No Thanks
Not everybody is into Thanksgiving, and that’s perfectly understandable—particularly for the Native people of North America. It’s safe to say that the folks at the Larry Casuse Freedom Center (named after a UNM student who kidnapped notorious Gallup mayor/liquor store owner Emmett Garcia back in 1973) won’t be celebrating the holiday with turkey and cranberry sauce. Other non-celebrants are invited to the center’s annual “No Thanks No Giving” event on Thursday, November 25. As part of a national solidarity campaign across Turtle Island (that would be North America), the Red Nation will host two showings of “The War on Cuba” (Season 2, episode 4 through 6) by Belly of The Beast Cuba. “The War on Cuba” is an award-winning documentary series executive-produced by Oliver Stone and Danny Glover that takes an in-depth look at the economic war waged by the Trump administration on the Cuban people. The first showing is at 5pm. The second showing is at 6:30pm. Larry Casuse Freedom Center is located at 1421 Central Ave. NE.
Mapping Media
Venerable local arts organization Basement Films returns with a curated short film program on Saturday, Nov. 27. Video Experiments in Perception is presented in conjunction with 516 ARTS and the Downtown contemporary art gallery’s current exhibit on “Counter Mapping,” which focuses on the geography, identity, politics and environment of map-based artwork. This one-hour screening features nine short films by national and international filmmakers who “use the camera to explore different perspectives on maps.” These films “engage humor, politics, lyrical journaling, and invite the audience to perceive spaces differently.” The program is all set to be introduced by Bryan Konesfsky, Basement Films director, and Viola Arduini, 516 exhibition co-curator. It all goes down this Saturday at Guild Cinema (3405 Central Ave. NE) from 1 to 2:30pm. For more info go to 516arts.org.
Cinefilias Concludes
The National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Nuevas Cinefilias, Estaciones Singulares film series, focusing on four recent Spanish films that “innovate, take risks and play with contemporary structure and narratives,” concludes this Friday, Nov. 26 with the 2019 film La Reina de los Lagartos (Queen of the Lizards). In this surrealist sci-fi romance, the filmmaking duo known as Burnin’ Percebes (Fernando Martínez and Juan González) introduce audiences to Berta and Javi, a couple who are saying goodbye after a summer romance. However, the spaceship that was supposed to pick up Javi, the prince of an alien race of lizards, never comes to take him away. Can Berta now face her greatest fear: commitment to a relationship? The film is presented in Spanish with English subtitles. Starting at noon on Nov. 26, the film is available for viewing on the Instituto Cervantes Vimeo channel (vimeo.com/channels/institutocervantes). The film is free and available for 48 hours.