Love is awfully complicated and blissfully chaotic. It’s also ever-evolving, morphing into unrecognizable shapes without forewarning. In essence, love is a free-for-all.

It’s this complexity that’s at the heart of MAYA (view trailer below), Dan Papa’s first independent feature film project. Shot entirely in black and white, MAYA explores love’s profound transformation through time, and the ways people bend and react to that variance. It will premiere Sunday at the International House (3701 Chestnut St.).

“This is the sort of movie you are supposed to feel, and not necessarily understand everything. There is definitely some mystery there,” the 27-year-old writer-director wrote in an email. “Love is a universal subject all viewers can relate to. Maybe the movie will help people pay more attention to the world underneath, the fact that we are all the same at the core.”

In its own right, MAYA, which was shot on a $7,000 budget, is a quintessential Philly project. Papa used the city’s “layers of history, and the empty spaces” to serve as MAYA’s primary backdrop, with interior shots based in Cedar Park (it was also shot on a beach in Cape May.) West Philly’s “unique flavor” is also offered through local actor and Curio Theatre company member Harry Slack’s supporting role.

“Having lived in Philly almost 10 years, I feel a deep connection to certain areas,” wrote Papa, who, while currently living in the Poconos, still considers West Philly home. “It shows that living in the city is not always about brick and concrete.”

But MAYA’s mysticism transcends the screen—according to Papa, local actors Amy Frear and Dan McGlaughin, who play leads Maya and Leo respectively, started dating after filming. “I think we captured some real chemistry,” he wrote.

The screening will follow an improv performance based on the movie score featuring musicians from West Philly’s Flat Mary Road. Dock Street Brewery will provide free draft beers.

Here are the details:

Sunday, April 14, 7 p.m.
International House Philadelphia
3701 Chestnut Street
Tickets: $8 (http://maya.brownpapertickets.com/)

– Annamarya Scaccia

Maya – Trailer # 2 from Dan Papa on Vimeo.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who is a “gentrifier” these days – or whether that word or concept still has any meaning. Film director Kelly Anderson, a self-proclaimed “gentrifier” from Brooklyn will talk about her journey and her neighborhood after a screening of her documentary My Brooklyn (see trailer below) at the International House (3701 Chestnut St.) on Tuesday.

Drawn to Brooklyn in 1988 by cheap rent and a “Bohemian culture,” Anderson watched through the nineties and particularly into the early part of the 21st century as luxury housing and chain stores changed the neighborhood forever. Starting to sound familiar? The changes spark conversations about “authenticity,” who controls the future of the neighborhood and cause Anderson to examine her own role in the changes to the neighborhood.

The film’s themes are relevant to many parts of West Philly.

The film focuses on the future of Fulton Mall, a popular African American and Caribbean shopping Center, that officials are considering razing. “The film’s ultimate questions become how to heal the deep racial wounds embedded in our urban development patterns, and how citizens can become active in restoring democracy to a broken planning process,” according to its website. The film is co-sponsored by the Scribe Video Center.

Here are the details:

Tuesday, April 9, 7 p.m.
International House Philadelphia
3701 Chestnut Street
$10, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe and IHP members

Here is a trailer:

International House Philadelphia kicks off the nationally touring film series, ‘L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema’ this Saturday. The series comprises 12 programs of feature and short films that will be shown at IHP’s Ibrahim Theater (3701 Chestnut St) from Jan. 5-26.

The term “L.A. Rebellion” refers to a group of African and African-American student artists at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television who from the late 1960s to the late 1980s  created a unique cinematic landscape, as part of an ‘Ethno-Communications’ initiative. Over the course of two decades students arrived, mentored one another, and passed the torch to the next group.

It is a carefully curated film exhibition that “offers a true window on the legacies of Black communities.”

The film showing at IHP is co-sponsored by Scribe Video Center. For information on film listings and screening schedules, visit: www.ihousephilly.org/events.

Hollywood is taking over Philadelphia starting today as the 21st annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicks off right here in West Philly.

