Scribe Video Center’s Street Movies! program returns this month for its 20th season with free outdoor film screenings and live performances. All events are family-friendly and take place in neighborhoods across Philadelphia, including in West Philly.

Scribe Video Center partners with local organizations for Street Movies! to guide the selection process and choose the best film programs for their communities. This August, the traveling series will feature a range of short films, from internationally recognized award-winning fiction, documentary, and animation to local community- and youth-produced works.  Continue Reading

Scribe Video Center, the West Philly-based non-profit organization with a nearly 35-year-old history, is moving from 42nd and Chestnut to a new location this month. Beginning Jan. 17, Scribe will be located at 4035 Walnut St., according to information posted on the organization’s website and social media pages.

Here are some other exciting news and happenings at Scribe, which offers film screenings and educational opportunities to individuals and communities who want to learn media making and explore the use of video.

Last month, Scribe received a $25,000 Art Works grant for 2017 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant will go towards a collaborative project, curated by Patricia R. Zimmermann, to highlight community-produced media work from across the country. The goal of the project is to collect works of artistic and historical value and then go on tour with the exhibits.  Continue Reading

The Great Migration: A City Transformed (1916-1930), a series of audio and video works that celebrate the historic journeys of African Americans to the North, are taking place this fall at libraries, rec centers and schools throughout the the city, including in West Philadelphia. The works range from profiles of local figures and institutions to experimental short films. Each screening offers a mix of local history and great film.

The films, produced by multi-media artists Julie Dash, Kevin Jerome Everson, and Tina Morton, look at the stories of Black migrants and the institutions that shaped their journey and settlement.

The screenings are presented by West Philly-based Scribe Video Center and community partners and will also feature works from Scribe’s Precious Places Community History Project, a citywide initiative to document the public spaces and landmarks that define our communities. These include short documentaries about the Belmont Plateau, the John Coltrane House, St. Paul’s Baptist Church, the Christian Street YMCA, and more.  Continue Reading

The Philadelphia Film Society (PFS) is launching a free seasonal community screening program, Movies on the Block, this Saturday (Aug. 20). This will be the second year of Movies on the Block, an initiative designed to support established community organizations in neighborhoods that have little access to film by providing film programming and facilitating engagement.

PFS has chosen weekly lead partners through a public application process. All partners worked with PFS to develop Movies on the Block events in collaboration with other community leaders, stakeholders and organizations.

The first screening (Ernest & Celestine) will be this Saturday at Kingsessing Playground (51st & Chester), and on Saturday, Sept. 17, Belmont and Mantua community members are invited to a screening of Shake the Dust at Belmont Charter School. Here are more details for each screening:  Continue Reading

The Drexel University Psychology Department is holding a Drexel Brain Awareness Week and is inviting local residents to a series of fun and educational events aimed at spreading awareness about brain-related topics, including maintaining cognitive health and the portrayal of the brain on the big screen. These events are free and open to the public.

Free Screening of “Limitless” and “Inside Out”

Everyone is invited for a FREE screening of the movie “Limitless” on Friday, March 11, and “Inside Out” on Tuesday, March 15. Each screening starts at 7 p.m. and will be followed by an audience Q&A with experts in psychology and related fields. The movies will be screened at Drexel University’s Stratton Hall, Room 113, 3201 Chestnut St.

Brain Food at the Dornsife Center

Join the Drexel Department of Psychology on Thursday, March 17 for Brain Food, a community-wide event that aims to increase awareness about maintaining cognitive health and fitness throughout the lifespan. Multiple interactive displays, manned by Drexel University faculty and students, will be open to visitors to learn about different aspects of cognitive health (i.e., healthy food alternatives, the importance of a good night’s sleep, etc.).

Kids and teenagers will have the opportunity to engage in fun, interactive activities (games, arts and crafts, brain model presentations, etc.) that will help them learn about the general structure and function of areas of the brain. Brain-healthy food and refreshments will be served. The event will be held at the Dornsife Center’s Ryan Hall (3509 Spring Garden St), starting at 5:30 p.m.

Photo courtesy of IHP

International House Philadelphia (37th and Chestnut) will host a free screening of an inspiring documentary film about two best friends and world-class acrobats from remote corners of the globe who share the same dream of bringing hope and change to their struggling communities through circus. Circus Without Borders follows performers Guillaume Saladin and Yamoussa Bangoura whose dream unfolds in the Canadian Arctic and Guinea, West Africa, where they help Inuit and Guinean youth achieve unimaginable success while confronting suicide, poverty and despair.

Seven years in the making, this tale of two circuses — Artcirq and Kalabante — is an inspiring story of resilience and joy. Both troupes use art and the power of dreams to transform themselves and their communities. Circus Without Borders was the opening film for the 2015 Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York City.

Saladin and Bangoura will attend the screening and treat the audiences to a special performance following the film. They will also participate in a Q&A session with director Susan Gray.

The screening begins at 7 p.m. Visit this page for more information and to RSVP.