Scribe Video Center

Please join us for a screening of The Five Demands with Andrea Weiss and Greta Schiller.The Five Demands By Andrea Weiss and Greta Schiller (USA, 2023, 74 minutes)In April 1969, a small group of Black and Puerto Rican students shut down the City College of New York, an elite public university located right in the heart of Harlem. Through archival footage and present-day interviews, The Five Demands is the riveting story of a student strike fueled by the revolutionary fervor sweeping the United States at the time. The strike soon turned into an uprising, leading to an extended campus occupation,

Please join us for a screening of Virtually Free by André Robert Lee preceded by the short film, Fight until We Decay by Ami GlazerVirtually Free (USA, 2020, 40 minutes) by André Robert LeeThis film follows three teens: Sid, Taee, and AR currently being held in a Richmond, VA detention center who are offered the chance to become activists speaking truth to power. Virtually Free is a documentary about unlikely allies who partner to transform the juvenile justice system and stop mass incarceration.André Robert Lee is a filmmaker and educator with experience teaching writing at The Wharton School of the University

What is the history of your neighborhood?Precious Places Community History Project PremiereJoin us at Scribe for the premiere screening of three new documentaries produced by community groups in collaboration with Scribe Video Center. The works include documentaries on West Philadelphia High School (West Philadelphia), The Cure at Simon Gratz High School (Hunting Park), and UC Townhomes (West Philadelphia).Scribe Video Center’s Precious Places program is a regional community history project created to document the spaces that hold the memories of our communities and define where we live. Precious Places teaches the video production process to participating groups, fostering projects authored by

Join us for the screening of the two Color Congress curated collections entitled "Reclaiming Identity" and "Reclaiming Power."The Resistance & Joy Screening Tour is a bold new initiative presenting a powerful slate of twelve short documentaries, all directed by filmmakers of color. These films explore urgent and deeply personal themes, from LGBTQ+ rights and intergenerational healing to advocacy, cultural preservation, and the resilience of communities reclaiming spaces.Reclaiming Identity: Stories of LGBTQ+ love and resilience, intergenerational healing, and communities reclaiming their spaces. These films center on personal and collective journeys of self-discovery, healing, and belonging. Through intergenerational storytelling, bold artistic expression,

Please join us for a Storyville screening of "Standing Up for Madinah" by Zainab SultanStand Up for Madinah by Zainab Sultan (USA, 2024, 25 minutes)This story follows Madinah Wilson-Anton, an African American woman elected as Delaware’s first elected Muslim State Representative. She opposes U.S. support for Israel and fights to pass a ceasefire resolution. Members of her own Democratic party threaten to censure her over her outspoken pro-Palestinian stance, and she faces abuse and trolling online. Despite this, Wilson-Anton persevered and introduced a resolution in the Delaware House calling for a permanent end to Israel’s war on Gaza. She advocates

Please join us for these three day of screening events featuring the films of Yoruba RichenYoruba Richen is a prolific Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker whose body of work illuminates issues of race, space, and power and elevates the voices and stories that have historically been marginalized. Her films have been featured on multiple outlets, including Netflix, MSNBC, FX/Hulu, HBO, Peacock, and PBS. She is Founder of the production company, Promised Land Film, and is the Founding Director of the Documentary Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.This Body of Work will showcase two evenings highlighting Yoruba’s

Please join us for a Producers' Forum screening of the People's Way with Ashley Tyner and William TynerThe People’s Way by Ashley Tyner and William Tyner (USA, 2025, 75 minutes)At the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, three community organizers—Jeanelle Austin, Toshira Garraway, and Robin Wonsley— embark on various and interweaving journeys after George Floyd’s murder to care for their communities, find inner healing, and forge a path towards Black liberation. Each one does this in their own way, whether demanding accountability for the murder of a community member by police, building a community-centered approach to

Please join us for a Producers Forum screening featuring Dawn Logsdon and Lucie FaulknorFree for All: The Public Library by Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor (USA, 2025, 85 minutes) Free For All: The Public Library chronicles the more than a century long evolution of the nation’s public libraries, tracing the battles over who can enter, what belongs there, and who makes these decisions, while exploring how public commons are defined and defended. The film examines historical elements such as the central role of women, the institution’s role in cultural movements such as the Harlem Renaissance as well as current struggles

Filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist Thomas Allen Harris’ body of work is being honored at the Scribe Video Center.Since the mid-1980s, multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker, Thomas Allen Harris Jr (Tahj), has used a wide range of media including video, photography, installations, film, and performance to examine the nuances of Black and queer identity and subjectivity, particularly within the construction of the diaspora and the family model.Harris has been developing a co-creative and socially engaged practice that re-interprets identity, autobiography, and representation in the digital archive. For over three decades, by interweaving personal biographical material, Harris illuminates the notion of family through

Join us for the work in progress screening of Brittany Shyne's directorial debut, "SEEDS."Scribe Video Center will be screening SEEDS (USA, work in progress).SEEDS is a portrait of centennial farmers in the geographical south. Using lyrical black and white imagery, this meditative film examines the decline of generational black farmers and the significance of owning land.Brittany Shyne is an independent filmmaker based in Dayton, Ohio. Working in the narrative and non-fiction art form, her work seeks to depict the complexity of everyday life by examining themes such as personal histories, alienation, and cultural modernization. Utilizing observational techniques and poetic language,

Please join us for our annual holiday/winter party!Join us for a Scribe tradition to celebrate the end of year holidays and gather together as we prepare for a return of light. We will have food, drinks, games, live music, and dancing.Feeling festive? Consider donating a toy to the toy drive or becoming a member at scribe.org/annual-appeal.

Each person at Pennhurst had a File. Each person at Pennhurst had a Life.File/Life is a community-led exploration of the Pennhurst archives produced by the Insitute on Disabilities, Temple University, CEHD. Seven archivists (all people with disabilities and/or family members) share stories from the archives that made them listen, feel, imagine, and remember. In doing so, they ask the question: Can a file ever contain a life? Stories are told through a variety of mediums, including short films of varying artistic styles, that together create an hour-long, deeply personal, visual, and aural exploration of the archives.The film is a co-creation

Join WURD hosts Joann Bell and Dr. James Peterson for a live broadcast at Scribe Video Center.Special Broadcast: WURD on Democracy with Joann Bell & Dr. James Peterson – Oct 29!WURD on Democracy is bringing you a special broadcast this October 29, from 5PM to 7PM, hosted by Joann Bell and Dr. James Peterson, live from Scribe Video Center, 3908 Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia. We’ll be discussing the importance of your vote in shaping the future as Election Day approaches. Tune in to get insights on voter power and how we can make a difference in 2024. Don’t miss this

Please join us for the screening of "Bitter Cane" followed by a post screening discussion with DeeDee Halleck.An award-winning documentary about the colonial exploitation of the Haitian people, Bitter Cane was filmed secretly by a collective of Haitian and American filmmakers—many part of the Mouvement Haitien de Libération, an underground revolutionary organization—during the dictatorship of Jean-Claude (“Baby Doc”) Duvalier. The film’s deep insights into the exploitation and foreign domination of the Haitian people remain all too relevant today.After BITTER CANE was filmed in Haiti – clandestinely during the regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier – the director was identified as “Jacques Arcelin.”

Scribe Video Center and Jewish Currents present a 20th-anniversary screening of Young Jewish And LeftTwenty years ago, ​​Michael Chameides and Irit Reinheimer traveled across the U.S. and interviewed over 50 Jews who identify as anarchists, leftists, radicals, communists, or socialists. They were looking for a Jewish culture that coincided with their values. Scribe Video Center and Jewish Currents present a 20th-anniversary screening of Young Jewish And Left, a 55-minute documentary that weaves interviews and experimental filmmaking to build a conversation about queer culture, Jewish Arab history, secular Yiddishkeit, anti-racist analysis, and religious/spiritual traditions into a multi-layered portrait of Leftist Jewish

Please join us for a three-day screening event featuring Jean Marie Téno

Please join us for a three-day screening event featuring Jean Marie Téno

Please join us for a three-day screening event featuring Jean Marie Téno

Visiting form Brazil, filmmaker Diosmar Filho will be in-person at Scribe Video Center to screen and discuss Terras Que LibertamJoin us for a screening of the documentary film "Lands That Release: Stories of the Cupertinos" co-sponsored by the Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements & Population Health Equity at Drexel University. The screening will be followed by a conversation about land-based resistance struggles in Brazil with Diosmar Filho, co-director and producer of the film, and Dr. Ashley Gripper, faculty at the Ubuntu Center.About the FilmLands That Release/Terras Que Libertam documents the trajectory of the Black Quilombola population living in Chapada