Andrew’s Video Vault at the Rotunda 2015

 FREE Screenings Continuous From 8 PMon the Second THURSDAY of Every Month!

This program is made possible through the generous support of theCinema Studies Program and The Rotunda at the University of Pennsylvania. August 13TIE XI QU: WEST OF TRACKS: PART ONE: RUST (2003 / 240 minutes) In part one of his three-part, nine hour documentary, Wang Bing hypnotically charts post-industrial decay and its effects on impoverished workers who live in northeast China. [Tie Xi Qu: West of Tracks part two, Remnants, and part three, Rails, will screen at subsequent seasons of Andrew’s Video Vault at the Rotunda.] September 10TO BE ANNOUNCEDGuest Host and Curator: Dan Buskirk of Phawker.com October 8THE INNOCENTS (1961 / 100 minutes) Perhaps the most beautifully photographed black & white horror film ever made, this suspenseful masterwork of Gothic atmosphere is an exquisite adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw featuring gripping performances by adult and child actors alike. An unforgettable tour-de-force of supernatural terror and psychological repression.THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943 / 71 minutes) The sense of dread is palpable in this moody and nightmarish tale of urban devil worship from producer Val Lewton. Kim Hunter stars (in her debut performance) as a young woman searching for her missing sister on the menacing streets of 1940′s New York City, with plenty of striking chiaroscuro lighting.Guest Host and Curator: Mike Zaleski November 12MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1937 / 91 minutes) Heart-rending in its truth and emotional beauty, Leo McCarey’s masterpiece and most personal film was created both as a love letter to his recently deceased father and as an exposé of what can happen to elderly Americans without the support of Social Security (or their children). Orson Welles said of the film: “It would make a stone cry.”EVERYBODY’S FINE [STANNO TUTTI BENE] (1990 / 118 minutes) Marcello Mastroianni gives one of his best performances as an elderly widower who traverses Italy to visit his distant offspring, each of whom had given him an impression of their life which turns out to be very different from the actuality. A powerful and beautiful rumination on the relationship between elderly parents and their adult children.Guest Host and Curator: Mike Zaleski December 10PERMISSIVE (1970 / 90 min) At the end of the hippie era, a broke young woman arrives in London and is initiated into the counter-culture and the seedy sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll lifestyle of a groupie. Psychedelic soundtrack by Comus and Forever More.

DUFFER (1971 / 75 minutes) Joseph Despins and William Dumaresq’s off-beat and lyrical character study of a British teenage boy shuttlecocking between a sadistic old man and motherly prostitute.

 FREE Screenings Continuous From 8 PMon the Second THURSDAY of Every Month!

This program is made possible through the generous support of theCinema Studies Program and The Rotunda at the University of Pennsylvania.

Media showcase featuring local and independent media. 

Come out and mingle with fellow media makers, lovers of cinema, music and quality art.

Featured Artists:

Javonna Hines (StarZombie Films)

Floyd Marshall Jr. 

Mike Pender 

Sounds by DJ 92

Hosted by Kam

Vendors

Visual Media, Music, Food

Admission is $5

Sankofa Community Empowerment 

presents 

BLACK AUGUST

Join Sankofa Community Empowerment, Philadelphia for a screening of Black August by director dream hampton. Black August chronicles the plight of political prisoners, the Black Power movement and how hip hop can be used as a vehicle for bridging the gap between radical legacies past and present. 

The screening will be followed by an audience dialogue with members of MXGM Philadelphia. 

 Doors open at 6pm, screening begins at 6:30pm.

Admission is FREE 

Clavius Productions presents a vital local showcase and a sort-of-record-release party for the new phenomenal 500mg LP:

Julius Masri & Scott Verrastro Duo (percussion overload from the drummers of Night Raids and Kohoutek)

500mg (Michael Gibbons of Bardo Pond, solo guitar emanations)

Jeff Zeigler (solo synth/guitar)

Julius Masri & Scott Verrastro DuoJulius Masri, born in Lebanon, started playing music state side in the early 90s. He attended Bard College where he studied composition with Joan Tower, percussion with Thurman Barker (AACM), and experimental sonic improvisation with Richard Teitelbaum (MEV). Aside from focusing on trap set and circuit bent electronics, Julius stays up late at night worrying about the gray space between the immediate transcending experience of sonic phenomenon, the immediate aural complacency when confronting idiomatic music, and the attempt to reconcile both worlds in the most uncomfortable fashion possible. Julius has worked with diverse groups and musicians such as Electric Simcha, Superlith, Kier Neugringer, and the Mahogany Stompers. He also has worked with dancers Greg Holt, Christina Gesualdi, and Curt Haworth. Percussionist Scott Verrastro utilizes a plethora of sticks, brushes, bells, shakers, cymbals and gongs, bowed metal, contact mics, and household items -- in addition to a traditional drum kit -- to coax a wide palette of sounds. Verrastro received a degree in music literature from Northeastern University in Boston and continues to examine many forms of music, including all styles of improvisation and traditional folk. His main percussion influences are Milford Graves, Rashied and Muhammed Ali, Sunny Murray, Han Bennink, Jaki Liebezeit, Tony Oxley, and Bill Bruford and Jamie Muir circa King Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspic. His improv psych band Kohoutek explores all of this territory, veering from drony Krautrock-inspired psych to abstract noise freak-outs and everything in between. Other projects include Curanderos (with members of Bardo Pond), Kuschty Rye Ergot (with John Stanton), Thee Ultimate Vag (with Chris Grier), and a percussion duo with Nathan Bowles (Steve Gunn/Pelt/Black Twigs). Past and present collaborations include Damo Suzuki, Marshall Allen, Peter Brotzmann, Jandek, Gibby Haynes, Elliott Levin, Paul Flaherty, Khan Jamal, George Kinney (of Golden Dawn), Richard Pinhas (of Heldon), Mike Tamburo, Rat Bastard, Kenny Millions, Little Howlin' Wolf, John Dikeman, Anthony Pirog and many more.

