MONDAY 5/11
(FILM) Last year, when I interviewed Heart for our November issue, I asked Ann Wilson what it was like revisiting old footage for the then-forthcoming documentary In My Voice. “Very surreal!” she said. “Recently … I was looking at some slides from my teenage years. It’s so wonderful to see all of those faces again. There were people I could barely recognize now.” Now, the film is making its worldwide debut in Seattle, followed by a Q&A with the queen herself. Directed by multi-hyphenate filmmaker, TV producer, writer, and musician Barbara Hall (who directed Milk and created the CBS drama Madam Secretary), the documentary brings together video, photos, and interviews that chronicle the Wilsons’ beginnings, the formation of Heart, their rise to icon status, and Ann’s life beyond the band. (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN
TUESDAY 5/12
RADIOHEART: The Drive & Times of DJ Kevin Cole
(FILM) Here in Seattle, we tend to take KEXP DJ Kevin Cole for granted. Even though I’ve heard his voice on the air since I was a child, Cole has done almost too good a job at championing artists and public radio, because I knew nothing about his own legacy. RADIOHEART: The Drive & Times of Kevin Cole takes you on his journey from an underqualified disco DJ in 1970s Minneapolis to a beloved fixture of the Seattle music scene, with several surprises along the way, like run-ins with then-up-and-coming musician Prince, and a stint at the then-little-known online bookseller—record scratch—Amazon, where he helped shape digital streaming as we know it. My only critique of the film was that I was left with so many questions about Cole’s relationship with streaming and with Amazon, which felt at odds with his legacy in radio, physical media, and independent music. So, I decided to ask him about it myself—read my interview with Cole here. (SIFF Cinema Uptown, 3:30 pm) AUDREY VANN
WEDNESDAY 5/13
(FILM) One can think of the Cambodian film Becoming Human as having its back to (and heading in the opposite direction of) the famous German film Wings of Desire (1987). The former, directed by Polen Ly, has spirits who guard places (both natural and cultural); the latter, directed by Wim Wenders, has angels who watch the inhabitants of Berlin. A spirit in the former falls in love with a human; an angel in the latter also falls in love with a human. But the Cambodian spirit, Thida (Serak Savorn), who guards the ruins of a cinema house, must leave the world, and as a consequence lose connection with (her moments with) the human who has claimed her phantom heart. The Berlin angel must, instead, enter the human world to connect with his flesh/meat/bones obsession. Both films are political. But the politics in Becoming Human—a film that is, true, slow, but doesn’t contain a moment that’s not powerfully felt—has greater gravity. Though the Cambodian spirit is in appearance a teenager, she is 50 years old. Meaning, she lost her life during the last year (1975) of the Cambodian Civil War. Becoming Human is reflective, melancholy, and must not be missed. (PACCAR IMAX Theater at Pacific Science Center, 8:30 pm) CHARLES MUDEDE
THURSDAY 5/14
Natalie Porter Discusses Girl Gangs, Zines, and Powerslides: A History of Badass Women Skateboarders
(BOOKS) If you look back at the plethora of skateboard videos, books, and magazines that have captured the rise of skateboarding culture through the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, you will see boys. So many boys. Tony Hawk, Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Steve Caballero, Stacy Peralta, Eric Koston. Women were skating, too, of course—Peggy Oki was a member of the Zephyr Competition Team featured in Dogtown and Z-Boys—but history wasn’t focused on their stories. Natalie Porter is here to begin to set the record straight. After establishing the online WomxnSkateHistory archive, she has compiled stories, zines, and photos into her book Girl Gangs, Zines, and Powerslides: A History of Badass Women Skateboarders, to celebrate the women and nonbinary athletes who contributed to the culture from the 1960s through today—Stephanie Massey, Cara-Beth Burnside, Georgina Matthews, and so many more. (Seattle Public Library Central Branch, 4 pm, free) MEGAN SELING
FRIDAY 5/15
Ana Roxanne with Patricia Wolf
(MUSIC) On her new single “Keepsake,” experimental ambient artist Ana Roxanne delivers a dreamy piano ballad that showcases her vocals with angelic clarity. (She’s kind of like a modern-day Sarah McLachlan, without the tearjerking association with ACPCA commercials.) She is coming to Seattle to support her first album in six years, Poem 1, which is a big deal for people like me who have been hooked on her music since her debut EP, ~~~ (pronounced Tilde Tilde Tilde). I hope she plays a few songs from the EP, like “I’m Every Sparkly Woman,” an unrecognizable, meditative cover of the Chaka Khan hit. She will be joined by Portland-based nature-inspired electronic composer Patricia Wolf, whose upcoming album Yarrow chronicles the life cycle of the titular flowering fern-like plant. (Triple Door, 7:30 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN
SATURDAY 5/16
(MUSIC) In 1980, Brian Eno spotted a man playing a zither in Washington Square Park and invited him into the studio. The man was Laraaji, and the result was Ambient 3: Day of Radiance—a shining collection of hypnotic and intense soundscapes (think lengthy, chiming patterns that emerge and dissolve; a bit of an outlier in Eno’s otherwise subtle Ambient series). It’s hard to describe the sound of a zither (a small, harp-like instrument) without using the word “shimmering” over and over, but that’s exactly what it’s doing. Shimmering like sun, shimmering like water, slow-motion shimmering; when amplified, it sounds at once devotional and playful, like Laraaji himself (check out his Laughter Meditation workshops). The celestial-minded visionary revisits the record, alongside selections from his vast and luminous catalog, joined by longtime collaborator and sound healer Arji OceAnanda. Saint Mark’s Cathedral will be filled with immersive, architecturally mapped projections to enhance what will no doubt be a very New Age (complimentary) experience. (Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 8 pm, all ages) EMILY NOKES
SUNDAY 5/17
Timothy White Eagle: Once Wild River
(VISUAL ART) Timothy White Eagle is an icon. Grounded in theater, his work is both an embrace of and a revolt against the forces that shaped him—a queer, mixed-race Indigenous child adopted into a white Mormon family, raised in rural Washington. He’s known for his visual storytelling and visionary theatrical rituals (including performances at On the Boards), but also for founding the community/cabaret space Coffee Messiah and touring with Taylor Mac. Last year, White Eagle was named the inaugural artist for the Green-Duwamish Urban Waters Federal Partnership Artist-in-Residence program, a year-long residency piloted by the EPA. This exhibit marks its culmination, featuring work by collaborators working with White Eagle to read the river, addressing its problematic history and present healing. Participating artists include Adrain Chesser, Laura Wright, Epiphany Couch, Crystal Cortez, and Sarah Kavage. (Mini Mart City Park, 12–5 pm) AMANDA MANITACH
