Salem Massachusetts Events Calendar

February 2, 11:00 am,replays on 2/4 at 11 am & 2/5 at 5 pm

Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Kennedy School, Harvard University
“What World Leaders Keep Forgetting About World Politics”

February 9, 11:00 am,replays on 2/11 at 11 am & 2/12 at 5 pm

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Director of the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) and Professor in the Department of Earth & Environment
“Climate Change – What are Our Sustainable Choices?”

February 16, 11:00 am,replays on 2/18 at 11 am & 2/19 at 5 pm

Yuhua Wang, Professor of Government, Harvard University
“Has US Engagement with China Failed?”

February 23, 11:00 am,replays on 2/25 at 11 am & 2/26 at 5 pm

Sung-Yoon Lee, Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies and Assistant Professor, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
“Kim Jong Un’s Growing Nuclear Threat”

March 2, 11:00 am,replays on 3/4 at 11 am & 3/5 at 5 pm

Thomas M. Nichols, Staff Writer at The Atlantic, Professor Emeritus, Security Affairs, U.S. Naval War College
“The Global Threat to Democracy”

March 9, 11:00 am,replays on 3/11 at 11 am & 3/12 at 5 pm

Susan Eva Eckstein, Professor, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University
“The Making of Immigrant Inequality in America: The Privileging of Cubans”

March 16, 11:00 am,replays on 3/18 at 11 am & 3/19 at 5 pm

Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director, Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
“Partnering for Democracy: How Each of Us Can Help to Secure a Healthy 21st Century Democracy”

March 23, 11:00 am,replays on 3/25 at 11 am & 3/26 at 5 pm

Geoffrey Kemp, Director, Regional Security Programs, Center for the National Interest, Washington, D. C.
“America and New Threats in the Middle East”

Meet visiting filmmakers and friends on Opening Night for light bites from Bambolina and brews from Ipswich Ale Brewery. Enjoy tunes by Dr. DK.
FREE ADMISSION.

Meet visiting filmmakers and friends on Opening Night of the Salem Film Festival on March 23rd at Old Town Hall! This event is free and there will be light bites from Bambolina and enjoy tunes by Dr. DK. Enjoy this fun kick-off to the Salem Film Fest

Come by American Flatbread for an evening of great food, great music, and great vibes! With an everchanging schedule of musicians you are sure to connect with the local talent that we have every week.

The best open mic in the World, on the North Shore, in Salem! Come join the fun every Thursday night! Anything and everything are welcome. Sing, Dance, Hum, Orate, or simply witness the beautiful chaos that is the Gulu Gulu Open Mic Shindig. Sign-up at 6:30pm.

Showing at Cinema Salem for Salem Film Fest
The campaign to free Julian Assange takes on intimate in this documentary portrait of an elderly man’s fight to save his son. Arguably the world’s most famous political prisoner, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a figure pretty much everybody has an opinion about; perhaps more importantly, he serves as the emblem of an international arm wrestle over freedom of journalism, government corruption and unpunished war crimes.

Enjoy live DJ sets every Thursday night at the Village Tavern starting at 9pm. It’s also the night they book their beer and spirit pervayors to come in and interact with guests and enjoy free samplings of new products.

Showing at the Peabody Essex Museum for Salem Film Fest
Enjoy a selection of short films curated from across the globe. Explore the Peabody Essex Museum while enjoying the Salem Film Fest.
THE BODY IS A HOUSE OF FAMILIAR ROOMS
An intimate magical-realist documentary combining paintings with live action footage opens a window to a man’s experience living with a painful chronic illness called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
I DON’T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER THIS
A collective introspection among the filmmaker’s high school friend group that explores the manifestation of unspoken sexual assault, following the rhythms of the seventeen year cicada emergence in Virginia.
REQUIEM FOR A WHALE
An encounter with a whale’s corpse evokes the witness’s thoughts about the dialogue between death and life.
NEIGHBOR ABDI

How can you understand a violent past? Somali-born Abdi reenacts his life, marked by war and criminality, with the help of his neighbour and filmmaker Douwe. Through playful reconstructions in a special effects studio, they embark on a candid and investigative journey through a painful history, focusing on the creative process throughout.