500mg500mg is Michael Gibbons of monolithic sounds-great-on-any-substance Bardo Pond. With a name inspired by modern-day shaman Terrence McKenna, 500mg represents the essential “heroic dose” of the lysergic. Let’s just say that at this prescription level, only prolific perception-changing experiences can occur. For Gibbons, his 500mg moniker is a metaphor for the power that music can conjure for a similar (if not higher) elevation of experience. The music of 500mg primarily features guitar, all facets. Electric vibrations, acoustic treatments, straight and experimental approaches, and of course feedback are all just par for the course. Other instrumentation and items thrown onto the 500mg canvas include synthesizer, percussion, and modern sampling. Occasional voices can also be heard if you knock closely. With diverse influences ranging from Popol Vuh, Alvarius B and Sir Richard Bishop to Earth, Jack Rose, and Skullflower, 500mg is definitely a well-blended trove of peyote treasure. By Gibbons also heavily channeling his own inner Fripp ‘N Eno, 500mg in its purest form is essentially stripped-down American kosmische folk raga, if you can even call it that. It’s fuzzed buzzed blissed goodness for all ears. With full-lengths previously released on Galactic Dossier/Eclipse Records and Three Lobed as well as a few EPs too, “To The Firmament” on Drawing Room represents 500mg’s newest album, and it showcases Gibbons at his optimal apex.

Unlike his previous and primarily acoustic guitar affairs, Gibbons' latest album showcases a higher level of experimentation and varied sounds and techniques. Samples of viola, cello, trumpets, and other various sound forms are incorporated in the well-established 500mg guitar-based framework. Voices (and not just the ones in your psyche) can also be heard, even prominently on two tracks, one being Gibbons' take on the Stones’ “Sister Morphine.” Programmed and sequenced as two suites, “To The Firmament” takes the listener on a cinematically dreamlike stated journey. Through the album’s use of spoken-word, sub-conscious visions may appear real upon multiple listens. All of this, of course, is quite heavy.

Jeff ZeiglerJeff Zeigler is a Philadelphia-based musician, engineer and producer, who, in addition to playing in the band Arc in Round, and in a synthesizer and harp duo with harpist Mary Lattimore, plays solo on a mixture of electronics and textural guitar. Equal parts hypnotic and abrasive, he has previously shared the stage with Hans-Joakim Roedelius, Phil Niblock, White Magic and more.

Admission is FREE; donations encouraged. 

PLEASE NOTE! THIS EVENT IS NOT AT THE ROTUNDA! IT IS OUTDOORS, ONE BLOCK AWAY AT THE 40TH STREET FIELD, 40TH ST BETWEEN WALNUT AND LOCUST!

The 40th Street Summer Series

May 30 •  July 25 • August 29 • September 19 (rescheduled from June 27) • October 3 (rescheduled from September 26)

The 40th Street Summer Series—co-produced by University City District, Penn, and The Rotunda—will once again enliven the green area behind the Walnut Street Library at 40th Street with monthly performances and free family events. This year the programming will run from May-October.

In the past the Summer Series has featured internationally-acclaimed acts such as the Millennial Territory Orchestra, Man Man, and the Sun Ra Arkestra— to play free outdoor concerts that capture the soul of the neighborhood. This year, the schedule will expand to include dance, live theater, music, and a few surprises. The Summer Series brings business during the typically slow summer months by increasing patronage at nearby retailers and building upon the existing vibrancy of 40th Street, while providing entertaining, enriching and safe outlets for families, visitors and students. The complete lineup will be announced soon. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 at 6pm

Sun Ra Arkestra w/ openers South Pacific Island Dancers

On Saturday, August 29 the Sun Ra Arkestra will return to the 40th Street Summer Series with a very special hometown performance. This acclaimed big band demonstrates the unrivalled expertise, joy and passion that have been the foundation for their musical journeys since Sun Ra founded the Arkestra in the mid-1950s. They will be joined by the South Pacific Island Dancers as openers. 

Plus!Juggling & tight wire with Give and Take JugglersFire dancersFace PainterBalloon artistFREE Ben & Jerry’s and Philly Pretzels while supplies last!

- See more at: http://www.universitycity.org/40th-street-summer-series

Admission is FREE • RAIN OR SHINE

This is the oldest small press festival Philly has to offer! Join us for radical, informative, and even humorous publications from the hearts of independent minds! Join us for Philly Zine Fest 2015!

more info TBA

Admission is FREE

Sankofa Community Empowerment, Philadelphia invites you to come watch a FREE screening of THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE, a documentary from award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, that tells the story of the five Black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. The film chronicles the controversial Central Park Jogger case, for the first time from the perspective of these five teenagers whose lives were upended by this immense miscarriage of justice.

This film touches on everything from mass incarceration, to the criminalization of youth of color. 

Doors will open at 6:00PM, film begins by 6:30PM.

We will have a brief community talkback at the end of the film.