About this Event
Join us on Friday April 19th at Cherry Street Pier!
We are honored to partner with for the Opening Night of their inaugural environmental film festival—Confluence: Earthly Films for Philadelphia.
This Earth Week, the Academy of Natural Sciences debuts Confluence: Earthly Films for Philadelphia – an environmentally focused film festival in partnership with esteemed Philadelphia-area film organizations, including the BlackStar Projects, Bryn Mawr Film Institute, cinéSPEAK, the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival and the Philadelphia Latino Arts and Film Festival. This year’s weekend-long festival showcases a series of feature, short and documentary films by local, national and international filmmakers whose work raises awareness of water-related environmental justice and climate change issues across the globe. Each program will feature a panel discussion with filmmakers, scientists and advocates, illuminating how community-driven resistance and advocacy efforts help us envision and enact alternatives to the climate crisis. This festival runs Friday April 19 - Sunday April 21 — Check out the full line-up here:
**EVENT FLOW:
—Happy Hour @ 5:30 PM with DJ Junior & Lil Dave of (WKDU) —Drinks and food will be available for sale in a pay-as-you-go capacity
—Film Screening @ 7 PM —featuring Midnight Oil (2020) & Trash & Burn (2024)
—Post-Screening Discussion @ 8 PM with:
- Filmmaker, Bilal Motley
- Zulene Mayfield,
- Alexa Ross,
—
**TICKETS: FREE! Registration is requested.
Guests are welcome to make a donation to support our on-going work.
**ABOUT THE FEATURED ARTIST & FILM PROGRAM —
ABOUT BILAL MOTLEY:
Bilal Motley is a writer, producer, actor, husband, and father from the Greater Philadelphia Area. Bilal's work focuses on environmental issues, and the intersections of class and race.
Learn More About the Featured Artist:
THE FEATURED FILMS:
MIDNIGHT OIL
Director: Bilal Motley / 18 min / English / 2020
For nearly fifteen years, Bilal worked as a steelworker at the area’s largest oil refinery. His
documentary film, Midnight Oil, draws on this experience. The film chronicles his struggle to
reconcile his love and kinship for his distressed refinery brothers and sisters and his growing
awareness of the surrounding communities of color, fighting for environmental justice.
TRASH & BURN
Director: Bilal Motley / 18 min / English / 2024
The film highlights the 30-year struggle led by Zulene Mayfield in Chester, Pennsylvania,
against the United States’ largest trash incinerator. This facility, processing waste from as far
as Canada and Puerto Rico, has deeply affected Chester’s predominantly Black community,
illustrating a severe case of environmental racism.
**ABOUT THE VENUE — Cherry Street Pier
Cherry Street Pier is a year-round, mixed-use public space on the central Delaware River waterfront. Built into the shell of a century-old municipal pier, it is a reflection of Philadelphia today—creative, diverse, historic, adaptable, and inspired.
Accessibility:
Parking/Transportation:
—Parking: The closest parking lots are located at Market Street and Columbus Boulevard. There are other parking lots and street parking along Columbus Boulevard and in nearby Old City.
—Bike: Cherry Street Pier accommodates bike parking with bike ranks located adjacent to the Pier. With the recent completion of the multi-modal Delaware River Trail, it’s easier for riders to connect to even more places along the river.
—Public Transportation: Market Street and the Waterfront are easily accessible by SEPTA bus routes 5, 12, 17, 21, 25, 33, 38, 42, 44, and 48. These are just minutes from Cherry Street Pier. Due to the I-95 CAP construction on Penn’s Landing, select SEPTA bus routes (5, 12, 17, 21, 33, 38, 42, 44) will be rerouted to new start and end locations. The following table, which can be found on SEPTA.com, shows new start and end locations for each route, and the corresponding changes to bus stops. These changes started on January 14 and will remain in effect until further notice. More info can be found here: https://www.cherrystreetpier.com/getting-here/
Learn More: https://www.cherrystreetpier.com/space/
Follow:@CherryStPier
**COVID SAFETY:
This event is located in an open air / covered pier. Masks are welcome but not required. If you are feeling sick, we kindly request that you stay home.
**GOT QUESTIONS?? Hit us up: [email protected]
**ABOUT CINÉSPEAK:
We are a Philadelphia-based cinema organization that engages diverse audiences through our independent, repertory and foreign film programming; creating space and centering the stories of individuals and communities that are often underrepresented in mainstream cinema.
We promote community togetherness and global understanding by engaging film enthusiasts while cultivating the next generation of discerning moviegoers; encouraging people to demand social justice both on-screen and throughout society.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Cherry Street Pier, 121 North Christopher Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, United States
USD 0.00