Thursday through Saturday: The DC History Conference at MLK Library

The 50th annual DC History Conference will offer presentations from historians, journalists, graduate students, and current and former area residents with specialized knowledge on the myriad aspects of D.C. life from the 1700s to the present. Thursday night, April 4, the event kicks off with a discussion on the 1968 uprising following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. between the Atlantic’s senior editor Vann R. Newkirk II and Atlantic staff writer Jerusalem Demsas. The two will also discuss the creation and 50th anniversary of 1973’s Home Rule Act. Friday’s diverse schedule includes a talk on enslavement and displacement of Black Americans in Chevy Chase, a look at the 1870s paintings of Rock Creek Park by Jewish immigrant Max Weyl, a narrative on local Black Pride celebrations over the years, and a guide to Aunt Pigeon, a once-enslaved Black Catholic woman who worked for Georgetown Jesuits. Saturday’s equally varied offerings include a panel discussion by those involved in the 1980 creation of the 9:30 Club at its original F Street NW location, moderated by Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye. Additionally, University of Delaware graduate student Alan Parkes will discuss his research on the interrelationship between D.C.’s go-go origins and politics during the late 1970s. Another talk will cover Thomas Smallwood, who bought his own freedom and organized group escapes for others from slavery in the 1800s. The day will also showcase a panel of five Black women who were part of D.C.’s Black feminist movement from the 1960s through the 1990s, including Howard University grad Loretta J. Ross, now a professor at Smith College and a 2022 MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient. The 50th DC History Conference starts at 6 p.m. on April 4 and runs until 6 p.m. on April 6 at MLK Library, 901 G St. NW. conference.dchistory.org. Free. —Steve Kiviat

Friday and Saturday: District Dreamers Film Festival at STABLEarts

The inaugural District Dreamers Film Festival at STABLEarts this weekend is the brainchild of filmmaker and cultural events producer Emmett Ferra, along with STABLEarts’ director Maleke Glee and creative strategist Andrew Williams. The three joined forces last fall to problem-solve a gap in the local film landscape: lively screenings of well-curated works by DMV filmmakers that could both boost their profiles among local audiences and foster connections to the film industry. “This is an area that has a lot of talent,” Ferra tells City Paper. “With District Dreamers, we want to set the precedent that there are stories that are coming out of D.C. and people coming out of D.C. telling them.” The event, scheduled over two half-days, starts with a program of film shorts, including Tribeca Film Festival-premiering Chicken (produced by local entrepreneur David Jack) and post-screening Q&A with its director Josh Leong, that all exemplify, according to Ferra, “what success in indie film looks like.” To assemble the second evening’s film showcase, a selection committee reviewed short films that local filmmakers submitted to the festival’s open call. That lineup, which Ferra describes as “literally watching the fabric of D.C. roll out in front of [you] through storytelling,” ranges from the documentary Federal Stone, which explored why the swimming pool edging material produced by the Virginia-based company of that same name is a favorite of the region’s skateboarders, to the moody dark comedy Mandarins, about an estranged mother and daughter filmed in D.C.’s Chinatown. A series of panels on both days with industry experts—among them Women in Film & Video’s executive director Melissa Houghton and producer of the film DC Noir Kyle David Crosby—will look at behind-the-scenes topics such as financing, distribution, and local impact. The festival’s organizers also intend to create an intimate setting for film-watching and conversation that can’t be found at larger theaters: They’re bringing in Persian rugs (courtesy of Parthia Carpets) to transform the art space into a cozy, off-the-beaten-track micro-cinema, and D.C.’s Blossom Beverages and Lost Generation Brewing Company to supply the libations. The weekend will offer a set of diverse cinematic tales of D.C. that Ferra promises, “builds pride in the city.” District Dreamers Film Festival runs April 5 and 6 at STABLEarts, 336 Randolph Pl. NE. dreamersfilmfest.com. $20 per day. —Coley Gray 

Opens Saturday: Tim Brawner’s Feels Like Heaven at von ammon co.

Omaha-born, New York-based artist Tim Brawner’s first solo exhibit at von ammon co. in Georgetown, Feels Like Heaven, offers a journey into the depths of the grotesque and uncanny. With his large-scale acrylic paintings on canvas, Brawner delves into the darkness of the human psyche, recalling Hieronymus Bosch’s surreal hellscapes and Francis Bacon’s fantastical portraits with screaming mouths. In “Winnie, 2024,” a well-dressed woman with the grayed complexion, wasted skin, and vacant expression of a zombie sits in a fancy restaurant. In other works, there are serpentine hybrid creatures with violet giraffe heads or yawping Medusa faces. In “Thoss, 2024”, a doctor lies prone in a desert, screaming, her skeletal arms stretched ahead. Visceral, surreal, and painted in acidic colors—screaming cobalt, Barbie pink, absinthe green, and livid lavender—faces are distorted, bodies contorted or combined with animal forms, and skin decomposes. But the works are even more unsettling and challenging than that: Some of the faces may be screaming in ecstasy or torture, such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous sculpture “The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa,” or the cover of Hanya Yanagihara’s novel A Little Life, or, for the ’90s kids, the postapocalyptic distended smiles in Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” music video. The exhibition may be nightmare fuel for some, a confrontation with mortality or an exercise in jouissance for other viewers. Brawner’s technical skill and his themes of alienation, existential dread, and the fragility of the human condition ask us to view his works as a sort of postmodern, fever dream memento mori where the grotesque sublimates into the beautiful. Tim Brawner’s Feels Like Heaven opens April 6 and runs through May 5; an opening reception takes place from noon to 3 p.m. on the April 6 at von ammon co., 3330 Cady’s Alley NW. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., and by appointment. www.vonammon.co. Free. —Colleen Kennedy

