Coming up in Philly film: ‘Jaws’ and indie picks galore

As the summer blockbusters start to roll out, Philly’s indie-film community continues to amaze with yet another film festival and several high-profile repertory programs kicking off around town.

PHLAFF returns

The Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (PHLAFF) returns for its 7th year June 1 through 3 at multiple venues in Center City. It’s launching with a free opening-night program on Friday, June 1, at 6:30pm in the courtyard of City Hall (presented in partnership with the City of Philadelphia Office of Immigrant Affairs). This event includes a short film program, recognition of 2018 LOLA Award winners, and a preview showcase highlighting the other festival offerings. Moving to the Caplan Recital Hall at UArts on Saturday, June 2, the festival resumes at 11am with a daylong Youth Salon featuring workshops, screenings, and panels specifically geared toward young, emerging Latinx talent. That evening, don’t miss the 8pm screening of Nuyorican Básquet, a gripping documentary about Puerto Rico’s famous 1979 National Basketball Team, whose players were mostly born and raised in New York’s Puerto Rican communities.

On Sunday, June 3, be sure to watch PHLAFF’s closing-night film, Rubén Blades Is Not My Name, a documentary biopic about Panamanian salsa icon Rubén Blades: his music is synonymous with an entire generation’s Latin American socio-political consciousness. Since the film’s premiere at South by Southwest, it’s been a highly sought-after screening, and Blades is expected in attendance for a post-film Q&A. Visit online for the full schedule of events and screenings ($12 each or $30 for your choice of three films).

Jawn Williams

If orchestral music is more your vibe, check out Jaws in Concert. Steven Spielberg’s Academy-Award-winning film gets live musical accompaniment on Saturday, June 2, from the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, performing John Williams’s original score in sync with the film at the Mann Center’s outdoor amphitheater. Doors open at 6pm for the 7:30pm show ($25-$70).

Cultural transformations in Costa Rica and Japan

On Thursday, June 7, at 7pm, Scribe Video Center will screen Chavela at the Roxy. This feature documentary follows the titular Costa Rican ranchera singer Chavela Vargas. A pioneering femme voice in 1950s Latinx social movements, Chavela was also one of the first openly gay women in Latin America’s entertainment world. The screening is part of Scribe’s Producers’ Forum series, which brings distinguished filmmakers to Philadelphia to discuss their creative process. Director Daresha Kyi will introduce the film and participate in a post-film Q&A ($8-$10).

On Wednesday, June 13, the Philadelphia-based Japanese experimental-film archive Collaborative Cataloging Japan will host a special preview mixer showcasing its latest efforts. The event features a presentation by British-Japanese film scholar Julian Ross about the emergence of experimental cinema in 1960s and ’70s Japan, including excerpts from several of Ko Nakajima’s art films. Hosted from 6 to 7:30pm at the Rikumo Concept Store on 1216 Walnut Street, the event is free with advance RSVP.

Kids of the Black Hole

During the second half of June, Lightbox Film Center will host a five-film retrospective titled Kids of the Black Hole ($8-$12), a curated selection of films exploring the emergence of Cold War America’s punk-rock and heavy-metal-fueled counterculture in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Billed as the antithesis to John Hughes's teen comedy, these films offer a powerful metanarrative that shows an idealistic 1960s pipe dream fading into a post-Baby Boomer hangover of indifference.

Of particular note is Allan Moyle’s 1980 film Times Square, screening at 7pm on Saturday, June 16, which tells the story of two women who break out of a psychiatric ward to become the punk-rock duo Sleez Sisters. Tim Curry appears in a strong supporting role as DJ Johnny LaGuardia, and the film’s soundtrack features many of the emerging punk and new-wave acts of that era. The following Saturday, June 23, check out the double-feature screening of Over the Edge (1979), about an armed teenage rebellion in suburbia, and River’s Edge (1986), a dark tale of adolescent murder and subsequent cover-up that stars Keanu Reeves and Crispin Glover.

Above: Rubén Blades Is Not My Name screens at UArts with PHLAFF on June 3. (Image via IMDB.)