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Starting next Thursday, Philly Queer Media will host its month-long Media Activism Series, showcasing politically charged and profound works by queer media artists throughout the city, including West Philly.

Philly Queer Media’s annual spring series, which runs from March 20th to April 22nd, will feature pieces from local creatives that cross the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, disability and class. From inspired documentaries to dance performances and book readings, the public and mostly-free events aim to raise the profiles of transgender and queer artists—much of which is Philly Queer Media’s mission—while also fostering dialogue, building communities, and sparking social change.

West Philly’s all-female circus arts collective, Tangle Movement Arts, is among the artists to be featured during the month-long festival. They’ll perform their new show, “Timelines,” from Thursday, April 3rd to Saturday, April 5th at the Christ Church Neighborhood House (20 N. American Street). Performances start at 8 p.m. each day, with a 3 p.m. matinee added on Saturday.

The festival will also end in West Philly, with the closing event, “Queering the Digital Humanities,” taking place on Tuesday, April 22nd on the sixth floor of the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center for Special Collections (3420 Walnut Street). The three-person panel will discuss the crossroads of social justice activism, digital humanities, and queer media. The free, all ages event starts at 12 p.m.

For a list of other Media Activism Series performances, visit Philly Queer Media’s website.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the start day as Friday. It is Thursday. We regret the error.

– Annamarya Scaccia

A large tree snapped and fell into the middle of the 4300 block of Spruce at about 5:45 p.m., damaging two cars waiting for a red light.

High winds no doubt played a part in the down tree. No injuries were reported.

“The wind has been blowing and this tree has been dead for a long time and the city hasn’t done anything about it,” said the driver of one car. “This is what you get.”

As of 6 p.m. the both lanes of the 4300 block of Spruce are closed.

Despite the recent arrest of a teenager who tried rob an undercover cop earlier this week, police are reporting that another gunpoint robbery took place last night. This time a 23-year-old man was robbed at about 10 p.m. along the 4600 block of Hazel Avenue by a man with a silver handgun who police believe escaped in a grey sedan.

Police say the victim was walking down 46th Street and had just made the turn onto Hazel when he noticed a grey car parked and idling. As he continued along Hazel, he also noticed a man walking slowly in front of him. As he passed, the man pointed a small silver handgun at him, made him sit down on the front steps of a nearby home and demanded his wallet and cell phone, according to a police report.

As he was being robbed, the victim noticed the grey sedan slowly approaching. The robber told the man to run toward 47th Street. When the victim looked back the car and the man were both gone.

The victim was not injured.

The suspect is described as a black male, about 6-feet-two-inches tall with a thin build, about 20 years old wearing a grey hoodie and black sweat pants.

This is the latest in a string of robberies in the area round Baltimore Avenue from 46th to 49th Streets. Police arrested a teenager earlier this week who tried to rob an undercover police officer who they say confessed to other recent robberies.

Police are asking those with information to call 215-686-TIPS or text short code PPDTIP. You can also submit anonymously here.

“Gray Area” cards a meant to start a frank discussion about historic preservation.

The Mantua neighborhood is going to see a lot of change in the coming years. Community groups in the neighborhood – which is bounded by the 31st Street to the east, 40th Street to the west, the Powelton Village (and Drexel University) neighborhood to the south – are moving fast to make sure they have a voice in the change.

So is Drexel University. Students are increasingly moving into the Mantua neighborhood because of the cheaper rents. The neighborhood is also part of the federal “Promise Zone.”  Mayor Michael Nutter recently promised to “bring back Mantua.”  Drexel officials recently announced that the university will build a “Penn Alexander style” K-8 education complex on the site of the shuttered University City High School. That will push up nearby real estate prices, much as the Penn Alexander School did in the Spruce Hill neighborhood.

The talk around Mantua and nearby neighborhoods is: What will the neighborhoods look and feel like in 5 or 10 years and how can current residents have a say? Here are a couple of upcoming events that will help focus that discussion:

• Creative Neighborhood Redevelopment, tonight (Thursday, March 13), 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Mantua Haverford Community Center (631 N. 39th Street).
A discussion about how artists can spearhead creative neighborhood redevelopment within their local communities. Guest speakers include Rick Lowe (Project Row Houses, Houston), Kyong Park (Los Angeles/Detroit), and Transformazium (Braddock, Penna). Temple Contemporary organized this event. Register here.

• Gray Area “Cards,” Wednesday, March 19, 6 p.m.at Monica’s/St. Andrew’s Church (3600 Baring Street).
The card game is a way to promote discussion and “provocative thinking” about old neighborhood buildings. This game is focused on the Gray Area focal point, Hawthorne Hall at 3849 Lancaster Avenue. More info is available here.

Editor’s Note: We chose not to publish the name of the teenager involved in this case. We take into account the severity of the crime, whether they are charged as an adult and a suspect’s previous record when we make that decision.

Police arrested a 16-year-old early after he tried to rob an undercover police officer at gunpoint near 47th and Springfield on Monday night. The teen also confessed to a string of recent robberies in the neighborhood, according to police.

Police say four undercover officers were patrolling (two on foot and two in an unmarked car) on 47th Street when a male started following one of the officers at about midnight. Near 48th and Springfield, the young man came up behind the officer, “put a silver handgun to his head” and shouted “Give it up. Just give it to me. Give it to me,” according to a police report.

The officer handed over an iPhone and as the young man pulled the gun away from his head, the officer hit it with his elbow, knocking the gun to the ground.

According to the police report:

“The male … began to struggle with the officer by punching and kicking him. They fell to the ground where the male continued to kick and swing at the officer until the other officers came to his assistance and were finally able to get the male into custody.”

The officer was treated for cuts at Mercy Hospital and released.

Although the gun looked authentic, it was a replica that did not fire, according to the report.

The male, whose name we are not publishing, was charged with assaulting a police officer and robbery.

Police say that the male also confessed to three other robberies on Sunday and Monday in the neighborhood, including one at 45th and Spruce, with two other teens.

Police listed the teen arrested during the robbery of the police officer as living on the 1300 block of Ellsworth Street in South Philly. He had no previous record.

Attention actual/would-be/wannabe filmmakers: International House Philadelphia (3701 Chestnut) and the Sundance Institute are hosting a half-day seminar on making short films this Sunday, March 16.

The Sundance Short Lab Philadelphia includes Sundance-organized panels and discussions to offer first-hand insight into a bunch of different aspects of short filmmaking, including story development, production and working with a cast and crew.

The Short Lab is aimed at anyone involved in filmmaking – writers, directors, producers, actors and crew members. It runs from 10 a.m. to about 4 p.m. at the International House and it’s FREE. Info on tickets is available here.

Presenters include:

• Director/editor/producer Cherien Dabis
• Writer/filmmaker Madeleine Olnek
• Writer/director/photographer Carter Smith

If you’re looking for some filmmaking inspiration beforehand, you might want to get to the International House’s presentation of short films from the National Film Board of Canada, which starts at 2 p.m. Saturday. More info on that here.