Summertime: U Street Movie Series Starts May 24

The U Street Movie Series is back with a second season, which gets underway on May 24 with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Gates open at 7 pm at the field of the Harrison Recreation Center on the 1300 block of V Street NW — the same time for each film. 

A total of six films will be shown, one each month, May through October (the final movie will be indoors). Movies are held on Tuesday night with a rain date of the following Thursday. Full schedule is below the fold.

The movie series is organized by Friends of Harrison Recreation Center, the U Street Neighborhood Association and the Meridian Hill Neighborhood Association.

According to the organizers, this year’s movie series lineup includes films that feature and celebrate Washington D.C., including both classic and family-friendly Hollywood films set in D.C., documentaries addressing environmental and education issues that resonate in the city and films about local U Street entertainment institutions such as the Howard Theater and the 9:30 Club. This year, each feature film will be preceded by a film short. Each short will be a documentary first featured at an AFI Silverdocs Festival.

Admission, Showtimes, Food Trucks

Admission is free, and all films, with the exception of October’s Waiting for Superman, will be shown outdoors at the field at Harrison Recreation Center on the 1300 block of V Street NW. Attendees are encouraged to come early, starting at 7 pm, to picnic in the park and listen to music spun by local DJs. Free popcorn will be provided to the first 100 attendees beginning at 7 pm by Ventnor Sports Cafe.

All shows will begin at sundown, so the exact times will vary. Several local food truck vendors will be on site serving food. On the June and August “family” nights, children can play in a moonbounce from 7 to 8:30 pm before the films.

Donations and sponsorships towards the event are accepted online and benefit Friends of Harrison Recreation Center, a nonprofit formed in 2009 that works directly with the DC Department of Parks and Recreation to improve the recreation center through capital improvements design changes and enhance management and programming of the park, with the goal of making Harrison Recreation Center a better designed, cleaner, safer and better park in the neighborhood for all to use and enjoy.

You can also find the U Street Movie Series on Facebook.

Summer 2011 Schedule

• May 24: AFI Short: This Chair is Not Me, Feature: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (rain date May 26).
• June 28: AFI Short: The Poodle Trainer, Feature: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (rain date June 30).
• July 26: Short: Howard Theatre: A Century in Song, Feature: 930 F Street (rain date July 28).
• August 23: AFI Short: City of Cranes, Feature: National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (rain date August 25).
• September 20: AFI Short: Big Birding Day, Feature: Bag It (rain date September 22).
• October date TBD: Feature: Waiting for Superman will be shown indoors, followed by community forum on education policy.