Fresh look at The City’s lost landscapes

Rick Prelinger’s Lost Landscapes series has been one of The City’s hot tickets for years. Overflow crowds turn out to ogle and discuss the footage exhumed by the “guerilla” archivist from newsreels, private collections and just about every other source imaginable.

This year’s edition at the Castro Theater is no exception. Already sold out, Lost Landscapes 6 promises footage (in full HD, no less) of The City’s lost cemeteries, the back alleys of North Beach, and new film of the sand dunes of the Sunset before they were built over. Throw in a “wild” car ride through downtown and some Cinemascope footage of Playland, and you can see why crowds spill into the lobby to see Prelinger’s work.

Stewart Brand’s Long Now Foundation web site promises a “limited number of unclaimed tickets” will be available for Lost Landscapes 6 next Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Castro box office.

If you can’t finagle your way in, you can right now this second see some of Prelinger’s previous Lost Landscapes series over at Fora.tv.

Additional sources:

• Prelinger archive
• Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 3