Free Admission! Please RSVP to festivalprogramming@sffs.org. Essential SF is an ongoing compendium of the Bay Area film community’s most vital figures and institutions. Film critic Judy Stone, filmmaker H.P. Mendoza, quarterly DVD magazine Wholphin, filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, film festival volunteer extraordinaire Ninfa Dawson and others yet to be announced will be feted at this short ceremony. An outgrowth of SF360.org’s Essential SF column and a key event in the Film Society’s Cinema by the Bay festival, this event shines a light on the region’s legendary idiosyncratic and multifaceted contributions to the filmmaking world. Past Essential SF honorees include Les Blank, Canyon Cinema, Joshua Grannell (aka Peaches Christ), Rick Prelinger and Marlon Riggs, among others.