Pencil This In

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 20, 2011 5:44PM

Film

If you're like us and have been meaning to go to one of the Northwest Chicago Film Society screenings at the Portage theater, tonight may be a prime time to do so. The featured film is Beware, a barely feature length film with a bare bones plot brought to life by jazz musician Louis Jordan. Jordan plays a caricature of himself in Lucius Brokenshire Jordan, who returns to his college alma mater to play a fundraiser with his band and maybe win back his college sweetheart from the man who threatens to shut down the college. Beware was the first of Jordan's films with Astor Pictures, which were minimally financed all-Black productions, and arguably the best. The NCFS is presenting Beware in a restored 35 mm print from the Library of Congress, along with the 1944 jazz short Jammin the Blues and a 35mm Technicolor trailer for the Otto Preminger classic Carmen Jones. (7:30 p.m., Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.)

Art and Networking

Artists looking to advance your career: the Chicago Artists Coalition is hosting a networking event at the Hyde Park Arts Center from 6-8 p.m. tonight that they hope will give you tips on how to do just that, while highlighting the new partnership between the two organizations. If that isn't enough to get you to attend, they're also offering free pizza. (5020 S. Cornell Ave.)