SPACE

Yousef Srouji — the young boy at the top of this video — is the filmmaker behind Three Promises, an award-winning documentary compiled from Yousef’s mother’s home videos from the West Bank in the early 2000s. Join us for a screening at SPACE on Thursday, January 30th, co-presented by Maine Jewish Voices for Peace and Maine Palestine Film Collective, with half of proceeds going to the filmmaker. Yousef Srouji’s childhood in Palestine wasn’t something that he and his parents spoke of as a family, so “the tapes became a means for remembering and comprehending a painful past,” writes Bedatri Choudhary of DocNYC, and “the stories she captured illuminate the nature of life in a war zone, and familial bonds that cannot be broken.” January 30 • Thu 7 pm, doors at 6:30 Three Promises 🎥 dir. Yousef Srouji • 61 min. $10, $7 for SPACE members Co-presented by @jvp.maine, @mainepalestinefilm, and @space538

Plans Saturday night? Finish knitting that scarf and stroll over to the folk rock show. Portland’s Emily Irving (shown here) crafts rollicking and heartfelt songs that lean into mystery, and she’ll takes the stage with a band that includes guitarist Chase Wheelock, bassist Michael Sabin, and drummer Hunter Coleman. The whole evening affair includes sets from Heather Lynn, indie fiddle folksters Oodelally, and Irving. A lot of beautiful, beautiful music. 🎶 Emily Irving - “Old Magic” (NPR Tiny Desk Contest, live at @findportland) January 18 • Sat 8 pm, doors at 7:30 @emilllyirving, @hther.lynn, @oodelally.music $12 adv, $15 day of • $2 off for SPACE members

Calling all bird lovers! You’re gonna wanna join us next Thursday for Every Little Thing, a charming and heart-expanding documentary film and Sundance Film Festival hit that tells the story of wildlife rehabbed Terry Mesear, through breathtaking slow-motion photography and emotional footage. Over the course of director Sally Aitken’s film, we become deeply interested in baby hummingbirds — like Cactus and Wasabi — celebrating their tiny victories and lamenting their tragedies. Through Terry’s eyes, each bird becomes memorable, mighty, and heroic, and her compassion and empathy serves as a reminder that grace can be found in the smallest of acts and tiniest of creatures. January 23 • Thu 7 pm, doors at 6:30 Every Little Thing 🎥 dir. Sally Aitken • 93 min $10, $7 for SPACE members

🎞️ On the cusp of his 80th birthday, Werner Herzog turned his attention to the biggest mystery of all: the future of the human brain. Join us on January 15th for Theater of Thought, the legendary director’s foray into questions of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and where human creativity fits within it all, an inquiry treated with all the kindness, silliness, and poetic depth that fans can expect from this old master. Tickets available at the link and at SPACE538.ORG January 15 • Wed 7 pm, doors at 6:30 Theater of Thought 🎥 dir. Werner Herzog • 107 min. $10, $7 for SPACE members #portlandmaine

The breathtaking film Obsessed With Light, about dance pioneer Loïe Fuller and our culture’s relationship with light and color, screens next Friday, January 11th! Grab a ticket soon. Called “a rich tapestry of discoveries by a passionately devoted mover and transformer of light and shape” (Eye On Dance), the film is a close study of a woman who became famous on her own terms — unapologetic about her body type, open about her sexuality, and protective of her signature, often mimicked, style. Filmmakers Sabine Krayenbuhle and Zeva Oelbaum create a dialogue with the past and delve into the astonishing influence Fuller’s work has had on contemporary culture, including artists like Taylor Swift, Bill T. Jones, Shakira, William Kentridge, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others. “As is often the case with films like this, is is both baffling that it took so long to tell Fuller’s story and comforting that finally great women pioneers like her are getting the attention they deserve.” - Loud and Clear The screening is preceded by the short film Otherworldly by Juliette Sutherland, which follows dancer Gabriel Forestieri in his practice of underwater dance in the crystal waters off the coast of Sicily. January 11 • Fri 7 pm, doors at 6:30 Obsessed With Light dirs. Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum • 90 min. Otherworldly dir. Juliette Sutherland • 14 min $10, $7 for SPACE members Filmmakers will be in attendance for a Q&A after the screening #portlandmaine

🚀 The shop, it keeps popping up! We’ve extended our charming little market of artist-made books, prints, records, tapes, clothes, paintings, hats and more until Saturday. And we’re still selling SPACE gift cards, good for concerts, films, and the bar, and can do any advance (fee-free) cash-only ticket purchases at the Pop-Up Shop box office too! Swing by Friday from 12-6 and Saturday 12-4 pm — last chance!

