Andrew Maxwell's Blog

This film journaling sat as a draft in a digital moth drawer for several months, which may say more about a waning compulsion for listmaking than for my general appetite for filmgoing, which is still hale in tendency and frequency. I projected north of fifty films in 2024 at 2220, while still making it out in front of myriad other screens, from airplane backseats to microcinemas to Euro IMAX megatheaters.

My favorite films were still often ‘small’ and specific, fully unpredictable and with a sense of wilderness and invention. The top and bottom of the first list below were both undistributed films I projected at 2220 Arts – the first by Lois Patiño the most visually spectacular feature I’ve seen in a year, seconded only by the radically self-conscious chiaroscuro of Robert Eggers’s vampire pastische. My other dominant memory of the year was watching the new restoration of Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit at LAFM, which was perfection, and which sent me back to Akerman’s neglected 80s films, including a couple home viewings of Golden Eighties (super!).

Here are ten that rise to the top of sustaining memory from 2024:

Samsara – Lois PatiñoUniversal Language – Matthew RankinSoundtrack to a Coup D’Etat – Johan GrimonprezAll We Imagine As Light – Payal KapadiaJanet Planet – Annie BakerSing Sing – Greg KwedarHere – Bas DevosLa Chimera – Alice RohrwacherPerfect Days – Wim WendersInvention – Courtney Stephens

Another ten that struck me as strange, specific or strong in their voices and visions:

A Different Man – Aaron SchimbergThe Beast – Bertrand BonelloChristmas Eve in Miller’s Point – Tyler TaorimaGIFT / Evil Does Not Exist – Ryusuke HamaguchiGood One – India DonaldsonGreen Border – Agnieszka HollandI’m Still Here – Walter SallesNocturnes – Anupama Srinivasan, Anirban DuttaNosferatu (IMAX version) – Robert EggersTotem – Lila Aviles

And in the spirit of journaling, some others that had their moments: Anora, A Real Pain, Challengers, Civil War, Close Your Eyes, Dahomey, Didi, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, Hard Truths, Hit Man, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, It’s Not Me, Last Summer, Starve Acre, The Substance.

As with last year, as the default projectionist for many series at 2220 Arts, countless theatrical experiences in the past year were on home turf, where we hosted several Los Angeles debuts for undistributed films, or preview screenings for works on the cusp of weeklong runs. I still have a festival backlog of titles that haven’t hit the city, or only made it for a one-off screening or a few days at one of the farflung Laemmles. It was a strong year for cinema.

Meantime, here’s a short-list dozen of viewings that still pluck a memorable string, or feel complicated in a lasting or worthwhile way.

Afire – Christian PetzoldAll of Us Strangers – Andrew HaighAnatomy of a Fall – Justine TrietFremont – Babak JalaliFull Time – Éric GravelHuman Flowers of Flesh – Helena WittmannMan in Black – Wang BingReality – Tina SatterRoald Dahl Quartet – Wes AndersonSister, What Grows Where Land is Sick? – Franciska EliassenThe Eight Mountains – Felix Van Groeningen + Charlotte VandermeerschThe Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer

And another twenty or so that were impressive to see or hear, or think about with friends:

Asteroid City – Wes AndersonA Thousand and One – AV RockwellComa – Bertrand BonelloEnys Men – Mark JenkinForagers – Jumana MannaHoly Spider – Ali AbbasiHow to Blow Up a Pipeline – Daniel GoldhaberInfinity Pool – Brandon CronenbergMay December – Todd HaynesOppenheimer – Christopher NolanOrlando, My Political Biography – Paul B. PreciadoOur Body – Claire SimonPoor Things – Yorgos LanthimosRewind & Play – Alain GomesRye Lane – Raine Allen-MillerSaint Omer – Alice DiopShowing Up – Kelly ReinhardtWill-O-the-Wisp – Joao Pedro RodriguesYouth (Spring) – Wang Bing

I’ve still yet to see the new Wiseman, Rohrwacher and Radu Jude films, and missed Trenque Lauquen when it came through. Some of the films that others loved this year, like Past Lives, felt inert and sketch-like to me. The Scorsese overlong and in need of subtraction – it’s simply too much time to spend with this actor stable – DiCaprio et al.

