Good Good comedy, Black and Jewish films, and a circus on resistance highlight the weekend

We did it, y’all. We made it to spring! And spring is coming in with a bang, filled with laughs, compelling films, and an intimate circus for the resistance era this weekend. I hope you get out to enjoy all the happenings in the city and celebrate that you’ve come so far, and that there is newness on the horizon for you and the loved ones around you.

Scribe Video Center screening shorts from Detroit
On Friday, March 22, 2019, at 7pm, Scribe Video Center (3908 Lancaster Ave) will host a screening of five short films from the Detroit Narrative Agency (DNA). DNA incubates compelling stories that shift the dominant narratives about Detroit toward liberation and justice.

The films include Take Me Home, directed by Orlando Ford, about how a changing Detroit economy still punishes its residents; Dangerous Times | Rebellious Responses, directed by Alicia Díaz, about the sanctuary movement in Detroit; Sidelots, directed by Atieno Nyar Kasagam, about Black urban farming; Riding with Aunt D. Dot, directed by Bree Gant, an experimental film about a disillusioned Detroit artist; and Femme Queen Chronicles, directed by Ahya Simone, a new web series about the lives of four Black trans women.

Through the screening, Scribe hopes to facilitate conversations and collaborations between artists and activists in Detroit and Philadelphia. Admission is $5. To find out more about the films and accessibility at Scribe, visit online or call (215) 222-4201.

​Good Good presents Las Culturistas at Underground Arts
Las Culturistas, a weekly podcast hosted by Bowen Yang of Saturday Night Live and Matt Rogers of The Tonight Show, will bring their popular show’s live format at Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill Street) on Friday, March 22, at 8pm. Their live format, I Don’t Think So, Honey, features 30 comedians doing one-minute rants on pop culture. Tickets are available online.

Brave Space: A different kind of circus
An intimate and immersive pop-up circus show in a blanket fort arrives in Philly this weekend. The touring show, Brave Space, will take place on Sunday, March 24, at 5:30pm and again at 8pm at Secret Circus (428 E. Erie Ave). Brave Space is an all-woman circus show exploring allyship and trust in an era of divisiveness, all performed under a massive blanket fort built with the audience. The hourlong work is a chance to sit nose-to-nose with bold aerialists and acrobats to build the world you want to live in, even if only for a few shared moments.

Conceived by Aloft artistic director Shayna Swanson, the performance is not necessarily designed as a "safe space" but as a space that will bring audiences up close and personal with their humanity and their fears.

The audience is limited to 100 people per show and, as a heads up, the show has limited accessibility. Tickets are available online.

Lindy CineMondays

Yes, Monday isn’t the weekend, but this is still worth noting! Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival’s annual series Lindy CineMondays returns with six Philadelphia premieres. Drawing from Jewish indie cinema from around the world, the series kicks off with a double screening of Redemption at the National Museum of American Jewish History at 5pm and 7:30pm.

The charming, multilayered film is about a devout, middle-aged single father who used to be the lead singer of a popular Israeli rock band but leaves it all behind to pursue a pious life, only to return to the scene to care for his seven-year-old daughter during her cancer treatments. Redemption won the Best Narrative and Best Music Awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival.

Tickets are $15, with $2 off for seniors, and are only $7 for students. Discover the full roster, with times and venues, of the Lindy CineMondays lineup online or by calling (215) 545-4400.