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Our Book of the Month recommendation is People from My Neighborhood by Hiromi Kawakami. rom the author of the internationally bestselling Strange Weather in Tokyo, a collection of interlinking stories that masterfully blend the mundane and the mythical—"fairy tales in the best Brothers Grimm tradition: naïf, magical, and frequently veering into the macabre" (Financial Times).

Ongoing theatrical shows include Once at the California Center for the Arts and Mother of the Maid at the Moxie.

The Gator by the Bay festival kicked off yesterday at Spanish Landing and will continue through Sunday.  With 7 stages and 100 music acts, it's big! Music, dance and food galore.

Tonight (Friday) LA's Conganas will be playing at Dizzy's promising an evening of Cha-Cha, Salsa, Latin Jazz and dancing. Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán will perform at the Civic Theatre.

City Ballet will perform Don Quixote at the California Center for the Arts on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, there will be an Asian Dance Program at Scripps Miramar Ranch Library featuring Indian and Indonesian dance performances. The Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) Anniversary Dinner & Awards Ceremony will take place at the Jasmine Restaurant. The Walking in Beauty Indigenous Resilience Benefit to support the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives will take place at the Live Oak Gallery. At Front Art Cultura, there will be a closing reception for the  Dia de la Mujer Exhibition Love Is An Action.  My Italian Secret will be screened at the Firehouse Museum in Little Italy.

Sunday, the Escondido Cinco de Mayo Festival will take place. At the Maritime Museum, the Hausmann Quartet will give a concert they are calling Hayden Voyages. Rooftop Cinema will screen Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again atop the Hyatt downtown. The San Diego Early Music Society concludes its season with the group Ensemble Correspondances. At the Casbah, Mexican band Son Rompe Pera will give their modern interpretation of Mexican, Peruvian, and Colombian classics.

Tuesday, there will be a UCSD hosted virtual panel to discuss the topic of Global Freedom Struggles from Kashmir to Palestine.

Wednesday, the biopic film Selena will be screened atop the Hyatt downtown. Also on Wednesday, performances of a stage production of the Diary of Anne Frank will begin at Southwestern College. Performances will be held through May 21st.

Next Thursday, there will be an online appreciation of The Men of Timken focused on the male portraits at the museum. Warwick's will host Tracy Dawson as discusses her new book, Let Me Be  Frank: A Book about Women Who Dressed Like Men to Do Shit They Weren't  Supposed to Do. At the Soda Bar, The Halluci Nation will perform.

Next Friday, the film Sinasalitang Kultura will be screened at CSUSM. CARTA will present an online symposium on Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes.

Next Saturday, San Diego American Indian Health Center’s Pow Wow will take place in Balboa Park. At the House of Ireland, Comhaltas San Diego will host two workshops led by Gerry "Fiddle" O'Connor. At Waterfront Park, there will be a Taco Fest with music, Margaritas, Lucha Libre wrestling, Chihuahua races, and, of course, tacos. The House of Norway will host its annual Lawn Program at the International Cottages. Camarada will perform at the new UC San Diego @ Park & Market.  Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi will hold a benefit concert to help fund a documentary about the late music and festival promoter Lou Curtiss. Worldbeat will hold a Bob Marley Memorial Celebration with  performances by Johnny Osbourne and Rob Symeonn.

Next Sunday, at Mysterious Galaxy, author Xiran Jay Zhao will discuss her latest book, Zachary and the Dragon Emperor Ying. Ballet Folklorico en Aztlan will perform at the La Mesa Community Center. Heroes for Life CRY America Gala will help raise funds for projects in India and the U.S. for underprivileged children. Hands of Peace will hold a Planting Peace Benefit to raise funds for the organization's programs that support peace in Israel and Palestine.

Everyone here at the San Diego Participant Observer and the Worldview Project wish you a fulfilling, illuminating, and culturally rich weekend. See you next week!

Notes:

The San Diego International Film Festival is now screening films monthly.

	Bhala Thandanana		Bhala Thandanana is a romantic entertainer movie directed by Chaitanya Dantuluri. The movie casts Sree Vishnu, Catherina Tresa and KGF fame Garuda Ramachandra Raju are in the lead roles. The Music composed by Mani Sharma while the film is produced by Rajani Korrapati Under Vaaraahi Chalana Chitram banner.
	Downton Abbey		The beloved Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important moment of their lives. A royal visit from the king and queen of England soon unleashes scandal, romance and intrigue -- leaving the future of Downton hanging in the balance.
	Everything Everywhere All at Once		When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
	Firebird		At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet air force base.
	Hit the Road		A middle-aged couple and their two sons embark on a road trip across the Iranian countryside. Over the course of their journey, they bond over memories of the past, grapple with fears of the unknown and fuss over their sick dog.
	Jujutsu Kaisen 0		Yuta Okkotsu gains control of an extremely powerful, cursed spirit and gets enrolled in the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School by sorcerers to help him control his power and keep an eye on him.
	Memoria		A Scottish woman, after hearing a loud 'bang' at daybreak, begins experiencing a mysterious sensory syndrome while traversing the jungles of Colombia.
	Parde Mein Rehne Do		Parde Mein Rehne Do is a Pakistani social romantic comedy film with lead cast Hania Aamir and Ali Rehman Khan. Written by Mohsin Ali, the film is directed and produced by Wajahat Rauf under Showcase Productions. It is set to release on Eid al-Fitr, in May 2022, by Eveready Pictures and Geo Films.
	Petite Maman		Nelly, an 8-year-old girl, has just lost her beloved grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home. One day, her mom abruptly leaves, and Nelly meets a girl her age as she's building a tree house in the woods.
	The Conversion		A young woman in an inter-faith marriage must navigate religious conversion.
	The Northman		Prince Amleth is on the verge of becoming a man when his father is brutally murdered by his uncle, who kidnaps the boy's mother. Two decades later, Amleth is now a Viking who raids Slavic villages. He soon meets a seeress who reminds him of his vow -- save his mother, kill his uncle, avenge his father.
	Vortex		A retired psychiatrist with dementia and a struggling author with a heart condition live their final days together in an apartment.
	Y Cómo Es Él? (Backseat Driver)		A man must take a long-distance road trip with a taxi driver who's having an affair with his wife.

* Ends 5/5/2022