Street Movies! Undercover
Location(s)
This family friendly screening features short films from points of origin as far as São Paulo Brazil to as close as Frankford Avenue. The evening will include a selection of videos recently produced through Scribe’s community programs including the neighborhood premiere of The Movement: The Story of Philadelphia’s Settlement Houses (2007, 30 minutes) which was researched, written, shot and edited by 9 youth filmmakers as part of Scribe’s Documentary History Project for Youth. Filmmakers will be present to talk about their videos.
The Movement asks “What is a Settlement House?” And what better place to learn than by seeing the film in one of the documentary’s featured locations. Join with the filmmakers as they learn about the history of the Settlement House Movement from its beginnings in London in the 1800s to its arrival in Philadelphia and up to present day. These institutions provided food, education, culture, and political clout for new immigrants and disenfranchised residents. Local settlement house leaders and participants from The Lighthouse, Lutheran Settlement House, Southwark House, Houston Center, Germantown Settlement, Settlement Music School and Friends Neighborhood Guild share their experiences and reflect on how their work has changed and evolved over time. Through archival photographs, personal stories and behind the scenes looks at the production discover how the settlement movement helped shape our nation by focusing on the unique needs of communities and neighborhoods that define our large cities.
Also screening will be the 3 videos from Scribe’s Precious Places Community History Project. Villa African Colobo (2005, 10 min) by Grupo Motivos, an organization of women of Puerto Rican ancestry who have transformed the landscape of North Philadelphia, reveals one of the best kept secrets of North Philadelphia, Norris Square’s first African garden. It is a place where community members gather to learn about their African cultural heritage and celebrate the influence of African culture in Puerto Rico and America through art, dance, music and agriculture.
From the Del to the El: a Neighborhood Evolving (2005, 10 min) by New Kensington CDC tells the story of Fishtown-Kensington’s evolution through the history of four churches in the neighborhood – St. Michael’s Roman Catholic, East Baptist Church, Gallery Church and the Circle of Hope.
And having its neighborhood premiere is Palmer Cemetery: The Heart and History of Fishtown (2007, 12 min) by the Fishtown Neighbors Association. Their video tells the history of Fishtown's Palmer Cemetery, created for the community by the shipbuilder Anthony Palmer in the 1730's. Since most Fishtowners know or are related to someone buried at Palmer Cemetery, it has become the place where everyone in the neighborhood goes to never leave.
In addition to the Philadelphia based films the program will feature Tyger (2006, 4 min) an award winning animated short film from Brazil by Guilherme Marcondes and Recycle (2006, 6 min) a lush visual essay about a street poet who transforms poverty into cultivation in the middle of Echo Park in Los Angeles. Made by Vasco Lucas Nunes and Ondi Timoner, Recycle won Sustainability Award at the 2006 the Media That Matters Film Festival. Click here for more about Recycle.