We’re screening the incredible Irish folk-horror fantasy film The Outcasts Monday night. This cult classic, unearthed from 1983 and newly restored, is a magical watch, gorgeously shot and wonderfully ambiguous, and though it lacks the sorts of scares that classify the horror genre, the overall mood is tense as feck. Grab a ticket! December 16 | Mon 7 pm, doors at 6:30 The Outcasts 🎥 djr. Robert Wynne-Simmons | 1983 | 2k restoration 95 min. $10, $7 for SPACE members #portlandmaine

😈 Strut Krampus Bash is in TWO DAYS…you’ve got your ticket, right? Come party with us at the queer holiday event of the season, this Saturday at SPACE! Dust off your best dark and daring looks and gather your friends for a night filled with wicked music, fierce performances, and festive mischief. Whether you’ve been naughty or nice, this is a safe space for all queer folks to strut their stuff and revel in the spirit of Krampus. ★ DJs ★ @spalding.wav | @discodungeon ★ MCs ★ Cherry Lemonade (@cherrylemonaderules) | Gigi Gabor (@the_gigi_gabor) ★ STARRING ★ Lana Ja’Rae (NYC, @lanajarae) ★ SHOWS ★ Arabella LaDessé (Boston, @arabella_thegoddess) | Bunny Wonderland | Chartreuse Money (@thecharmoney) | Danielle Dior | Finn Gerring (@finngerring) | Kings of The Hill | Liza May | Miss Spreada LaJoy | Tasha Tektite (@tashatektite) | Vivienne Obsidian ★ HOSTS ★ Queers & Beers | Guerrilla Queer Bar Handicap Accessible | ASL Interpreters Provided December 14 | Sat 8 pm-1 am | 18+ Strut Krampus Bash feat. Lana Ja’Rae (RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17) $35-40 adv, $50 meet ‘n’ greet with Lana Ja’Rae Strut is a 10-year-strong national LGBTQ dance, performance, and pop-up shop party produced by @derycktodd

Now is your chance to see Memoir of a Snail, a 2025 Golden Globe nominee for Best Animated Feature! We’re screening this heartfelt and hilarious film, an eight-year labor of love shot in richly detailed claymation and featuring the voice of Sarah Snook of Succession, on Friday, December 20th. Tickets in the byeoh December 20 | Fri 7 pm, doors at 6:30 Memoir of a Snail 🎥 dir. Adam Elliot | 104 min. $10, $7 for SPACE members #portlandmaine

After the break, join us for one of two screenings of Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, the new documentary by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (the filmmaker behind the James Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Se times below and grab a ticket! Peck’s subject, Ernest Cole, was one of the first Black freelance photographers in South Africa, whose early pictures, shocking at the time of their first publication, revealed to the world Black life under apartheid. Cole fled South Africa in 1966 and lived in exile in the U.S., where he photographed extensively in New York City, as well as the American South, fascinated by the ways this country could be at times so vastly different, and at others eerily similar, to the segregated culture of his homeland. During this period, he published his landmark book of photographs denouncing the apartheid, House of Bondage which, while banned in South Africa, cemented Cole’s place as one of the great photographers of his time at the age of 27. After his death, more than 60,000 of his 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures Cole shot in the U.S. Telling his own story through his writings, the recollections of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation. “Peck’s film stands as a requisite biography, but also a personal homage: The response of one politically conscious artist to the call of another.” - New York Times “Cole seems a perfect subject for Peck. They mirror each other in both the precision of their gaze and the way that even the smallest relevant details are given space and context to be resolved.” - POV magazine December 3 | Tue 7 pm, doors at 6:30 December 7 | Sat 1 pm, doors at 12:30 Ernest Cole: Lost and Found 🎥 dir. Raoul Peck (@raoul_peck) | 105 min. $10, $7 for SPACE members #po