The Bay Area film industry managed to stay afloat in 2021, even though attendance was in a free fall for most indies and documentaries making it up on financially strapped movie theater screens. Leave it to a superhero to save the day, resuscitating a beaten-down box office toward the end of the year. While many showed up or are still showing up in droves for “Spider-Man: No Way Home” — co-starring Oakland’s Zendaya — numerous other titles are failing to attract as much attention. We’re hoping to change some of that. Here are just some, but by no means all, 2021’s cinematic standouts that had San Francisco Bay Area associations, from the high profile to that little hidden gem.
