1914 E4 - Brian Darr

Library professional Brian Darr once maintained a blog about the San Francisco Bay Area screening scene called Hell On Frisco Bay, an alias he still uses on Bluesky and Letterboxd. So some aspect of the theatrical experience, whether he caught a screening or not, comes into the conversation about each of his five picks (all from a different country!) in addition to their aesthetic recommendations.

Brian has written on media history for outlets like Senses of Cinema, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, SFGate, Screen Slate, the Independent Lens blog and The Maine Playweek. He's performed several audiovisual presentations at San Francisco's Other Cinema showcase and elsewhere on media history subjects from blacklisted directors to experimental music label Opus One.

Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1914!

Films and resources mentioned:

The Masquerader (1914) - Charlie ChaplinDaisy Doodad’s Dial (1914) - Florence TurnerChild of the Big City (1914) - Yevgeni BauerFantômas (1914) - Louis FeuilladeCabiria (1914) - Giovanni PastroneL’Inferno (1911) - Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, and Giuseppe De LiguoroIntolerance (1916) - D.W. GriffithMetropolis (1927) - Fritz LangMaciste in Hell (1925) - Guido BrignoneThe Birth of a Nation (1915) - D.W. GriffithLes Vampires (1915) - Louis FeuilladeJudex (1916) - Louis FeuilladeTih Minh (1918) - Louis FeuilladeFantômas (1920) - Edward SedgwickThe Cameraman (1928) - Edward Sedgwick and Buster KeatonSpite Marriage (1929) - Edward Sedgwick and Buster KeatonMan with a Movie Camera (1929) - Dziga Vertov<a...