The opening screening of the new film Silver Linings Playbook (already sold out), starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, is tonight at Penn’s Zellerbach Theater in the Annenberg Center. Other West Philly screenings throughout the festival (October 18-28) will be held at Shoemaker Green (217 S. 33rd St.), and the Rave University 6 (40th & Walnut) Cinemas. Films include American independent movies, international films, upcoming Hollywood and Oscar faire, as well as classics shown on the big screen. See below for a full list of showings in the West Philly area. Tickets can be purchased online at the Philadelphia Film Society’s site, with discounts and special deals for members. Check out the festival to see exotic and exciting movies right around the corner.

Friday October 19:

• Beware Mr. Baker 5:00pm, Rave University 6
• Waiting for Lightning 7:30pm, Rave University 6
• The ABCs of Death 9:45pm, Rave University 6
• Miami Connection 11:59pm, Rave University 6

Saturday October 20:

• Only the Young 12:45pm, Rave University 6
• The Zen of Bennet 3:00pm, Rave University 6
• We Are Legion: The Story of Hacktavists 5:05pm, Rave University 6
• The History of Future Folk 7:20pm, Rave University 6
• John Dies at the End 9:50pm, Rave University 6
• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning 3D 11:59pm, Rave University 6

Sunday October 21

• The Good Son 12:05pm, Rave University 6
• Leave Me Like You Found Me 2:20pm, Rave University 6
• The Final Member 4:45pm, Rave University 6
• The Comedy 7:05pm, Rave University 6
• Dragon 9:40pm, Rave University 6

Monday October 22

• This Time Tomorrow 5:20pm, Rave University 6
• Room 237, 7:30pm, Rave University 6
• Antiviral 10:00pm, Rave University 6

Tuesday October 23

• Alaskaland 5:00pm, Rave University 6
• Somebody Up there Likes Me 7:15pm, Rave University 6
• Thale 9:15pm, Rave University 6

Wednesday October 24

• The Missing Piece: The Truth About the Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa 3:10pm, Rave University 6
• Call Me Kuchu 5:20pm, Rave University 6
• La Comioneta: The Journey of One American Schoolbus 7:30pm, Rave University 6
• Dead Sushi 9:30pm, Rave University 6

Thursday October 25

• Seeking an Asian Female 5:00pm, Rave University 6
• Wreck-It Ralph 7:00pm, Rave University 6
• Here Comes the Devil 9:45pm, Rave University 6

Friday October 26

• American Scream, The 7:15pm, Shoemaker Green
• Poltergeist 9:30pm, Shoemaker Green

– Kelly Lawler

The first annual BlackStar Film Festival is being held at the International House in West Philly (3701 Chestnut St.) this weekend. The mission of the new festival is to showcase films not always featured in other festivals by celebrating “the visual and storytelling traditions of the African Diaspora and to showcase independent film and video works by and about black people from around the world.” The four-day festival includes forty films of all genres, including documentaries, music videos, and experimental films along with traditional narratives. Tickets ($8) are available online.

One of the films being featured at the festival is FunkJazz Kafé: Diary of a Decade, a documentary chronicling the evolution of black and popular music told by musicians themselves – old, current and future. Famous faces in the film include: Roy Ayers, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, George Clinton, Dick Gregory, Chuck D, Dallas Austin, Cee Lo, and many others. The film was written, directed, and produced by Jason Orr. There will be a Q&A session with him after the screening, which is tomorrow (Aug 4) at 8 p.m. Check out the trailer below.

– Kelly Lawler

We are happy to report that West Philly-based independent film project “MAYA” has reached and even slightly exceeded its funding goal on Kickstarter and will begin shooting in the first week of April. Thanks to everyone who supported it!

The film’s director, Dan Papa, is very excited that they hit the goal and says that they can’t wait to start shooting. They are still casting for the male lead role and should have a decision on that within the next couple of weeks.

A couple of crew members are still needed for this project, so anyone interested please email Dan at danieljamespapa [at] gmail.com. Here‘s the film’s Facebook page.