First Fraenkel Film Festival in San Francisco: what to see

When planning celebrations for its 45th birthday this year, San Francisco gallery Fraenkel was keen to branch out from the exhibitions and publications that it had produced in the past. Enter the inaugural Fraenkel Film Festival, which runs from 9 – 20 July 2024.

‘We were trying to think of something that would celebrate the vibrant arts and cultural scene here,’ says director Christian Whitworth. A conversation with ‘friend of the gallery’ advertising legend Rich Silverstein put films in the frame. ‘He suggested the idea of having an artist choose a film that we then screen at a local cinema,’ relays Whitworth. ‘And all of us said, “Why stop with one artist? Why not ask ten of our artists to choose two films each?”’

Artists’ picks at the Fraenkel Film Festival

The calibre of talent on Fraenkels’ roster makes this a particularly enticing idea – as does the programme of films. Street photography icon Lee Friedlander chose Old Hollywood favourites The African Queen and Casablanca, while futuristic performance artist Martine Gutierrez (recently featured in Wallpaper* and Inez & Vinoodh’s photographic portfolio of American creatives) went for sci-fi classics Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell. Sophie Calle, an artist who zooms in on the uncanny everyday, chose Agnes Varda’s 2000 scavenger documentary The Gleaners and I.

Crucially, the artists are not picking their favourite films here – rather the ones that had, and still have, notable impact on them and their work. Carrie Mae Weems describes her two films as ‘exist[ing] on opposite sides of the coin. [Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 drama] Wild Strawberries uses Northern light to inscribe the coolness of whiteness; [Barry Jenkins’ 2016 gay coming-of-age story] Moonlight uses Southern light to inscribe the emotional depth of blackness.’

The film screenings are taking place at the Roxie cinema – a San Francisco institution in operation since 1912 – and proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to the venue. Whitworth says this is a crucial part of the project. ‘[The narrative recently] in San Francisco has been about the doom loop, which is the idea that the pandemic has given rise to working from home and has hollowed out downtown cores,’ he explains. ‘We're fighting against that by relishing the local.’

Whitworth says the response from the local community has been positive. ‘There are, and I mean this in the greatest of compliments, so many photo nerds in the Bay Area,’ he smiles. ‘They come out for our exhibitions, but it's great to see that they're also huge cinema enthusiasts… people are really excited by the relationship between photography and film.’

The communal experience of the cinema is something that can’t be replaced, he argues. ‘All of us can sit at home and stream any of these movies, but it’s the experience of getting out and seeing a movie in a theatre with a group of other people who are [also] reacting to it. That is really exciting.’

Fraenkel Film Festival 2024, until 20 July, at Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco. Find the full programme at roxie.com. For more information, see fraenkelgallery.com