For teens — especially teens of color or diverse socioeconomic backgrounds — representation on screen can be uninspiring at best, and opportunities behind the camera are next to nonexistent. Thankfully, the Do It Your Damn Self National Youth Film Festival, which screens its yearly showcase Friday at the Brattle Theatre, remains an oasis of youthful creativity. Founded at Cambridge’s Community Art Center in 1996 and focusing predominantly on issues of social justice and representation, DIYDS is the country’s longest-running, youth-produced film festival. Not only are the filmmakers — who hail from across the country — teenagers, but so are the curators, making DIYDS one of the purest showcases of youthful creativity you’re likely to find. In keeping with the festival’s spirit of inclusivity, admission is free. (You can reserve a seat at the fest’s Eventbrite page.) Now, as always, the kids really are alright.
Sunday marks what would have been the 68th birthday of Prince Rogers Nelson, better known to the world as the mononymous pop visionary Prince. In what has become an annual tradition, the Brattle marks the occasion Saturday and Sunday with two of Prince’s finest cinematic moments. First up is “Purple Rain” (1984), the narrative feature that turned Prince into a pop cultural phenomenon. Prince stars as “The Kid,” a fictionalized alter ego who fronts Prince’s real-life band The Revolution and lightly beefs with fellow Minneapolis scenesters Morris Day and the Time. The plot is lovably goofy, and largely serves as a vehicle for electric live footage of The Revolution at the peak of their powers. Also screening is a 35mm print of “Sign ‘O’ The Times” (1988), the Prince-directed concert film companion to his seminal double album of the same name. It’s a suitably joyous celebration of His Royal Badness, and a perfect way to get through this thing called life.
Summer is upon us, bringing with it the return of the Somerville Theatre‘s weekly series of Midnight Specials. This year, the theater has opted for an anniversary theme, screening cult classics from years past that are celebrating milestones this year. On Saturday, the series kicks off with a 50th anniversary 35mm screening of “Carrie” (1976), Brian De Palma’s hit adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel — a perfect selection as we reach the end of prom season. The image of Sissy Spacek as the title teen, drenched in blood, standing placidly amidst the flames of her high school dance, is among the most indelible in all of horror, yet it’s easy to forget how idiosyncratic and complex the movie leading up to it is. Much of the cast (including a young John Travolta as a BMOC himbo and an Oscar-nominated Piper Laurie as Carrie’s conservative mother) was led to believe by De Palma that they were making a comedy, lending the film an off-kilter energy that keeps you on your toes. Then there’s the fact that the motivations of Carrie’s prom date (played by “Greatest American Hero” star William Katt) are left unclear until the last possible moment, at which point they scarcely matter. “Carrie” is not only one of the great supernatural horror movies; it’s one of the great films about the all-too-real horrors of adolescence.
Jim Jarmusch has been one of our coolest working independent filmmakers for over four decades, and the Brattle celebrates his work this week with a miniseries neatly titled Jarmusch x3. The centerpiece of the series is Jarmusch’s latest, “Father Mother Sister Brother” (2025), which screens daily from Tuesday through Thursday. True to its title, “Father Mother” is a triptych of bittersweet stories about family relations: Tom Waits as the bohemian father to a straightlaced Adam Driver and Mayim Bialik; Charlotte Rampling as the very proper mother to Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps; and Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat as a pair of twins picking up the pieces following the sudden death of their parents. The new feature is flanked by two of Jarmusch’s previous anthology films, “Mystery Train” (1989, screening Monday and Wednesday), in which several stories converge over a single night in Memphis, and “Night on Earth” (1991, Tuesday and Thursday), which portrays five different taxi rides occurring simultaneously at opposite corners of the globe. In all, the three films deliver nearly a dozen stories, making this series the best deal in town!
On Monday, the Somerville Theatre’s Kurt & Jodie series of double features finds Mr. Russell and Ms. Foster in a pair of later-period thrillers. In David Fincher’s Hitchcockian single-location “Panic Room” (2002), Jodie Foster plays a wealthy single mother who hides with her daughter (a very young Kristen Stewart!) when a trio of invaders breaks into her New York townhouse —— only to realize that the item they’re looking for is inside the panic room with them. Meanwhile, in Ron Howard’s “Backdraft” (1991), Kurt Russell plays a veteran firefighter who must set aside his differences with his estranged brother (William Baldwin) to crack a string of horrific arsons. Both films are a far cry from their stars’ beginnings as Disney child stars, and are examples of both actors in their A-list prime.
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