About the Event

Join Metro Art Presents for a live activation of the magical-realist, LA-loving and transit-centric film SUMMERTIME with a film screening, poetry performance, music and more inside Union Station’s historic Ticketing Hall (Ticket Concourse) on Friday, June 24, 2022 at 6:30pm.

Metro Art Bus Poetry Pop-Up at Union Station Alameda St. Entrance

Come early for a sneak peek of the Metro Art Bus, parked in front of Union Station! Plus, enjoy sidewalk poetry from the Get Lit Players, a DJ set by Sur Jazz and be sure to check out the current Union Station Passageway Art Gallery exhibition, We Are… #SomosWeAreLA !

 

SUMMERTIME  • Film + Live Poetry + Music at Historic Ticketing Hall (Ticket Concourse)

SUMMERTIME transitions indoors to kick off with verses performed live by the film’s featured poets Marquesha Babers, Mila Cuda, Paolina Acuña-Gonzalez and Anna Osuna plus a music set by multifaceted performance artist Austin Antoine, who stars as Rah in the film. The film runs 1 hour and 35 minutes following the opening performances.

 

About Summertime

Conceived by acclaimed filmmaker/director Carlos López Estrada in collaboration with young poets from Get Lit: Words Ignite, SUMMERTIME takes place over the course of an imagined hot summer day as the lives of 27 young Angelenos intersect to weave in and out of each other’s stories. The director’s groundbreaking vision began at a poetry showcase where performers from across the City of Angels recited fearlessly personal texts about themselves, their communities, and their relationship to their city.

The project was then developed around their individual poems and interwoven into a larger, unified, and gloriously moving narrative experiment — part contemporary musical and part sociological art. SUMMERTIME explores themes of identity, community, and intersectionality through the unique perspectives of this diverse ensemble. It debuted at Sundance 2020 before its theatrical release in summer 2021. López Estrada is noted as the the youngest ever winner of a Latin Grammy Award to date at the age of 24.

His work has been showcased at the Hammer Museum, Cartoon Network, SXSW, Los Angeles Film Festival, Reading and Leeds (UK), as well as various publications including Interview Magazine, TIME Magazine and Vice. Blindspotting, his first feature film, premiered on opening night of the 2018 Sundance Film festival.

About the Partner

Get Lit – Words Ignite fuses classic and spoken word poetry to increase teen literacy on the page and in visual media, and cultivates enthusiastic learners emboldened to inspire social consciousness in diverse communities. Get Lit’s poetry and film curriculum engages young people by providing a creative outlet, community, and real-life work experience, transforming students into activists, scholars, and stars. To find out more, please visit getlit.org or follow @getlitpoet on all platforms.