THE MUSEUM VISITS A THERAPIST
The Museum Visits a Therapist navigates the history of violence, religion and trade that shaped the Tropenmuseum collection, Amsterdam’s prominent museum of ethnography. With a focus on repair and restitution, the film asks: What if the museum visited a therapist?

Showing at Cinema Salem for Salem Film Fest

For hundreds of years, a dynasty of Christian Coptic tattoo artists from the Old City of Jerusalem tattooed pilgrims with ancient olive wooden stencils.​​ The sole heir of this 500-year lineage, Wassim Razzouk, discovers an old book that implies not all of the stencils belonging to his family were passed down to him. Wassim embarks on a quest to find and retrieve as many of the missing stencils as he can. His three-year search uncovers a major rift in his family from decades ago, revealing secrets, deceptions, thefts, and even an unsolved murder.

Grab a brew with some of our visiting filmmakers. FREE ADMISSION. CASH BAR.

Showing at Cinema Salem for Salem Film Fest
is a kaleidoscope of short films of Ukraine’s cities, villages, cities, and towns, where people are facing a world-scale tragedy, heroically defending themselves against the ongoing Russian invasion. Together, these stories create a certain map of the war, depicting the struggle of Ukrainians for the right to exist freely.
Witnesses showcase the horrendous reality of war as they fight for their land, culture, and identity while also illustrating their incredible mutual support, faith, and will for freedom. The film charts the course of the Russian aggression across the country through the lives and communities of those affected and those on the front lines fighting for their land. While detailing the force of the assault, its primary focus lies with the strength of the people who have had to endure unimaginable hardships, but who remain resilient in the face of the reality of this modern tragedy.

Showing at the Peabody Essex Museum for Salem Film Fest
Explores the ways we look at art and history at a time of racial reckoning. The story focuses on a dispute over historic murals depicting the life of George Washington: slave owner, general, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called “Town Destroyer” after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War.

Support local artists at East Regiment Beer Company with their Friday Night Music series. Each week will highlight a new local artists that will take the stage to fill the bar with tunes. Enjoy the bars bespoke aesthetic and delicious locally made beers.

Step into the Ginger Seafood & Asian Fusion space to enjoy an array of hand crafted cocktails, delicious food, and live music. Our music series will run on Thursday and Fridays every week. Stop in and say hello!

Showing at the National Park Service Visitor Center for Salem Film Fest

In October 2017, accomplished big wall climber Quinn Brett suffered a horrific fall in Yosemite at the height of her athletic career that left her paralyzed from the waist down, forcing her to rediscover how to navigate her body without the use of her legs and struggling to access the joy that was so central to her being.

Showing at Cinema Salem for Salem Film Fest
Quietly and seemingly out of sight, governments, private investors and mercenaries are seizing available food and water resources all over the world to feed their own people. At the expense of entire populations, these groups are establishing themselves as the new version of OPEC, where the world’s most powerful will control not oil, but food.

Enjoy a live DJ set every Friday night at the Village Tavern Salem with great food and drinks. Enjoy a night out on the town with the Salem community.

Head to the waterfront with our Fest filmmakers and friends to nibble a selection of appetizers from the fabulous Sea Level kitchen. FREE ADMISSION. CASH BAR.

