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[Independent] Woman
San Francisco Independent Film Festival, a Rockridge vintage market, a rare book fair honoring Jane Austen, and LNY celebrations
I don’t know how one concludes that fourth graders should write and then perform an opera. True sadism is knowing that every one of those 4th graders’ parents will have to sit and clap through the performance. But as a writer during my own fourth grade production, I largely remember the bottomless snacks and countless notepads. They got us through many afternoons as we scripted a dramatic but meandering narrative—there was something about adoption?—that concluded that friendship really is the best! May the VHS be lost to history.
Learn about how real screenwriters bring their works to life, reflect on female incarceration through dance, and enjoy a rare book fair with a view of Golden Gate bridge.
San Francisco Independent Film Festival: Screenwriter Panel
Category: Film
Date: Saturday, February 8th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Manny’s (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: My understanding of the writer’s room is derived from 30 Rock, though I imagine that the real-life version includes fewer pearls of Jenna Maroney's wisdom. Writers Anthony Lucero, Miyoni Nelson, and JP Allen will share the journey of going from idea to blank screen to slightly-less-blank screen to coffee break to damn-this-screen-is-still-pretty-blank to final script. Check out the full SF IndieFest schedule to catch those scripts on the silver screen.
A special shoutout to my blockmate, screenwriter, and first paid subscriber Kevin, who against all our college expectations has managed to actually use his college degree: Folklore and Mythology.
If I Give You My Sorrows: Women Exposing Prison through Dance
Category: Dance & Art
Date: Friday, January 31st @ 6pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: YBCA Forum (SF)
Price Range: $40 (exhibition + performance)
Why I Care: Tracey Emin isn’t the only artist who has something to say about her bed. “If I Give You My Sorrows” is a performance and art exhibition exploring the relationship with the prison bed for eight formerly and currently incarcerated women. Friday’s event will include an opening reception prior to the 8pm dance performance, allowing visitors to explore the exhibition halls.
Unable to join Friday? See schedule for Saturday and Sunday performances.
Lunar New Year x Black History Month Community Celebration
Category: Music & Dance
Date: Saturday, February 1st @ 11am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Oakland Asian Cultural Center (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: All the partying to all the people. This community celebration leverages the Captain Planet mantra of “our powers combined” to combine Lunar New Year and Black History Month into one magnified celebration. The event is part of the cultural center’s Open E.A.R.S. for Change initiative, where “E.A.R.S.” stands for Engage. Activate. Rise-up. Series. Programming will include appearances by Dimensions Dance Theater, Voices Of A Dream, Filipino Martial Arts, and a smattering of other local organizations.
Keep the party going the next Saturday at OMCA’s Lunar New Year party on the 8th.
The Wardrobe Project Flea
Category: Fashion
Date: Saturday, February 8th @ 10am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Rockridge BART parking lot (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Vintage is my love language - something The Wardrobe Project owners Jon Jon and Talia can relate. Their sartorial meet-cute took place at a Berkeley thrift store and led to them opening vintage store The Wardrobe Project. The flea market is a celebration of their shared passion and will include vintage clothing, jewelry, furniture, and makers of tooth gems, flash tats, and other local artistry. Continue the glam down the street at Mercy Vintage for their Glitter Up fine jewelry market from 11am-6pm.
Also: a moment of appreciation for the market distinguishing between vintage and Y2K clothing; I plan on riding out that fading line into the sunset.
Opening Reception: Old Friends
Category: Art
Date: Sunday, February 2nd @ 5pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Adobe Books & Arts Cooperative (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: I find it mind-blowing that I’ve known my adult friends for practically a decade and my elementary school friends for…. well, moving on. Photographer Andrew McKinley loves his friends, and even more so, he loves his Adobe Book community. This photo exhibition is a labor of time and care that document the souls that wander into this cozy book nook and captures their spirits on the bookshop walls.
So make new friends, keep the old, and bring them all to Adobe on Sunday.
Pop-up Performance: Lyla June
Category: Music
Date: Thursday, January 30th @ 6:45pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Oakland Museum of California (East Bay)
Price Range: $19 (museum admission)
Why I Care: According to Diné tradition, music is healing, making musicians healers. Diné, Tsétsêhéstâhese performer Lyla June found her voice through poetry and public readings at age 10 and spent her teenage years traveling to perform spoken word. Music helped her stand again when she had spiritually fallen, and June has embraced her indigenous roots in creating rhythms that speak to the soul.
Find a more corporeal nourishment at OMCA’s Town Fare Café as part of their wider Thursday After Hours programming.
Rare Books San Francisco Fair
Category: Literary
Date: Sunday, February 2nd @ 11am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (SF)
Price Range: $15+
Why I Care: Happy 250th birthday, Jane Austen! You don’t look a day over 105, but luckily for the rare books on display, aging is the name of the game. The fair includes antiquarian books, prints, and rare maps alongside a collection of contemporary works brought together by San Francisco Zine Fest. Beyond the browsing, the fair is holding a talk with printmaker and book artist Richard Wagener to hear more about his artistic process.
Because, in the words of a wise 7 year old that declined an iPad, “I kind of like holding a book.”
Next Drop: Monday, February 10th
A special thank you to everyone that made our East Bay Art Crawl such a vibrant and joy-filled day. Cheers to the friendships both new and old that blossomed on our Downtown Oakland journey.
