The Climax Movie House
Founded in 1996 by Hannah Henry, Shanna Maurizi and Julia Shirar, The Climax operated for 2 years out of the Nahl Hall Theater on the Oakland campus of California College of Arts and Crafts. It was a venue for experimental film and video emphasizing female-identified directors. Screening on 16mm and analog video originals, the series aimed to broaden the scope of the film department at CCAC and to offer something from the school to the broader community. Each season a filmmaker was invited in-person to screen rare, older works alongside their featured screening. The only venue for contemporary experimental work in the East Bay at the time, The Climax was cited as an inspiration for the 1998 reopening of the legendary Fine Arts Cinema in Berkeley.