Tertulia: Immigrants' Own Documentaries

Fri., June 25, 7 p.m., $5, Raíces Culturales Latinoamericanas, 2757 N. Fifth St., 215-425-1390, raicesculturales.org.

by Lauren Macaluso

[ true life: i'm an immigrant ]

We can document just about anything — friends falling down stairs, babies eating lemons, pandas sneezing. JUNTOS, a nonprofit that represents Latino immigrants in Philadelphia, had a more serious agenda in providing students at Furness High School with cameras to film documentaries as part of their Our City, Our Voices Project. "A lot of the movies deal with the experience of being an immigrant in the United States and also cultural-tradition preservation," says Zac Steele, JUNTOS community organizer. The docs debut at the monthly Tertulia celebration, which consists of an open mic and is used as an outlet for creative expression. All this crazy talk of strict immigration laws in Pennsylvania hasn't quieted Latino Philadelphia. Take that, State Rep. Metcalfe!