Though perhaps I agree with Richard Brody (strangely) that this was really the year of Wes Anderson – while many write him off on house style (or too much thereof), I thought he really landed this year in his sweet spot of literary adaptation and full-dimensional book design / expanded cinema. He should become a Dahl competist.

20 faves (Archival & Reissues)The Clouds – The CloudsKristen Nogues – Marc’h GouezEmahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru – JerusalemAlan Hovhaness – Orbits, Mountains, Moons & FlowersHako Yamasaki – TobimasuYanti Bersaudara – Yanti Bersaudarav/a – Prends le temps d’ecouter: Tape music, sound experiments…v/a – Searchlight MoonbeamByard Lancaster – It’s Not Up to UsAselefech Ashine & Getenesh Kebret – ሸ​ገ​ኔ​ዎ​ች (Beauties)X-Cetra – StardustJeanne Loriod – Music for Ondes Martenotv/a – A moi la liberté: Early electronic raïPharoah – Pharoah SandersLes Abranis – Amazigh Freedom Rock 1973-1983Dorothy Carter – Waillee WailleeMiles Davis – Turnaround (On the Corner Sessions)Masumi Hara – Imagination Exchangev/a – The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India 1969-1972Arthur Russell – Picture of Bunny Rabbit25 faves (LA artists / producers)

So much of what I hear generates from the city I live in, and much lands in the theater of which I’m the caretaker. It’s a world city at what feels like peak creativity, and a great many of the artists here were both in our speakers and on our stages in the past year.

André 3000 – New Blue SunArt Feynman – Be Good the Crazy Boysbilly woods, Kenny Segal – MapsCarlos Niño & Friends – (I’m just) Chillin’ on FireCelia Hollander – 2nd DraftClear Thing – Everywhere I GoDecisive Pink – Ticket to FameEddie Chacón – SundownFabiano do Nascimento – LendasGabriel do Rosa – É o que a casa ofereceGenevieve Artadi – Forever ForeverJeremiah Chiu – In Electric TimeJessika Kenney & Eyvind Kang – AzureJohn Krausbauer + Patrick Shiroishi – High LifeLionmilk + Club Diego – In FloatLisel – Patterns for Auto-tuned Voices and DelayLouis Cole – Some Unused SongsMega Bog – End of EverythingMiguel Atwood-Ferguson – Les Jardins Mystiques vol 1Monde UFO – Vandalized Statue to be Replaced by ShrineSalami Rose Joe Louis – AkousmatikousShana Cleveland – ManzanitaSlauson Malone I – EXCELSIORThandi Ntuli / Carlos Niño – Rainbow RevisitedWild Up – Julius Eastman Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?Faves from elsewhere

Thirty or so from outside Los Angeles, including a couple who came through 2220 Arts. The rest a global wishlist for a festival in some Elysium.

Alasdair Roberts – Grief in the Kitchen and Mirth in the HallAngel Bat Dawid – Requiem for JazzArmand Hammer – We Buy Diabetic Test StripsThe Bug Club – Rare Birds: Hour of SongCassandra Miller – Traveller Song / ThanksongDudu Tassa, Johnny Greenwood – Jarak QaribakFuensanta – Principio del FuegoHenry Threadgill – The Other OneInsólito UniVerso – Ese puerto existeJantra – Synthesized SudanJohn Roseboro – Johnny / Four CantosL’Rain – I Killed Your DogMayssa Jallad – Marjaa: the Battle of the HotelsNamian Sidibé – Namian SidibéNoname – SundialNourished by Time – Erotic Probiotic 2Ora Cogan – FormlessPiotr Kurek – SmartwoodsPJ Harvey – I Inside the Old Year Dying Raja Kirik – Phantasmagoria of JathilanSeaming To – Dust GatherersSourdurent – L’Herbe de D​é​tourneSpencer Cullum’s Coin Collection – s/t 2Svitlana Nianio + Tom James Scott – Eye of the SeaTitanic, I la Catolica, Mabe Fratti – VidriaTiti Bakorda – MolendeV/Z, Valentina Magaletti, Zongamin – Suono AssenteY La Bamba – Lucha

15 that remain with me after a dense and various year of films, most viewed in a theater. Some were late 2021 releases that lacked found single night or festival screenings in LA this year (six at 2220 Arts & Archives).

