Film/Video curators: Best of 2016 on screen

The Wexner Center Film/Video curators are back with their annual picks for the best work they've seen on screen in the past year. Except where noted, all theatrical titles opened in Columbus in calendar year 2016.

David Filipi, Director, Film/Video

1. O.J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman)

Simply put, I found O.J.: Made in America incredibly thorough and endlessly surprising. As someone easily old enough to remember everything (or so I thought) from the white Bronco, through the trial and verdict, I was riveted by the untold parts of the story as well as by experiencing the sequence of events again and realizing how much I misremembered. It’s one of the best examples of historical documentary filmmaking, and the film transcends even that by feeling utterly timely and relevant with what is going on in the world today.

2. Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)

3. No Home Movie (Chantal Akerman)

4. Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton (Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson)

5. Neon Bull (Gabriel Mascaro)

6. Notfilm (Ross Lipman)

7. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)

8. Cameraperson (Kirsten Johnson)

9. Cemetery of Splendor (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

10. From Afar (Lorenzo Vigas)

11. My Friend Victoria  (Jean-Paul Civeyrac)

I had to make a space for a #11. It barely had a release, but I don't remember having such a lengthy post-screening conversation about a film in a LONG time.

 

Top 5 Film that have not made it to Columbus, yet:

1. I am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck; coming soon to the Wex)

2. Tower (Ken Maitland; coming soon to the Wex)

3. Neruda (Pablo Larraín)

4. Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho; coming soon to the Wex)

5. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)

 

Top 5 Restorations of 2016 (all played at the Wex):

1. Out 1 (Jacques Rivette)

2. Black Girl (Ousmane Sembene)

3. Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash)

4. Private Property (Leslie Stevens)

5. Multiple Maniacs (John Waters)

 

Chris Stults, Associate Curator, Film/Video

1. Cameraperson (dir. Kirsten Johnson)

A rare film that makes you think about how to be a person in this world. In an age that’s defined by selfies and snapchats, Cameraperson shows what’s at stake with making images and examines the ethics of it. Roger Ebert famously said, “the movies are like a machine that generates empathy”, and few films examine that concept as well as this one. It’s a film I’ve been waiting for my whole life without realizing it.

2. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)

3. Carol (Todd Haynes)

4. O.J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman)

5. High Maintenance: HBO Season 1  (Katja Blichfeld, Ben Sinclair)

6. Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt)

7. Right Now, Wrong Then (Hong Sang-soo)

8. Neon Bull (Gabriel Mascaro)

9. Weiner (Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg)

10. Cemetery of Splendor (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

11. Baskets: Season 1 (FX, Jonathan Krisel and Zach Galifanakis)

12. Documentary Now!: Season 2 (IFC, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers)

 

Best films I saw in 2016 that are coming to town in early 2017 (in alphabetical order):

1. Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho)

2. I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck)

3. The Illinois Parables (Deborah Stratman)

4. Sixty Six (Lewis Klahr)

5. TonI Erdmann (Maren Ade)

6. Tower (Keith Maitland)

 

Most overlooked classically entertaining films by the '70s Movie Brats:

Allied (Robert Zemeckis) and The BFG (Steven Spielberg)