Essex Heritage invites you to join us at aFREEsymposium on Saturday, March 25 at Salem State University. Local educators, historians, scholars, and students will help us explore the history of African American activism in Essex County, MA.
How can primary sources from the region’s past and contemporary voices in the local Black community inform our understanding of how to approach this topic? How are local museums, educators, and cultural institutions exploring these stories? Join us as we consider these and other questions via scholarly presentations, topic-specific break-out sessions, critical discussions, and facilitated activities.
This event is meant to extend the impact of a recently published guide compiled by Dr. Liz Duclos-Orsello (Salem State University) and Dr. Kabria Baumgartner (Northeastern University) called “African Americans in Essex County: An Annotated Guide.”
After the formal portion of the event, attendees are invited to join Dan Lipcan, Ann C. Pingree Director of PEM’s Phillips Library, for a tour of the Peabody Essex Museum’s exhibition “Let None Be Excluded“.
The symposium is free, but space is limited so registration is required. Coffee will be provided. Lunch can be purchased at the Salem State Cafeteria or Starbucks on campus.
RegisterHERE. The symposium is hosted by Essex Heritage in partnership with Salem State University.
For a list of this symposium’s speakers and contributors, clickHERE.
PDPs available for educators.
This project is funded by anAfrican American Civil Rights Grantthrough the National Park Service.This material was produced with assistance from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior under Grant Number [P21AP11739-00]. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

Showing at Cinema Salem for the Salem Film Fest
FIGHT OR FLIGHT
A woman overcomes childhood trauma to become the first female pilot employed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
FREEDOM HILL
Princeville, NC is the first town incorporated by freed, enslaved Africans in America. This historical significance sits on a precipice: it is gradually being washed away.
NEVER AGAIN PARA NADIE
In the poorest city in Rhode Island, peaceful demonstrators tried to shut down a for-profit prison housing ICE detainees, only to be met with violence.
BEIRUT DREAMS IN COLOR
Mashrou’ Leila are indie rock gods in the Arab world. But their fame comes with a price. In a part of the world where singing about politics or sexuality is more than a little risky — and with an openly gay lead singer — Mashrou’ Leila’s very existence and success is unprecedented.

Bows, lace, tulle oh my! Our magical employees will guide children in designing and creating their very own PINK Witch Hat! Attendees will also receive a sparkly nail manicure and a touch of glitter.

This workshop is limited to 6 children, pre-registration is required. Under age 5 may attend with the help of a supervising adult.
Please note:Camps and Workshops arenon-refundableat this time.

Join us for a panel discussion regarding the “trust” required between filmmakers and film subjects when making a documentary.

Presented by PBS American Experience – television’s most-watched history series.
For generations, Monopoly has been America’s favorite board game, a love letter to unbridled capitalism and — for better or worse — the impulses that make our free-market society tick. But behind the myth of the game’s creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. Contrary to the folksy legend spread by Parker Brothers,RUTHLESS: Monopoly’s Secret Historyis a surprising saga that features a radical feminist, a community of Quakers in Atlantic City, America’s greatest game company, and an unemployed Depression-era engineer. And the real story behind the creation of the game might never have come to light if it weren’t for the determination of an economics professor and impassioned anti-monopolist.
Part detective story, part sharp social commentary and part pop-culture celebration,RUTHLESSpresents the fascinating true story behind America’s favorite game.

