Secret Cinema: Late Night Morsels (music video screening)

screening: Thursday, August 9th at 8-11p at the Rotunda  |  4014 Walnut St. Philly 19104  |  $free$

WATCH THE FULL 2.5 HR PLAYLIST HERE

☞  music videos are undeniably essential and embody unlimited possibilities artistically, politically and culturally. do you remember when all MTV showed was music videos? we miss those days! they mark time periods and look into the future. they are ultimately meant to be consumable. and who doesn't love a snack? 

☞  join us for a one-night event as we share the best of the best ~ from new to obscure to local talent ~ brought to you by your friendly neighborhood video geeks. we promise you'll be leaving with new inspiration to savor and music to add to your playlist

☜  curated by Eva Wǒ Khristina Acosta & Waqia Abdul-Kareem with contributions from Steph Yin, Cota & Heart Byrne and free popsicles from the lil pop shop

☜  rsvp on facebook  |  therotunda.org

Secret Cinema: Healing and Feeling

Screening: Thursday, April 12th at 8pm at the Rotunda  |  4014 Walnut St. Philly 19104  |  $free$

When was the last time watching something gave you a sense of security and possibility and abundance and openings?

Each of these 7 films makes an intimate investigation into connection, relationship (with oneself and others), love and place. Through DIY, intentional, and care-based filmmaking, witness uniquely honest and moving documentation and storytelling. From fantasy to experimental documentary, this series will make you feel nourished and maybe just a little softer somewhere inside.

The screening will include a brief Q&A with local filmmakers. This free event is guest curated by Eva Wǒas part of the Rotunda's Secret Cinema Series. RSVP on Facebook.

My Sister Swallowed the Zoo
Maya Yu Zhang (Philly 2015)
My Sister Swallowed the Zoo investigates an ordinary phone call between a mother and a daughter. The film explores hope and disappointment, adoption and replacement, freedom, and captivity. 11 minutes.

No Promised Land
BARETEETH & Aiden Un (Philly/Jamaica 2016)
In a Philadelphia outside of time, an intergenerational group collects their tactics for liberation in this somatic and experimental documentary. 20 minutes.

Grounded While Walls Fall
Zein Nakhoda (Philly 2017)
A post-revolutionary archivist recalls practices of resilience and spiritual grounding among their ancestor organizers, cultural workers, and movement builders. Grounded While Walls Fall profiles practices of resilience and spiritual grounding among organizers, cultural workers, and movement builders in Greater Philadelphia. Documentary portraits orbit a central question, “What practices keep you grounded in your work for social change?” to explore spirituality, care of self and community, and inner power at the grassroots. Told from the perspective of a post-revolutionary archivist, the film imagines these practices as seeds of profound transformation planted in a time of transition.

Squirrel Hill Falls
Hilary Brashear (Philly 2018)
Squirrel Hill Falls is a short docu-fiction film about an abandoned park with an identity crisis. It's one part neighborhood history, two parts magic and a dash of a pink haired local who likes to investigate. This film is still a work in progress and question cards will be handed out before the screening. Your feedback is optional but appreciated! 15 minutes

Lucid Noon Sunset Blush
Alli Logout (New Orleans 2015)
17-year-old bb gay Micha has just moved into The Palace - a basement full of queer femme Dominatrix, lovers and misfits. They are beautiful, carefree and as young as the night. This film contains strong language and sexual content. 34 minutes.

Army of Love
Alexa Karolinski & Ingo Niermann (Berlin 2016)
Romantic love is saturated with commoditization. The socialistic premise behind “free love” crumbles when desiring competition gets in the way, and in the age of hook-up apps, the possibility of free sex represents the liberalization, not the liberation, of love. Alexa Karolinski and Ingo Niermann engage these issues with Army of Love (2016), a video campaign introducing a propositional regiment of soldiers diverse in age and appearance and tasked with solving the persistent social malaise of dire loneliness. The docu-fictional video is in part a utopian proposal framed by conversations questioning the basic premises of love and justice. This film contains nudity. 40 minutes.

Who Will Fuck Daddy?
Lasse Långström (Sweden 2017)
A dive deep into the collective subconscious where the man's stinking corpse decomposes into nourishing soil from which we are born again, and rise to the surface with a new feminine way of thinking / feeling and unexpected perversions. This film contains explicit imagery and sexual content - not recommended for children. 60 minutes.