“Lost Landscapes” is back again this year with its seventh installment of archival film footage of San Francisco and its surroundings. The first showing was at the Castro Theater earlier this month, and the Internet Archive (300 Funston at Clement) will host an encore screening on January 8 at 7:30pm.
This year’s show consists of 75% new material plus a few sequences repeated by popular demand. You’ll see an eclectic montage of rediscovered and rarely-seen film clips showing life, landscapes, labor and leisure in a vanished San Francisco as captured by amateurs, newsreel cameramen and studio filmmakers.
New sequences in this high-definition program include the Japanese-American community in the Western Addition before redevelopment; shipwrecks off the Northern shoreline; 1930s demonstrations against the shipment of scrap metal to Japan; family films from the Richmond, Sunset and Excelsior Districts; rediscovered films of San Francisco transit; and newly discovered, never-shown documentary footage of Market Street, the waterfront and Rincon Hill. Much of the show has been scanned from Kodachrome and original 35mm material.
A key part of every Lost Landscapes screening is the audience participation. Most of the clips do not have sound, so it’s up to the crowd to be the audience, calling out locations, making comments and asking questions. The clip above is an example of the kind of films you’ll see and how the event flows.
Admission to the screening is $5 or a donation of 5 books for the Internet Archive’s book scanning project. To reserve seats, fill out this online form. Space is limited.
Sarah B.
Looks like a great event, bummed that I have a conflict & can’t go! Also, a shoutout to Internet Archive for maintaining their property & corner so nicely… I walk by daily, and appriciate their efforts.