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Shish [Kabob]
Dinner and a movie, Renegade Craft fair, a hands-on culinary art exhibition, and 1928's Moulin Rouge
I played goalie for our middle school soccer team, the Daisies, which mostly meant staring down the pitch while the forwards had all the fun. One Capri Sun-filled Saturday morning though, a forward on the opposing team broke through and pummeled down the field. My moment of glory had arrived. I turned off my brain, jumped on the ball, and felt my right eye make ferocious contact with the opponent's boot. Getting kicked in the face is a b*tch.
Watch two Mexican heartthrobs try their luck at fútbol fame, eat with your hands, and learn about the role SF’s Chinatown played in birthright citizenship.
KABOB Cinema: Rudo Y Cursi
Category: Film & Culinary
Date: Friday, March 28th @ 7pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: safariiiCAMP (East Bay)
Price Range: $25
Why I Care: Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, the Y Tu Mama También duo, returned to the big screen as aspiring soccer stars in Rudo Y Cursi, a 2008 Mexican comedic sports film that is currently unavailable on most streaming platforms. The screening is part of safariiiCAMP + NEVINfilm’s joint KABOB Cinema series, which includes iftar-friendly Afghan Kabob, rice, and yogurt before the film screening as part of your ticket.
Unlimited chai will be available to counteract kabob coma.
Hands Please: Interactive Exhibition
Category: Art & Culinary
Date: Sunday, March 30th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Four One Nine (SF)
Price Range: Free+ (Donation based)
Why I Care: Cutlery be damned, and hands be celebrated. Hands Please is an interactive exhibition that explores the physicality and spirituality of eating with your hands. Local artist Brandon Ruffin has photographed Bay Area “Chef Muses” such as Reem Assil of Reem’s and Adiam Tsgaye of Mela Bistro as part of this 2-day exhibition at Four One Nine. The show is interactive because each photo series will include a food pairing for attendees, allowing them to participate in a literal hands-on culinary experience.
Wong Kim Ark: Chinatown History & Art Tour
Category: Art
Date: Thursday, March 27th @ 1pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (SF)
Price Range: $15
Why I Care: Wong Kim Ark established birthright citizenship as a fundamental American right. Ark was born in San Francisco but was denied re-entry to the US in 1895 after a trip to China, with border agents citing the Chinese Exclusion Act and his parents’ foreign citizenship as grounds for denial. The case made it to the US Supreme Court, and in 1898 the court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that Ark, and all others born on US soil, are citizens of this country.
Take this walk to remember the hard-earned citizenship rights fought here in San Francisco.
Film Screening: Películas Cubanas
Category: Film & Dance
Date: Wednesday, April 2nd @ 7pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Casa de Carnaval Indigenous Peoples Cultural Arts Healing Center (SF)
Price Range: $15 ($20 at the door)
Why I Care: Películas Cubanas is part of CubaCaribe’s 19th Annual Festival and Music, celebrating Cuban culture across the Bay. The screening is held in conjunction with the Museum of the African Diaspora and will include two documentaries and a short dance film detailing the Haitian origins of Tumba Francesa and the experience of immigration as told through Afro-Cuban dance. The event will take place at the recently opened Indigenous Peoples Cultural Arts Healing Center in the Mission.
Can’t wait until April 2nd for Cuban beats? Take a master dance class or head to the Bissap Baobab afterparty as part of wider festival programming.
Opening Reception: DRAWN
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, March 29th @ 4pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Gallery 120710 (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Regular newsletter readers may recall my childhood love for anime. But you may not know that, to express that love, I once tried my hand at drawing manga characters. If Gallery 120710 is to be believed, that urge to sketch is near-universal: "As young kids, we all want to make our mark." Their DRAWN exhibition at the experimental gallery in Berkeley will feature thirteen artists who found expression in pencil, pen, and paper and have carried the artistic practice into adulthood.
Renegade Craft
Category: Art & Fashion
Date: Sunday, March 30th @ 11am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (SF)
Price Range: Free (suggested $5 entry fee)
Why I Care: Pat yourself on the back for a spring cleaning job well done, then head to Renegade Craft to grab that one very necessary candlestick holder. And maybe a pack of stationery. With over 200 vendors, the fair will be filled with artists, creators, and artisans galore ready to scratch your design itch. Renegade was started for creatives by creatives, which means curation is core to the fair’s ethos.
Trying to avoid new home purchases? Snack on artisan cookies and doughnuts at the fair and return home without a trace.
Moulin Rouge (1928)
Category: Film
Date: Saturday, March 29th @ 7:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum (East Bay)
Price Range: $10
Why I Care: In 2021, my friend Ale and I decided we should meet half-way between Oakland and Redwood City. The result? Iced coffee, shopping, and a trip to the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont. The museum touts Fremont’s role in the burgeoning silent cinema genre of the early 1900s and showcases equipment from the era. The museum regularly screens silent films, but I am partial to the original 1928 Moulin Rouge. It takes me back to Eleanor K’s 6th grade birthday outing to watch Baz Luhrman’s 2001 remake.
I also figured the film was a bit less shock-inducing than museum’s screening of the 1929 Un Chien Andalou. If you haven’t watched, let’s just say I got off easy with my middle school soccer black eye.
Next Drop: Thursday, April 3rd