I Like it Here

Director Ralph Arlyck expected to attend

People talk or laugh about aging, its irritations, and relentless progression, but rarely confront the reality of dying or being left alone. Nor do they consider the lightness and calmness that can come when the race seems not so crucial. I Like It Here is about all those things and, in the end, about the pleasures of being alive. A figurehead of American independent documentary film, Ralph Arlyck (Current Events, SFJFF 1990) conveys how it feels to see the winding down of your life, as he spends time with older friends from his past and present, and his children and grandchildren. Woven in with these scenes are personal reflections on the challenges of getting old: of feeling one’s joints and thoughts stiffen, as the camera confronts—both seriously and humorously—the obstacles that materialize in front of anyone who is on the last lap. The wistful tone conveys the type of wisdom that only comes with age. The title’s declaration has a double meaning. The “here” that the filmmaker likes is both his immediate rural surroundings (the fields, water, and neighbors he sees out his window)—and life itself.

Recipient of a 2022 JFI Completion Grant

Bay Area Premiere

Ralph Arlyck has produced more than a dozen prize-winning, films, which have appeared on PBS,  BBC, Arte, screened at the White House, and featured at festivals worldwide, including Sundance, New York, London, Rotterdam. His feature, Following Sean, played theatrically across the United States and was nominated for two Emmy awards. Arlyck has also produced Current Events, an examination of the ways people respond to horrific news events, and An Acquired Taste, a wry look at American culture's obsession with success — considered a classic of independent cinema and called by Vincent Canby in The New York Times, “...a delight...a funny, loving movie”. Throughout his career, Arlyck has also played a key advocacy role for American independent producers, testifying twice in Congress and before the Carnegie Commission on the role of independents in public television. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. 

Co-sponsored by Craig Harrison in memory of Evalee (Solomon) Harrison z"l

Schedule

Director(s)
Country(ies)
Language(s)
Release Year
Running Time
89
Producer(s)
Writer(s)
Cinematographer(s)
Editor(s)
Participants

10-Flix Ticket Package

$140 JFI Members / $175 General Public

The 10-Flix Voucher Package may be redeemed for any 10 regular or special events tickets to any 10 programs of your choice, with the exception of Opening Night. Share with family and friends, fully transferable. Great for gifts! 10-Flix Vouchers cannot guarantee tickets to sold-out shows, so redeem early to ensure availability.

Purchase