A New Old Play – Qiu JiongjiongA Night of Knowing Nothing – Payal KapadiaAleph – Iva RadivojevicDecision to Leave – Park Chan-wookEO – Jerzy SkolimowskiFire of Love – Sara DosaFrom the Planet of the Humans – Giovanni CioniGeographies of Solitude – Jacquelyn MillsIncroyable mais vrai – Quentin DupieuxMemoria – Apichatpong WeerasethakulMen – Alex GarlandMurina – Antoneta Alamat KusijanovicNeptune Frost – Saul Williams, Anisia UzeymanRiotsville, USA – Sierra PettengillThe Girl and the Spider – Ramon & Silvan Zürcher

Best good-bad film: RRR

30 faves (new releases)Mabe Fratti – Se Ve Desde AquíFievel is Glauque – Flaming SwordsRosalía – MotomamiLucretia Dalt – ¡Ay!Marian Herlop – Pripyat Contour – Onwards!Naima Bock – Giant PalmDerya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Dost 2Marion Rampal – TisséSudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom QueenEl Khat – Albat Alawi Op. 99Marina Allen – CentrificsPark Jiha – The GleamHatis Noit – AuraSarah Davachi – Two SistersSessa – Estrela AcesaStar Feminine Band – In ParisAlexander Deplume – GOLDVoice Actor – Songs from My TelephonePaavorharju & Joose Keskitalo – HappinessMoor Mother – Jazz CodesTim Bernardes – Mil Coisas InviseisCate Le Bon – PompeiiKristine Leschper – The Opening, Or Closing of a Doorbilly woods – AethiopesAntonia Cytrynowicz + Sam Gendel – LIVE A LITTLECitron Citron – Chagrin BleuJessca Hoop – Order of RomanceThe Mauskovic Dance Band – Bukaroo BankOlovson – Storytelling10 faves (reissues)Maha – OrkosLuiza Brina – A Toada Vem é Pelo VentoEmahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru – s/tTia Blake & Her Folk Group – Folksongs & BalladsIftin Band – Mogadishu’s Finest: The Al-Uruba SessionsBroadcast – Mida Vale SessionsFerkat Al Ard – OghneyaErnst Hood – Back to the WoodlandsStaples Jr. Singers – When Do We Get PaidV/a – Down & Out (NTS)

FilmDrive My Car – Ryusuke HamaguchiThe Power of the Dog – Jane CampionHer Socialist Smile – John GianvitoVictoria (2020, undistributed) – Sofie Benoot, Isabelle Tollenaere, Liesbeth De CeulaerThe American Sector / Terra Femme – Courtney Stephens (x2), Pacho VelezCan’t Get You Out of My Head – Adam CurtisAbout Endlessness – Roy AnderssonGunda – Viktor KossakovskyThe Green Knight – David LoweryMandibles – Quentin Dupieux

15 more films I enjoyed or which stuck with me (unranked):

Bad Luck Banging, or Loony PornBeginningC’mon C’monDear Comrades!FleeLambLicorice PizzaMalmkrogNotturno Parallel MothersPigPreparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of TimeSummer of SoulThe Velvet UndergroundTitane

