Building Momentum
Border Action Network's Second Annual Spring Fundraiser
6 p.m., Saturday, May 14
Hotel Congress
311 E. Congress St.
622-8848;
Jill Nunes, membership and events coordinator at the Border Action Network, said she hopes this weekend's fundraiser helps her organization build on last year's momentum—spurred by SB 1070—in educating people on border issues.
"Our organization, before 1070 last year, hadn't had that kind of recognition in the greater community," Nunes said. "We were already known by the choir, by people who were already involved in doing the work. (Last year's fundraiser) was really our first attempt to reach out to the greater Tucson community, and it just happened to be that 1070 turned out to be a very big issue when we were planning that event."
This year's fundraiser is an all-ages show. Formed in 1999, the Border Action Network works specifically with immigrant and border communities to educate citizens about legislation, and to lobby for their rights.
Outside on the Hotel Congress plaza and patio, performers are slated to include Puppet Muzik; youth group Mariachi Herradura de Tucson, mentored by Ruben Moreno; and a fire dancing troupe, Poi-Zen.
Inside, performers like Rich Hopkins and the Casa Maria Band, and the AmoSphere!, a New Orleans funk R&B group, will be entertaining attendees.
"It's all volunteered, and they are all donating their time to make a contribution to the organization," Nunes said of the performers. There's even a silent auction, with spa days and diamond rings, to bring out crowds for the good cause.
"It allows us to continue the work that we're doing," she continued. "We want to make people informed and more active in their community, because all of these things affect all of us."
A $10 donation is suggested. —J.W.
Duck and Cover!
Cinema Atomico: The Cold War Goes to the Movies!
7 p.m., Wednesday, throughout May
Loft Cinema
3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
795-0844;
As the 25th anniversary of the Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita approached, officials from the museum contacted the Loft Cinema to see if the theater was interested in creating a partnership to mark the anniversary. The result was Cinema Atomico: The Cold War Goes to the Movies!
Cinema Atomico is airing a different Cold War-themed movie each Wednesday this month. The next movie, showing on May 18, is The Atomic Café, a 1982 documentary that depicts how society responded to the atom bomb and the possibility of nuclear war, said Jeff Yanc, program director at the Loft.
"This is a fun, interesting documentary. It's campy, yet scary, in a way," he said. "It shows what the atomic culture was like."
The Loft will show the original Japanese version of Godzilla on May 25. The theater showed Dr. Strangelove and James Bond 007 in Thunderball on May 4 and May 11, respectively.
The series is meant to provoke thought in audience's minds—while at the same time entertaining them. Watching the movies decades after the end of the Cold War shows the absurdities of some views during the Cold War, Yanc said. As an example, Yanc sites the infamous Duck and Cover short film, shown to schoolchildren during the Cold War, in which students are told to duck under their desks during a nuclear strike.
Yanc added that although people can look back with levity, today's world holds similar threats—especially considering the nuclear danger that accompanied the Japanese earthquake/tsunami disaster.
"We like it to be fun and irreverent," he said. "But you can learn a little something while being entertained."
Regular Loft admission prices apply: $9 for adults, with discounts. —S.B.
Movie Magic
I Dream in Widescreen 2011
7 p.m., Saturday, May 14
Fox Tucson Theatre
17 W. Congress St.
624-1515;
Two men, donned in paramilitary attire, struggle on the ground as spaceships launch from the desert.
This is one scene from Jared Potter's thesis project, a 10-minute film called Voyager.
He and a dozen other students wrote, directed, edited and produced their own films as the culmination of their time as undergraduates at the UA School of Theatre, Film and Television—and these thesis projects will show at the Fox Tucson Theatre, sponsored by California-based movie post-production facility FotoKem.
"What makes this year special is that they all have an original take on their work," said Lisanne Skyler, assistant professor at the school and a student-project adviser. "This night of films is fun and entertaining as well as challenging and provocative. The originality of their work and the skills they have in communicating are really special."
Students work from the summer before their senior year through to May to create short film projects, in partnership with film bigwigs at the UA and in the community.
A big fan of special effects, Potter felt compelled to take a gamble on his project.
"It was partly driven by having something unique to offer," Potter said. "I haven't really pulled off, in a big way, what I'd like to do. It was the right opportunity to gamble with it."
Potter said his film has garnered interest from production houses in Los Angeles, as well as a theater in his native Washington state. He said Voyager will be his showpiece while looking for work after graduation.
"I might as well have one big special-effects, visual-effects-intensive movie that I can just hand to people and say, 'I've done everything on this film,'" Potter said.
The event is free. —J.W.
Supporting Little Angels
Spring Circus: FUNdraiser for the Procession of Little Angels
4 to 8 p.m., Saturday, May 14
Valley of the Moon
2544 E. Allen Road
Locals are more familiar with the All Souls Procession—a celebration and mourning of lost loved ones—than they are with the procession's youth counterpart.
It is the Procession of Little Angels—and it needs your help.
The Little Angels are $4,500 in debt following last year's All Souls Procession celebration. The group is trying to offset that debt and build the financial groundwork to keep the Little Angels active in the future.
The first step toward that goal is the Spring Circus.
"We're trying to dispel the idea that (the Procession of Little Angels) just happens," said Jhon Sanders, the fundraiser's producer. "We actually need help and support from the public."
The venue is reflective of the Little Angels' theme of community involvement and keeping children active and learning. Hosted by the Valley of the Moon, the fundraiser will include an interactive circus theme with art, workshops and themes of mortality, Sanders said.
"It's very hands-on," he said. "It gets kids thinking and learning."
Almost 90 years old, the Valley of the Moon contains rock cliffs, pools, caves and garden miniatures.
"It's got this amazing potential as a place of fantasy," Sanders said.
Although the fundraiser will include All Souls Procession themes, the event is not presented as sad or heavy. Rather, it is meant to "stimulate some dialogue with parents," Sanders said. "The energy is different. It's very playful. It's got its own flavor."
Sanders said he is hoping at least 200 people come to the fundraiser.
"It really takes a community to grow and sustain an event like this," he said. "It has a grassroots thrust to it."
Admission is a suggested donation of $6 per adult, or $4 per child; kids 4 and younger are admitted for free. —S.B.