Let’s Make Some Magic, Shall we?
FYI, this is not your grandma’s witchcraft…
Jen-Marie (@brightanddarkone on TikTok) and the witches of Bright and Dark Center LLC, in partnership with Magic Land Entertainment, is excited to present our first EVER public event: The Spring Convergence Ritual Rave 2023 at The Salem Waterfront Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts on Saturday, March 25th.
This radically inclusive, non-gendered event is designed to bring witches and magical practitioners from all walks of life together into a connection-based community. No matter your faith, religion, tradition or creed, (and no matter WHAT your level of experience in the craft is), we are throwing our doors wide open for all and we are holding NOTHING back. We’re even hosting a Discord channel for everyone who purchases a ticket we can begin connecting prior to the festivities! Look in your email for the link after you purchase your ticket!
Our event will begin with a 2.5 hour workshop that caters to the way a neurodivergent brain processes information, and is focused on preparing attendees for the evening’s Ritual Rave. Taught from the multiple and varied perspectives of the witches of Bright & Dark, we will look at our social conditioning and how it might affect our ability to dance together and connect to rhythm and community. Via interactive conversation and energetic exercises, we’ll make sure you are confident in your understanding of what to expect, and how to participate, including the importance of informed consent with regards to magic and moving together … because in the evening, (after a good 4 ½ hour break)… We dance!
The Ritual Rave, featuring music by indigenous musicians sprinkled with classic and throwback dance songs spun by Jonathan of Magic Land Entertainment, will be an opportunity for the witches of Bright & Dark to share what a radically inclusive public ceremony can be. The rave is the ritual, and it will be fully produced. We’ve got the lights, music, camera crew, and you bring the magic.
We ask participants to procure a palm-sized, smooth, heart stone to be used during the ritual. They will be collected, and placed on an altar in the center of the dance floor. Our dancing will raise the energy to imbue the stones with. At the end of the night, you’ll get to take one of these supercharged heart stones with you to use in your workings throughout the year…and bring it back next spring.
… Even better? We’d like you to come to the Ritual Rave dressed as whatever your inner child would have thought was the costume to surpass all costumes. Help them make it, and show up LIKE THAT! Maybe it’s a magnificent cape, maybe it’s a bejeweled ballgown, maybe it’s Big Bird. Whatever it is, we want to see it! And we want you to FEEL it. We want your inner child to do a victory dance when they see you in the mirror.
This will be an experience unlike any you’ve ever had, and we’re telling you now … it WILL change your life. If you’ve ever been curious about what we’re up to over here in our magical sanctuary community for witches, this event will show you.
Come see what the witches of Bright & Dark are capable of, and witness what is possible when magical practitioners join together with intention toward the goal of raising magic together sincerely.
We’ll provide the platform, show you how we work it, and then, we’ll work it like only wayward witches can…together.
Welcome home, cousins! We can’t wait to see you!
To purchase VIRTUAL tickets to our event, please click here

Showing at Cinema Salem for Salem Film Fest

2020 is the year Americans discovered the existence of the elections administrator. Once invisible to the general public, these civil servants are central characters in an ongoing public debate about the integrity of our democracy. With unprecedented access to its frontlines,NO TIME TO FAILis a verité film that tells the story of election officials across the state of Rhode Island. Amidst an onslaught of attacks from a sitting President and the deadly threat of a global pandemic, these public servants worked around the clock to secure the vote for their community. This film is an invitation to the American electorate to meet the people whose job it is to uphold the scaffolding of our republic and protect free and fair elections in what emerges as an unprecedented voting adventure in one of the most significant elections in US history.
Co-Director Margo Guernsey directed COUNCILWOMAN, which screened at Salem Film Fest in 2019.Co-Director Sara Archambault produced COMMUNITY PATROL, which screened at Salem Film Fest in 2018.

Our doc shorts showcase for Massachusetts high school students. Prizes awarded by Boris FX. FILMMAKERS Q&A. FREE ADMISSION.

Showing at the Peabody Essex Museum for Salem Film Fest
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Corky Lee’s photographs are epic poems about the experiences of Asians in America.PHOTOGRAPHIC JUSTICE: The Corky Lee Storyhonors this photographer’s commitment to social justice and reveals the personal sacrifices he made to continue his activism for almost fifty years.
Using his camera as a “weapon against injustice,” Chinese American Lee brought art and politics together through decades of documentation of the Asian American experience. Filmmaker Jennifer Takaki’s unprecedented access reveals the triumphs and tragedies of this unassuming man behind the camera. Her film is a timely and intimate portrayal of his quest to ensure that the rich tapestry of Asian American life – its struggles and celebrations – is preserved and documented in mainstream media. From Lunar New Year to street protests, Pakistan Independence Day to Diwali, Lee’s photographs empowered generations of AAPI pride.
A Q&A with Director Jennifer Takaki, Executive Producer George Hirose and Producee Linda Lew Woo follows screening at the Peabody Essex Museum.