The SouthSide Film Festival will kick off this year with the classic silent film, Metropolis, at 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 16 at Packer Memorial Church, 18 University Drive, Bethlehem, Pa., on the Lehigh University campus.
This one-of-a kind premiere event will be preceded by an Opening Night Party from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Home and Planet, 25 E. 3rd Street in Bethlehem, followed by a procession to Packer Memorial Church led by the City of Bethlehem Bagpipe Band featuring Pipe Major James B. Ruhf.
The Opening Night Party is open to the public and features the gallery opening of "The Green Side of MaGiK," by internationally known animator and illustrator Maciek Albrecht and photographer Elli Albrecht. There will also be a live DJ and catering by Events by Beth Pritch.
SONGS INSIDE THE BOX FILM BRINGS THE CIGAR BOX REVOLUTION TO THE LEHIGH VALLEY
Songs Inside the Box, a documentary about cigar box guitars by Max Shores, will be shown during the SouthSide Film Festival at 7 p.m. Friday, June 19, and 7:15 p.m. Saturday, June 20 at Victory Firehouse, 205 Webster Street, Bethlehem, Pa.
Did you know?
Jimi Hendrix learned to play on a cigar box guitar.
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top plays a cigar box guitar.
"The King of the Cigar Box Guitar" lives in York, Pa., and is coming to play the SouthSide Film Festival on Friday, June 19.
A cigar box guitar is a handmade string instrument that uses an empty cigar box as its resonator. The resurgence in do-it-yourself guitars has been spreading throughout the world, thanks in part to sites such aswww.cigarboxnation.com. Rockabilly, blues, bluegrass, country, and rock-n-roll all sound fresh and new on the primitive cigar box guitar.
A concert and jam session featuring Shane Speal, "The King of the Cigar Box Guitar," and friends, will be held at 9 p.m. Friday, June 19 at Wildflower Café, 316 S. New Street, Bethlehem.
Local cigar box guitar enthusiast Brian Tallarico recommended this film to the festival, and will show a gallery of cigar box guitars from June 16 through June 20 in Tallarico's Chocolates, 26 E. 3rd Street, Bethlehem.
For more information about Songs Inside the Box, seewww.songsinsidethebox.com.
For more information about Shane Speal, see www.cigarboxnation.com/profile/ShaneSpeal.
ORTHODOX STANCE FILMMAKER AND SUBJECT TO APPEAR AT SOUTHSIDE FILM FESTIVAL IN BETHLEHEM
Orthodox Stance,a film about Dmitriy Salita, Russian immigrant, professional boxer, and religious Jew, will be shown during the SouthSide Film Festival at 9 p.m. Thursday, June 18, and 9 p.m. Saturday, June 20 at Victory Firehouse, 205 Webster Street, Bethlehem, Pa.
Salita and filmmaker Jason Hutt will attend the Thursday, June 18 screening. The movie takes a look at the seemingly incompatible cultures and people working together to support Salita's devotion to both Orthodox Judaism and the pursuit of a professional boxing title.
Salita strictly follows Jewish lawif he has a fight on a Saturday, it must begin after sundown, the end of the Sabbath. As he says, "Anyone who wants a good whuppin' from me is just going to have to wait until sundown."
Jason Pribila, a boxing aficionado and sportswriter for www.secondsout.com , heard about Salita and this film and brought it to the attention of the SouthSide Film Festival who were inspired enough by Orthodox Stance to include it in this year's festival.
And the movie is not just for boxing fans. New York Magazine wrote, "[This] slow-burning documentary chronicles the fascinating career of Dmitriy Salita, an endearingly humble Ukrainian-born Brooklynite who struggles to maintain his faith as an Orthodox Jew while swiftly rising to the top of the professional boxing circuit."
For more information about Orthodox Stance, see www.orthodoxstance.com.
For more information about Dmitriy Salita, see www.dsalita.com.
