Claire Bain'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. 

Four-time contributor Claire Bain is an artist based in San Francisco.

Calle Chula image from Video Data Bank

“Have You Seen Her? La Misión” ...”20th year anniversary retrospective showcase [of] the varied responses to the transformations experienced in the Mission District during the late 1990s dot.com boom....” Roxie / Cine + Más San Francisco Latino Film Festival

Wicked Woman Castro Theater

When the Beat Drops (not an old movie, but independent). Frameline42 LGBTQ Film Festival

Rififi Castro Theater

Black Orpheus Castro Theater

West Side Story Castro Theater

Zero For Conduct screen capture from Criterion DVD

Zero for Conduct and À Propos de Nice by Jean Vigo, Pacific Film Archive

The Adventures of Robin Hood (with Errol Flynn) Castro Theater

Marie-Octobre Roxie Theater

All of the ATA@SFPL screenings

The Absent Stone (2013)

WHO: Sandra Rozental and Jesse Lerner co-directed this.

WHAT: A documentary about a giant stone carving, moved from a town on the outskirts of Mexico City to a museum in the city center in 1964. Ever since, residents of the town have felt the stone's absence has caused droughts, etc. This is from the film's website; I have not found any reviews in the English language.

WHERE/WHEN: Tonight only at the DeYoung Museum's Koret Auditorium at 6:30.

WHY: In addition to an opportunity to check out a rarely-utilized screening space, whose extreme rake makes it one of the best in the city in terms of sight lines, this is the last screening of the CINE+MAS Latino Film Festival. More film festivals are running this weekend; the Iranian Film Festival includes a film with an Abbas Kiarostami screenplay, as well as fests in Oakland and Sonoma County. Best of all, tonight's screening is free.

HOW: I believe the Koret is only equipped to project digitally.