Saturday and Sunday: Capital Art Book Fair at Eastern Market

If you’re not heading out of town to catch this weekend’s solar eclipse, there’s still an abundance of beauty to behold in D.C. An impressive amount of it will be found densely packed into Eastern Market’s North Hall when the second annual Capital Art Book Fair takes over the space. Organized by East City Art, the two-day event is free and open to the public with the hope of introducing attendees to the wide-ranging and dynamic universe of art books, which are often art themselves. This year’s fair features 34 exhibitors representing more than 100 artists, presses, and designers not just from across the DMV but from around the world. Some of 2023’s inaugural vendors, including audience favorites inner loop press and HOMOCATS, are returning alongside an array of new exhibitors including the Glenstone, Montana State University’s Courier Press, and three international exhibitors. Old and new alike, these exhibitors will sell art, limited-run art books, prints, zines, graphic novels, art magazines, and more. Event organizer and East City Art founding publisher and editor, Phil Hutinet, tells City Paper that the fair is “a feast for the senses, offering a tactile and visual journey through the contemporary and traditional landscapes of art book production.” Attendees are invited to interact and engage with both the fair’s books and also art throughout Capitol Hill. “By organizing this large-scale annual event, the aim is to reestablish Capitol Hill, particularly areas around Eastern Market, as prime destinations for arts and culture. This effort comes at a critical time, given the recent closures of most of the art galleries in the neighborhood due to the pandemic and escalating rents,” says Hutinet. Of course, D.C. is known to most outsiders for its rich museum culture, but residents support an eclectic and robust local art scene, which East City’s fair aims to uplift. Hutinet adds, “In essence, the Capital Art Book Fair is a catalyst for cultural enrichment, economic vitality, and community cohesion. It’s an opportunity to showcase Capitol Hill’s rich cultural fabric, support local businesses, and celebrate the arts in a way that resonates both locally and internationally.” The Capital Art Book Fair runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 6, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 7 at Eastern Market’s North Hall, 225 7th St. SE. artbookfair.eastcityart.com. Free. —Serena Zets 

Monday: Curtis Sittenfeld on Romantic Comedy via Zoom

Are you in the mood for love? Writer Curtis Sittenfeld sure is as she continues her press tour for Romantic Comedy, one of the hottest books of 2023. The rom-com novel’s much-awaited paperback tour brings Sittenfield to East City Bookshop this week via Zoom where she’ll discuss Romantic Comedy with Elissa Sussman, author of the acclaimed novel Funny You Should Ask. Sittenfeld’s writing captures the neurosis, absurdity, and joys of being a modern woman with incredible specificity and clarity and in Romantic Comedy Sittenfeld is at her best as she writes about Sally Milz, a woman writer on a Saturday Night Live-esque late night show whose skits troll the real-life trend of male comedy writers ending up with gorgeous superstars (a la Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson, Dave McCary and Emma Stone, Pete Davidson and everyone). Sally is thrown off upon finding herself enamored with Noah Brewster, a pop star who comes to host the show. The book weaves sharp cultural commentary on gendered dating realities and expectations into a heartfelt romantic plot that leaves you rooting for Sally whether she ends up with Noah or not. Sittenfeld packed Sixth & I last spring for the book’s initial tour so don’t pass up the opportunity to hear her speak for free. You just might fall in love! Curtis Sittenfeld in conversation with Elissa Sussman starts at 7:30 p.m. on April 8 on Zoom via East City Bookshop. eastcitybookshop.com. Free. —Serena Zets 

Opens Tuesday: Peter Pan at the National Theatre

The classic musical Peter Pan lands at the National Theatre this month for a 12-day run. J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and its adaptations have been mainstays of all-ages entertainment for more than a century. Originally staged in 1954 with Mary Martin in the title role, this theatrical adaptation features music by Moose Charlap and Carolyn Leigh, and has proven to be the most popular of tellings. After 70 years, however, the story and show were in desperate need of updates: This all-new production features a revised book by Larissa FastHorse, a Native American playwright who has worked to remove Peter Pan’s incredibly offensive Native stereotypes. Additionally, this production features all the classic songs (including “I Gotta Crow,” “I Won’t Grow Up,” and “Neverland) as well as new songs by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jule Styne. Other prominent names on the team include choreographer Lorin Latarro and Emmy Award-winning Lonny Price in the director’s chair. With an intermission, the show’s run time is about 2 hours and 20 minutes and it’s selling out fast. Peter Pan opens April 9 and runs through the April 21 at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. broadwayatthenational.com. $59–$139. —Allison Shely 

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to correct the name of the documentary film Federal Stone.