Essential SF

Essential SF is an ongoing compendium of the film community’s key figures, organized by SF360.org and the San Francisco Film Society as part of its annual Cinema by the Bay festival.

SF360.org offers in-depth articles, below, about each of this year's Essential SF honorees: one institution and eight individuals who've left indelible marks on the Bay Area's progressively evolving filmmaking community. If you enjoy the articles or honor their subjects, please take a moment to share them with your network or leave a comment on the site.

Cinema by the Bay, a four-day festival celebrating the best in Bay Area film, kicks off Friday, November 4, at the SF Film Society | New People Cinema and concludes Sunday, November 6, with SF360.org Presents Essential SF, an evening of celebration of these indispensable figures.

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman By Michael Fox Epstein and Friedman’s dramatic nonfiction paved the way for contemporary documentary practice.

Susan Gerhard By Johnny Ray Huston SF360.org editor Susan Gerhard talks copy, critics and the 'there' we have here.

Joshua Grannell By Johnny Ray Huston Since its first event in 1998, Midnight Mass has become an SF institution, and Peaches Christ, well, she's its peerless warden and cult leader.

Karen Larsen By Michael Fox Universally warm sentiment is attached to the Bay Area's hardest working indie/art film publicist.

Canyon Cinema By Michael Fox For 50 years, Canyon Cinema has provided crucial support for a fertile avant-garde film scene.

Irving Saraf and Allie Light By Michael Fox Saraf and Light's work is marked by an unwavering appreciation for underdogs.

2010 Essential SF Honorees
 

Les Blank By Michael Fox Eat, dance, love: Les Blank brings nonfiction back to life in a long and storied career.

Lynn Hershman Leeson By Stephanie Rosenbaum Leeson catalogues revolutions past and pushes the art and technology envelope well into the future.

Rick Prelinger By Dennis Harvey Rick Prelinger’s efforts at preserving ephemeral films have made him indispensable to the cinema of San Francisco—and the world.

Gail Silva By Michael Fox Former Film Arts Foundation head Gail Silva continues to catalyze the film community.

Marlon Riggs By Dennis Harvey From 'Tongues Untied' to 'Black Is.....Black Ain't,' Marlon Riggs' art was a series of radical acts that were both overdue and ahead of their time.

Anne McGuire By Sean Uyehara San Francisco has not quite been the same since it began experiencing the cinema/performance antics of an uncontainable Anne McGuire.