29 Jun Philadelphia Monthly Arts Round-Up: July 2023
BY ARTA BARZANJI
Please refer to the official websites for events to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information about ticketing, reservations, delays, re-scheduling, cancellations, and other guest policies for venues, including relevant COVID-19 requirements.
When I penned my first monthly arts round-up for cinéSPEAK around 9 months ago, I wrote about the empty streets and closed venues that I’d first encountered upon moving to Philadelphia in 2020. As I write my last monthly round-up, only a few days before moving away from Philly and starting a new chapter of my life, I can write fondly about a lively city with a burgeoning art and film scene and a diverse array of screenings that gives me hope for a future filled with even more daring programs. So long, City of Brotherly Love!
Highlights of this month include two cinéSPEAK at Bartram’s Garden screenings; THE EROTIC PROJECT short film screening at Asian Arts Initiative; three murder mysteries by Alfred Hitchcock at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute; Ken Loach’s The Spirit of ’45 at Lightbox Film Center; and exciting online workshops by The People’s Media Record. In other arts news, the Wawa Welcome America Festival has free arts events throughout the city leading up to July 4th including their annual concert at the Philadelphia Art Museum steps.
Sunday, July 2, 2023 at 4 PM
Rope
Alfred Hitchcock’s dream of a single-take film (i.e. a film composed of only one long continuous shot, without any cuts) was never fully realized due to the technological limitations of the time. But that didn’t stop the master of suspense from trying, and Rope is the result of Hitchcock’s attempt at using the properties of cinema to get around a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Rope is composed of 10 shots, but each cut is artfully hidden by the movement and blocking of the camera and the actors. Far from being merely a stylistic experiment, Rope’s “single take” approach lends itself to the claustrophobic atmosphere of the film, and heightens the tension of the murder mystery even more, as we follow the twisted plots of the socialite murderers in “real time”.
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 5:30 PM
THE EROTIC PROJECT: Short Film Screening & SOFT Readings Program
Writers will read the stimulating written works they’ve contributed to SOFT Book LIVE. SOFT is an independently published + robust erotica art book featuring original erotic writings, revealing interviews, sensual poetry, accessible and inclusive erotic prompts, and stunning photography and intimate portraits, conceptualized by Aubrié Costello and co-created with over 40 Artists from Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. After the reading, stay for a screening of short erotic and experimental films.
Cost: Free
Asian Arts Initiative — 1219 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Friday, July 7, 2023 at 7 PM
The Spirit of ’45
Veteran director and leftwing political activist Ken Loach’s 2013 documentary about social reforms of post-war Britain is perhaps more relevant than ever. As social programs founded by the markedly more militant Labour Party of the 1940s such as NHS (National Health Service) are being rapidly defunded and even more wealth is being transferred from the public to the private sphere, Loach’s film helps us not only preserve the memory of how these gains were made in the first place but also consider how, through grassroots organization and working class unity, we could reclaim and even go beyond them in the future.
Cost: $10 General Admission, $8 Students/Seniors, Free for Members/UArts Students/UArts Faculty & Staff
Lightbox Film Center — 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 6 PM
Black Narcissus
Join the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Education, Philosophy, and Religion Department for a screening of Powell & Pressburger’s 1947 Technicolor masterpiece, Black Narcissus. With an all-star cast, including Deborah Kerr, the film follows a group of nuns in the Himalayas as they struggle with their faith and desires.
Cost: Free
Parkway Central Library — 1901 Vine Street Room 108 Philadelphia, PA 19103
Friday, July 14, 2023 at 7:30 PM
cinéSPEAK at Bartram’s Garden: River
Come see the Philadelphia Premiere of River, an exploration of the timeless relationship between human civilization and Earth’s rivers. Spanning six continents, this visual and musical tour-de-force is by turns celebratory, cautionary, and ultimately hopeful that we are beginning to understand rivers in all their complexity and fragility. The film is narrated by Oscar Nominee Willem Dafoe, with music by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Radiohead. There will also be a pre-show performance by local musical artist Hudson River. This is a beautiful opportunity to engage with the film at Philadelphia’s own Schuylkill River, an essential and complicated life force of our city.
