I would be remiss in my duties were I not to point out the serendipity or timeliness or sheer coincidence of the upcoming Fassbinder mini-retrospective at the Roxie/Yerba Buena Center for the Arts/Pacific Film Archive—to which I encourage my Bay Area friends to attend in whatever capacity they can. Since no one can possibly attend all screenings (nor would it be even remotely healthy to do so), I have prepared a  list of the ones I recommend you see if at all possible, arranged by category (as defined by me—so not absolute by any means).

Thanks to the Fassbinder Foundation, all these films are available on DVD, so don’t freak out if you miss any. (Martha, Fear of Fear, and World on a Wire were actually intended to be viewed on the small screen anyway, so you can feel good about that, at least . . .)

Must-see titles are designated with an asterisk*. Which is, of course, misleading, since I genuinely love every movie on this list and would never, ever advise you to skip any of them.

Dates, times, and locations of screenings are included for your convenience. See each venue’s web site for a full list of RWF titles on offer.

The Best of the Classics
(These are the titles that are quite simply de rigueur Fassbinder; they also happen to be broadly representative of his overall body of work and are all really, really great films).

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul*
PFA: Friday, October 4, 2013 8:50 p.m
YBCA: Oct 17, 2013 7:30 p.m.

Effi Briest
PFA: Tuesday, October 8, 2013 7:00 p.m.
YBCA: Oct 24, 2013 7:30 p.m.

The Marriage of Maria Braun*
Roxie: Thursday, October 10 9:00 p.m.
PFA: Saturday, October 12, 2013 8:30 p.m.

The Merchant of Four Seasons
YBCA: Oct 20, 2013 2:00 p.m.
PFA: Friday, October 25, 2013 7:00 p.m.

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant*
Roxie: Wednesday, October 9 7:00 p.m.
PFA: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 7:00 p.m.

Fox and His Friends
Roxie: Saturday, October 5 7:00 p.m.
PFA: Friday, November 15, 2013 8:35 p.m.

The Best of the Films You’re Not All That Likely to Have Already Seen

Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven*
Roxie: Tuesday, October 8 7:00 p.m.
PFA: Saturday, November 30, 2013 8:30 p.m.

In a Year with Thirteen Moons*
PFA: Sunday, December 15, 2013 5:15 p.m.
YBCA: Dec 21, 2013 7:30pm

Martha
YBCA: Dec 1, 2013 2:00pm
PFA: Thursday, December 12, 2013 7:00 p.m.

Fear of Fear
Roxie: Monday, October 7 7:00 p.m.
PFA: Friday, October 25, 2013 8:50 p.m

Chinese Roulette
PFA: Friday, November 1, 2013 7:00 p.m.

World on a Wire
PFA: Saturday, November 2, 2013 6:30 p.m.

Despair
PFA: Friday, December 6, 2013  8:50 p.m.

The Best of the Early Films

Katzelmacher
PFA: Friday, October 11, 2013 7:00 p.m.

Why Does Herr R Run Amok?
YBCA: Nov 21, 2013 7:30 p.m.
PFA: Friday, December 6, 2013 7:00 p.m.

Screening Information
Roxie Theater
3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA
(415)-863-1087

Pacific Film Archive (PFA)
2575 Bancroft Way (between College and Telegraph)
Berkeley, CA
(510) 642-5249

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street (at 3rd Street)
San Francisco, CA 9
(415) 978-2787