Ernest Bergez, pagan ecstasies, in Occitan!20 fave listens (new releases)Sourdure – De Mòrt Viva Rita Payés + Elisabeth Roma – COMO LA PIEL Gabriels – Bloodline / Love and Hate in a Different Time Dina Ögon – Dina Ögon Devin Hoff – Voices from the Empty Moor Gisele Pape – Caillou Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince L’Rain – Fatigue Meril Wubslin – Alors quoi Floating Points + Pharaoh Sanders – Promises Mabe Fratti – Será Que Ahora Podremos Entendernos Lionmilk – I Hope You Are Well Laura Cannell + Kate Ellis – January-December Sounds (12 releases)Wau Wau Collectif – Yaral Sa Doom Jamael Dean – Primordial Waters William Parker – Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World R.A.P. Ferreira – bob’s son / the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band – Banned Joan As Police Woman / Tony Allen / Dave Okumu – The Solution is Restless Patricia Brennan – Maquishti 20 faves (reissues)Nermin Niazi – Disco Se Aagay Futur Antérieur: Bongo Joe’s 5 Years Anniversary Alice Coltrane – Kirtan: Turiya Sings 4 Mars – Super Somali Sounds from the Gulf of Tadjoura Pastor T.L. Barrett –  I Shall Wear a Crown (5 lps) Jose Mauro – A Viagem das Horas / Obnoxius Zanzibara First Modern Taarab Vibes from Mombasa & Tanga Tassos Chalkias – Divine Reeds Hailu Mergia – Tezeta Die Welttraumforscher – Die Rückkehr der echten Menschheit (1981-1990) Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan Willie Dunn – Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never DiesGrauzone – Grauzone, 40 Years Anniversary EditionLeo Nocentelli – Another Side Fitz Gore + the Talismen – s/t / Soundmagnificat / Soundnitia Don Cherry’s New Researches – Organic Music Theater Stelle Chiweshe – Ambuya! (remastered) Back Up: Mexican Tecno Pop 1980-1989 Francis Bebey – Dibiye Sun Ra – Lanquidity 20 more, oft-spunAltin Gül – Yol Green-House – Music for Living Spaces Nevers – Clueless / Minor Plot TwistTirzah – Colourgrade Nahawa Doumbia – Kanawa Low – HEY WHAT The Vernon Spring – A Plane Over Woods / On the 21st of May Erlend Apneseth + Margit Myhr – Slåttesong / Fragmentarium Tex Crick – Live in…New York City Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – We’re OK. But We’re Lost Anyway. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Dost 1 The Weather Station –  Ignorance This is Tehran? (v/a)Jaubi – Nafs at Peace Chihei Hatakeyama – Late Spring Teeth Agency – You Don’t Have to Live in Pain Emmanuelle Parrerin / Detlef Weinrich – Jours de grève Mason Lindahl – Kissing Rosy in the Rain Club Coco (v/a, Bongo Joe)Apifera – Overstand

Best Listens (new releases)

Erlend Apneseth & Margit Myhr – Slåttesong (May 2021)

Tomoko Omura – Branches Vol. 2 (June 2021)

William Parker – Mayan Space Station (July 2021)

William Parker – Painters Winter (July 2021)

yumbo – The Fruit of Errata (June 2021)

Arusha Jain – Under the Lilac Sky (July 2021)

Mabe Fratti – Será Que Ahora Pordremos Entendernos (June 2021)

Best Listens (leftfield pop)

May Witch – May Witch (February 2021)

Mirage – Glass Beams (June 2021)

Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg (April 2021)

Marina Allen – Candlepower (June 2021)

Midnight Sister – Painting the Roses (January 2021)

Bobby Lee – Origin Myths (March 2021)

Best Listens (reissues)

V/A – Good as Gold: Artefacts of the Apple Era 1967-1975 (2021 / 1967-75)

Oronzo de Filippi – Meccanizzazione (2021 / 1971)

Five from the Archive (frequent spins, rediscoveries)

Jessika Kenney + Eyvind Kang – The Face of the Earth (2012)

Blaise Volou – Nadoki / Boti (1984)

Sirom – A Universe That Roasts Blossoms for a Horse (2019)

Henry Threadgill – Easily Slip Into Another World (1988)

Mary Lou Williams presents Black Christ of the Andes (1964)

Film (recent releases)

Mandibles – Quentin Dupieux, France, 2021 (2020)

Two of Us – Filippo Meneghetti, France, 2021 (2019)

Summer of Soul – Questlove, US, 2021

Nine Days – Edson Oda, US, 2021

Da 5 Bloods – Spike Lee, US, 2020

Black Widow – Cate Shortland, US, 2021

Film (archival)

