Coming up in Philly film: Internment, confronting harassers, ‘Star Wars,’ and more

Although half of the city seems to have vacated to the coast amid the ongoing July heatwave, there are still many cool things happening on the Philly film scene this month.

July 12 through 14, Lightbox Film Center will present a retrospective of Japanese filmmaker Umetsugu Inoue’s work. Curated by Tom Vick of the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries, this four-film program highlights the post-World War II era work of a lesser-known filmmaker in the musical genre. The retrospective spans just three years — 1955-57 — a highly prolific period in Inoue’s career, during which he directed a fantastic total of 12 films. The sheer volume of Inoue’s work during this period is emblematic of the hectic run-and-gun production pace of postwar Japanese film studios, yet his films hold up under contemporary scrutiny.

This selection of Inoue’s work, starring Yujiro Ishihara (also known as the Japanese Elvis Presley) in all but one of these four films, presents an exciting moment when Japanese youth culture stood at the crossroads between the influence of American teen culture and the self-determination of the first generation to come of age in Japan after fascism. Of particular note is 1955’s Green Music Box, screened from a newly restored 35mm print provided by the National Film Center in Tokyo, on Saturday, July 14 at 5pm. Shown in their original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles, and tickets ($8-10) and more info are available online.

Remembering American internment camps

The following week, on Thursday, July 19 and Friday, July 20, Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) will screen five feature documentaries at the Japanese American Citizens League National Convention, coming to the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel July 18 through 22. The program revives some of the films screened at the 2017 festival as part of a showcase remembering the 75th anniversary of Japanese-American incarceration during WWII. And Then They Came for Us, Relocation, Arkansas, and Resistance at Tule Lake screen on July 19.

There’s also The Registry, screening on Friday, July 20, at 3pm, documenting the efforts of two octogenarian veterans as they build an online database of Japanese-Americans who served in the Military Intelligence Service during WWII. For the Sake of the Children (a Philadelphia premiere) screens immediately afterward, at 4:30pm, about the plight of mothers who either gave birth while incarcerated or brought young children with them to the U.S. concentration camps. All of these PAAFF screenings are free and open to the public.

‘Drunktown’s Finest’ and ‘War Zone’

At Franny Lou’s Porch in Fishtown on July 20 at 8:30pm, cineSPEAK will present a free screening of Indie breakout Drunktown’s Finest. After its critically acclaimed premiere at Sundance 2014, the festival darling made its way through the circuit as one of the only narrative films with an authentic portrayal of New Mexico’s contemporary Navajo community in a boundary-pushing coming-of-age story. The event will feature pay-as-you-go boozy punch and espresso cocktails, sponsored in part by Stateside Urbancraft Vodka.

On July 21 at Asian Arts Initiative, the Women's Film Festival presents War Zone, a feature documentary that tackles catcalling head-on as filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West confronts her harassers directly with a camera. Although it was released twenty years ago in 1998, the film takes on renewed importance in today’s #MeToo climate. Tickets to the 7pm screening cost $10 and director Hadleigh-West is expected to be in attendance for a post-film Q&A.

Mustard Seed and ‘Star Wars’

On July 23, Mustard Seed South Asian Film Festival holds a happy hour from 5 to 7pm at Front Street Dive, where the organizers will be releasing early details on for its third festival (scheduled for August 17 through 19) and raising funds to support the program. Centering women, LGBTQ, and other marginalized communities within South Asia and the diaspora, Mustard Seed is one of the most intersectional festivals in Philadelphia.

Finally, on July 26 at 8:30pm, Penn’s Landing will host a free screening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi as part of the waterfront’s Screening Under the Stars series. Whether you love or hate the new installments of this beloved franchise, who can pass up the opportunity to cheer (or jeer) a Star Wars film outside on the big screen?

Above: Filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West confronts harassers in her documentary, War Zone, screening July 21 at Asian Arts. (Image via IMDB.)