by Andrea Schmidt, Staff Writer

There were a number of films I very sadly did not see this year for sundry reasons. (Most of my banal excuses have to do with the grind of capitalism. Soccer fans did thwart me from a final showing of La Chimera in Leipzig). My list, like all top 10 lists, is very incomplete. I decided to go with cinema-going “experiences” I had this past year in chronological order.

Showing Up (dir. Kelly Reichardt, 2023)

This film featured on many 2023 lists, so I am a bit late to the party. It’s a quietly moving film that meditates on the creation of artwork (and the survival of the artist) under capitalism. Having lived for a few years in Portland, I felt a deep sense of nostalgia for the film’s laidback tree-lined streets and quirky artists (unfortunately also now priced out of the city). Kelly Reichardt showed up afterwards at the screening at the Museum of the Moving Image for a fascinating Q&A with a wonderfully dry sense of humor.

The Teacher’s Lounge (dir. İlker Çatak, 2023)

My Superbowl: I went to a showing of İlker Çatak’s The Teacher’s Lounge at Philadelphia Film Society East during the Big Game. Leonie Benesch is fantastic as the teacher who makes a disastrous misstep in this taut thriller. Many American critics did not seem to comprehend how much the stakes of the film depend on Germany’s stringent (and often hypocritical) anti-recording laws.

La roue (dir. Abel Gance, 1923)

Thank you to Lightbox Film Center for showing this marathon screening of a restored version of Abel Gance’s almost seven hour epic, La roue (1923). This list could have entirely been taken from Lightbox’s curation, and I am very glad for its continued presence in Philly.

Ein Schöner Ort/A Good Place (dir. Katharina Huber, 2023)

I first saw Katharina Huber’s film last April at Film at Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films series. A master-class in elliptical filmmaking, the film addresses timely horrors of technocrats, environmental degradation, and the patriarchy. Huber kindly invited me to the film’s official German premiere in June at the volunteer-run Kino Filmrauschpalast in Berlin-Moabit. Huber and team’s Q&As about the process of making the film are just as riveting as the film itself. Despite Place’s wins at major film festivals, it has yet to be picked up for distribution in Germany or internationally-a major loss for world cinema.

Art of the Benshi

Art of the Benshi at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: I joined a packed house to watch and listen to a touring group of benshi. Up until this point, I had only read or watched recordings of these early Japanese silent cinema narrators, and what an immersive experience of pure artistry.

The Last of the Mohicans (dir. Michael Mann, 1992)

I love Michael Mann films. What a treat to see my favorite at the Roxy Theater in NYC with a group of people who love this film as much as I do. Wes Studi’s performance stuns on the big screen.

Mad Max: Fury Road (dir. George Miller, 2015)

Thanks to the release of its prequel, Furiosa, George Miller’s 2015 Fury Road, made a reappearance in cinemas. Though I had lived in Berlin, I had not yet been to an “Open Air Kino,” so ventured out to the Hasenheide to see it this July. How thrilling to watch the storm sequence under a night sky and hear the strains of Tom Holkenberg’s score as I walked through the park to the U-Bahn. Though I like portions of Furiosa (the initial chase sequence and Tom Burke), the prequel just put further into relief how Fury Road is Charlize Theron’s film. Unfortunately, my second viewing this year of Fury was ruined with loud running commentary from hipsters who refused to shut up at the Philly Film Society. It’s your world, we’re just living in it! A friendlier shout out to the people who dressed up for the Furiosa screening the following day.

The Count of Monte Cristo (dirs. Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patelliere)

The Count of Monte Cristo at the Philadelphia Film Festival: Adaptations of 19th-century novels are my thing, what can I say?

Dahomey (dir. Mati Diop)

I try to show Mati Diop’s haunting Atlantics as often as possible to my film students. Diop draws on similar elements of surrealism and the supernatural in a documentary about the return of stolen artifacts from French museums to present-day Benin.

All We Imagine as Light (dir. Payal Kapadia)

I caught Payal Kapadia’s 2024 Cannes prize-winning film as a matinee at Film at Lincoln Center. The film’s deeply moving images and beautiful lead performances stayed with me for days afterwards.