFMOMA - 35mm print, 94 minutes

Belfast, Maine image provided by contributor

Belfast, Maine (Frederick Wiseman, 1999) @ BAMPFA - 16mm print, 248 minutes

Grey Area image provided by contributor

Beginnings: Black Female Cinema in 16mm: Diary of an African Nun (Julie Dash, 1977, 13 minutes), Killing Time (Fronza Woods, 1979, 10 minutes), Fanny's Films (Fronza Woods, 15 minutes), Grey Area (Monona Wali, 1981, 40 minutes) @ Roxie Theater (Staff Pick by Semaj Peltier)

Fanny and Alexander image provided by contributor

Fanny and Alexander: Director's Cut Television Version (Ingmar Bergman, 1982) @ BAMPFA - DCP, 312 minutes

Scenes From a Marriage image provided by contributor

Scenes From a Marriage: Director's Cut Television Version (Ingmar Bergman, 1973) @ BAMPFA -  DCP, 284 minutes 

Storm Center image provided by contributor

Storm Center (Daniel Taradash, 1956) @ SFMOMA - 35mm, 86 minutes

The Spook Who Sat By the Door image provided by contributor

The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973, Ivan Dixon) @ SFMOMA - 35mm, 102 minutes

Jáaji Approx. screen shot from Video Data Bank excerpt

Without Paths or Boundaries: Films of Sky Hopinka: wawa (2014, 6 minutes), Jáaji Approx. (2015, 7 minutes), Venite et Loquamur (2015, 12 minutes), I’ll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You’ll Become (2016, 12 minutes), Visions of an Island (2016, 15 minutes),  Anti-Objects, or Space Without Path or Boundary (2017, 13 minutes) @ ATA Artists' Television Access - Digital

Chromatic Wheels image provided by contributor

Chromatic Wheels part of Astro Trilogy (Kerry Laitala, 2016) @ CROSSROADS Experimental Film Festival, SFMOMA - 16mm print, 10 minutes

Image provided by contributor

Canyon School Turns 100 Centennial 16mm Outdoor Salon: The Sun’s Gonna Shine (1969, Les Blank, 10 minutes), Yellow Horse (1965, Bruce Baillie, 9 minutes), Baby In A Rage (1983, Chuck Hudina, 5 minutes), Termination (1966, Bruce Baillie, 5 minutes), Angel Blue Sweet Wings (1966, Chick Strand, 3 minutes), God Respects Us When We Work But Loves Us When We Dance (1968, Les Blank, 20 minutes) @ CANYON SCHOOL