Princess Cyd – Stephen Cone, US, 2017

Maso and Miso Go Boating, Nadja Ringart, Ioana Wieder, Carole Roussopoulos, Delphine Seyrig, France, 1976

As Tears Go By – Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, 1988

Los Pequeños Gigantes – Hugo Butler, Mexico, 1960

Raging Bull – Martin Scorcese, US, 1980



Serial TV



Katla – Iceland, 2021

Master of None (Moments in Love) – US, 2021

Ozark (Season 3) – US, 2020

Never Have I Ever (Season 2) – US, 2021

Dave (Season 2) – US, 2021

Hacks (Season 1) – US, 2021

Working Moms (Season 1) – Canada, 2017

A few with the kids:

Hunger Games #1-3 – US, 2012-14

The Willoughbys – US, 2020

A busy month, shy of contemplative spaces and moments – music in the near-background often, but also scattered in the clatter of work and building. A big project came on – launching an art center to share and broadcast musics among other forms. But much new music did find its way in, though, as ever, and a few special collections no less.

Any month that sees a Jeanne Lee reissue is a good one, and this month saw two, Gunter Hampel’s rerelease of far-too rare 1975 LP Conspiracy, and a strange Spotify-only collection of uncertain vintage (’61? ’62?), with a number of live tracks with Ran Blake. The mastering is terrible, and it’s one of those things that may just mysteriously disappear from platform, but there are some wonderful cuts, including “Left Alone” from The Newest Sound Around. Along with the Lee from 1975, we also got a first reissue of the great Tezeta from 1975 by Hailu Mergia. Great year for film, great year for music.

Geneva continues to collect everything good – another terrific Bongo Joe comp, and a big, wild, hybrid, unpredictable release from Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp. Lots of surprises on that album, and lots of velocity. Nothing was stranger than the new Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band project, which sounds like the frinkiest 90s lost avant-pop disc ever (it’s not), but Nick Hakim & Roy Nathanson’s Small Things comes close at times. And speaking of frinky things, the latest Scallops Hotel / RAP Ferreira was back in rotation again – I’d listened to it a lot early in the year, bundle of earworms that it is, and then a friend noted he was in town, so good luck for us.

Most relaxing night sounds: Guatemalan cellist Mabe Fratti’s latest. Or classic Mina, take you pick.

Best Listens (new releases)

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – We’re OK. But we’re lost anyway. (June 2021)

V/A – Club Coco (Bongo Joe compilation) (May 2021)

Mabe Fratti – Será que ahora podremos entendernos (June 2021)

Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band – Banned (June 2021)

Ìxtahuele – Dharmaland (June 2021)

Nico Roig, Lucia Fumero, Rita Payes – Soy esa tonta canción (single, June 2021)

The Vernon Spring – What’s Happening Brother? (single, June 2021)

Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime (May 2021)

Les Pythons de la Fournaise – L’Orchestre du Piton (May 2021)

Carlos Niño and Friends – More Energy Fields, Current (May 2021)

Nick Hakim & Roy Nathanson – Small Things (April 2021)

R.A.P. Ferreira – bob’s son (January 2021)

Tomás Tello – Cimora (2020)

Douglas Germano – Escumalha (2019)

Best Listens (reissues)

Jeanne Lee – Conspiracy (1975, June 2021)

Jeanne Lee, Ran Blake – Our Season in the Sun (???, June 2021)

Hailu Mergia + The Walias – Tezeta (1975, June 2021)

Mário Rui Silva – Stories from Another Time 1982-1988 (1980s, 2021)

Dmitris Mystakidis – 16 Ρεμπέτικα τραγούδια με κιθάρα | Επετειακή έκδοση (2006, 2021)

Francis Bebey – Dibiye (1997, 2021)

Five from the Archive (frequent spins, rediscoveries)

Mina – Studio Uno (Italy, 1965)

Yanti Bersaudara – s/t (Singapore, 1971)

Pharoah Sanders – Elevation (US, 1974)

Bargou 08 – Targ (Tunisia, 2017)

Abdou El Omari – Nuits D’Étés (three, Morocco – 2016-17)