Cost: Free
Bartram’s Garden — 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19143
Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 4 PM
Dial M for Murder
Another single-location Alfred Hitchcock murder mystery, it might be a surprise to learn that Dial M for Murder was one of the first important 3D films to come out of Hollywood (and from a 3D screening of the film that I was able to attend a few years ago, I can confirm that it’s still one of the best uses of that technology to date). But whether in 3D or 2D, Hitchcock’s masterful and tight mise en scene will have you feeling like the screen is extending out, encompassing you into the mystery. But fear not, you’ll be in good company with the graceful Grace Kelly, as she survives a murder attempt and goes on to solve the mystery of who was behind the ominous plot.
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 6 PM
Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask
Join the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Education, Philosophy, and Religion Department for a screening of Isaac Julien’s 1995 film Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask. This documentary focuses on the life and work of psychoanalytic theorist and activist Frantz Fanon, who was born in Martinique and whose work influenced civil rights and anti-colonial movements worldwide.
Cost: Free
Parkway Central Library — 1901 Vine Street Room 108 Philadelphia, PA 19103
Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 4:30 PM
In-Process with Taj DeVore-Bey
Join cinéSPEAK for an intimate communing featuring a masterclass conversation with cinematographer Taj DeVore-Bey. The event will feature excerpts of the artist’s body of work, as well as a conversation with Vernon Jordan III, the Assistant Director of Programs at cinéSPEAK.
Cost: Suggested Donation: $10-$20 or Pay-What-You-Can
Making Worlds Cooperative Bookstore & Social Center — 210 South 45th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Sunday, July 30, 2023 at 4 PM
The Royal Tenenbaums
Ahead of the wide release of Wes Anderson’s new film (Asteroid City), you can revisit one of the films that established him as one of the most popular contemporary American directors: The Royal Tenenbaums. Featuring Anderson’s trademark stylistic choices (symmetrical compositions, flat frontal framing, a vibrant but highly deliberate color palette), the film follows the evolution and dynamics of the titular family, whose members boast a star-studded cast including Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
MORE EVENTS:
June 19 – July 4, 2023
Cost: Free
May 28 – July 9, 2023
Philadelphia Latino Film Festival
Cost: Individual screening tickets and festival passes priced from $0-$100
Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 12:30 PM
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 7:15 PM
Cost: $13.50 General Admission, $8 BMFI Members, $11 Seniors/Students, $9 Children
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
July 13 to September 26, 2023 at 6:30 PM
How to Take Care of Community AV Collections: Digitization, Preservation, Copyright
Cost: Free
Virtual
Friday, July 14, 2023 at 8 PM
French Scopitones / The Magnetic Fields
Cost: $45 to $65
Music Hall at World Cafe Live — 3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Friday, July 28, 2023 at 7 PM
Frankford Pause Park Movie Night: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Cost: Free
Frankford Pause Park — 4673 Paul Street Philadelphia, PA 19124
*Featured Image: Image from a past cinéSPEAK In-Process event.
Would you like your event to be featured in a future round-up? Please fill out the Philadelphia Monthly Arts Round-Up form at least one month prior to the event. Note: events shared less than a month ahead of time may not be able to make our publishing schedule. The cinéSPEAK Journal maintains sole discretion over the publishing of any information provided via the form. Questions: journal@cinespeak.org
Arta Barzanji is an Iranian cinephile, writer, filmmaker, and a current MFA candidate in Film and Media Arts at Temple University. His work, encompassing experimental, narrative, and documentary modes, deals directly with the cinema itself, exploring the relationship between the viewer and the screen while engaging with the works of filmmakers as diverse as Stan Brakhage, Orson Welles, Kamran Shirdel, and Malcolm Le Grice. Arta was a 2022 participant of the Young Critics Workshop, and his critical writings and translations have appeared both
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.