Please refer to the official websites for events to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information about ticketing, reservations, delays, rescheduling, cancellations, and other guest policies for venues, including relevant COVID-19 requirements. Inclusion in the Philadelphia Monthly Cinema Arts Round-Up does not signify cinéSPEAK’s endorsement of an event or organization’s mission or political affiliations.
This August is teeming with community film events in Philly! Global destination BlackStar Film Festival is back with film premieres, panels, and parties, and Scribe Video Center’s Street Movies! is popping up with free family-friendly short film screenings around the city. You can also catch outdoor screenings this month at Cobbs Creek, Clark Park, the Schuylkill Banks, Fleisher, and Bartram’s Garden.
Support cinéSPEAK Journal-featured local filmmakers at screenings of Food for the Soul, Della Can Fly!, and We Were The Scenery at BlackStar, the new exhibition by Termite TV Collective: Understories, and a screening of Bumpa at Scribe. And make sure to check out the timely documentary The Encampments about activism for Palestinian liberation on college campuses.
Read the full round-up to make the most of the last full month of summer!
Thursday, July 31 – Sunday, August 3, 2025
BlackStar Film Festival
The 2025 BlackStar Film Festival kicked off July 31 and is in full swing the first weekend of August. On Friday, catch the Philadelphia Premiere of Seeds about the decline of generational Black farmers. On Saturday, check out Elegance Bratton’s new documentary Move Ya Body: The Birth of House. Then on Sunday support local filmmakers (including cinéSPEAK’s Kristal Sotomayor and recently-featured Chisom Chieke) at Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab Films Shorts. There are many screenings and events each day; read the full schedule to plan your festival!
Cost: $19.95-$350
Multiple Locations
Friday, August 1, 2025 at 5 PM
Understories: A Termite TV Collective Exhibition Opening Reception
Understories is a bold new exhibition by the Termite TV Collective, Cherry Street Pier studio artists known for their creative, community-driven approach to video and multimedia art. Featuring experimental films and audiovisual installations, this immersive exhibit invites you to see the world through a different lens–one that breaks rules, asks questions, and opens minds. The exhibition will be on display through August 31.
Cost: Free
Cherry Street Pier — 121 North Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Saturday, August 2 – Saturday, August 23, 2025
Scribe Video Center Presents: 2025 Street Movies!
Attend the 28th annual Street Movies!, a film screening and performance series that tours outdoor community spaces across Philadelphia with a program of independent short films from local, national, and international filmmakers, curated in partnership with neighborhood-based organizations. All events are free, family-friendly, and open to the public. cinéSPEAK is co-presenting the Street Movies! screening on Sunday, August 10 at FDR Park. Stay tuned for the lineup drop!
Cost: Free
Multiple Locations
Saturday, August 9, 2025 at 4 PM
PAAFF Storyteller Spotlight: Nathan Ramos-Park & Andrew Ahn
This event is part of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation series Storyteller Spotlight: Intimate Conversations with AANHPI Storytellers Shaping Culture. Join this session for personal stories and creative insights from writer, actor, and producer Nathan Ramos-Park and director and writer Andrew Ahn. This event is co-presented by Queer Asian Social Club, Philly Asian Queer, cinéSPEAK, and K-Town Soju.
Cost: $25-$75
Fitler Club — 24 South 24th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Thursday, August 14, 2025 at 7:30 PM
cinéSPEAK Presents a Cobbs Creek Movie Night: The Wild Robot
This all-ages community film screening is presented in collaboration with Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center and City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s Office. In this 2024 film, after a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island, bonds with the island’s animals, and cares for an orphaned baby goose. Enjoy DJ MYMP3PLAYER at 7:30 and the film at 8:30. Bring your own chairs, blankets, and picnics.
Cost: Free
Cobbs Creek Playground — Cobbs Creek Parkway and Webster Street, Philadelphia, PA 19143
Friday, August 15, 2025 at 7 PM
Scribe Video Center Precious Places Community History Project Premiere
Attend this screening of three new documentaries produced by community groups in collaboration with Scribe Video Center about West Philadelphia High School, The Cure at Simon Gratz High School, and UC Townhomes. 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.
Cost: Free
Scribe Video Center — 3908 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Saturday, August 16, 2025 at 6 PM
Philadelphia Mosaic: Immigrant Film Showcase
This program celebrates and amplifies the voices of Philadelphia’s immigrant communities through screenings and conversations. This will be a majority Spanish-language event with subtitles in English. Films include A Film is a Goodbye That Never Ends directed by Maria Luisa Santos, Room 140 directed by Priscilla Gonzalez Sainz, and Expanding Sanctuary directed by Kristal Sotomayor. Stay for a Q&A with the filmmakers and enjoy free food and drinks.
Cost: Free (donations encouraged)
Fleisher Art Memorial — 719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Friday, August 22, 2025 at 7 PM
Scribe Video Center Storyville: Bumpa by Kayla Naomi Watkins
Attend this screening of Bumpa (a work in progress) by local filmmaker Kayla Naomi Watkins. This documentary explores the Afro-Caribbean dance “whining” alongside the practice of twerking to analyze respectability politics, pressures to accommodate whiteness, and gendered criticism of sexual expression within the Black diaspora.
Cost: $3-$5
Scribe Video Center — 3908 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104
More Events:
Friday, August 1 – Friday, August 22, 2025 at Sundown
University City District Presents: Movies in Clark Park
Cost: Free
Clark Park — 4300 Chester Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The Secret Cinema Presents: 35mm Dreams
Cost: $11.75-$16.25
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 West Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Thursdays, August 7 – August 28, 2025
Movie Nights at the Schuylkill Banks
Cost: Free
Multiple Locations on the Schuylkill Banks
Friday, August 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM
1000 Kates Shorts and Dance Party
Cost: $10-$20
PhilaMOCA — 531 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 7 PM
The Be Reel Micheaux Screening Series Presents: Rush Hour
Cost: $11.75-$16.25
Bryn Mawr Film Institute — 824 West Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Friday, August 15, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Philly Premiere: Boys Go To Jupiter
Cost: $14.52
PhilaMOCA — 531 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Fleisher Summer Camp Movie Night: Addams Family Values
Cost: Free
Fleisher Art Memorial — 719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Friday, August 22 – Sunday, August 24, 2025
12th Annual Playhouse West Film Festival
Cost: $10-$50
Playhouse West: Philadelphia Theater — 1218 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Friday, August 29, 2025 at 6 PM
Bartram’s Garden Community Movie Night: A Minecraft Movie
Cost: Free
Bartram’s Garden — 5400 Lindbergh Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19143
Friday, August 29, 2025 at 7 PM
Scribe Video Center Producers’ Forum: The Encampments by Kei Pritsker & Michael T. Workman
Cost: $4-$8
Scribe Video Center — 3908 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Friday, August 29, 2025 at 8 PM
The Hiway Theater x Girls Like Horror Present: Pet Sematary
Cost: $12-$17
The Hiway Theater — 212 Old York Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046
*Featured Image: Still from We Want the Funk! directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, screening at the 2025 BlackStar Film Festival. Courtesy of BlackStar.
Sophia Abraham-Raveson is the Managing Editor for the cinéSPEAK Journal. In addition to working at cinéSPEAK, Sophia is a licensed social worker in Pennsylvania, a volunteer with the restorative justice group Let’s Circle Up, and a musician and songwriter in her band Charm School Looks.
