Watch two dozen local students battle for poetic supremacy during the 2010 Montgomery College Poetry Slam on Thursday. Judges will award prizes to the best slammers in the Theatre Arts Arena at the Montgomery College Rockville Campus (51 Mannakee St., Rockville). The competition is free and begins at 7:30. For more information, call 240-567-4008.
On Thursday head to Chief Ike’s Mambo Room (1725 Columbia Rd., NW; 202-332-2211) for the Deja Vu retro night. Two DJs specializing in ‘80s music will be on hand for only $5 starting at 9 PM.
Thursday night is your last chance to watch Fellini’s landmark film 8½ as part of the Films of Federico Fellini series at the AFI Silver Theatre. It follows a movie director who feels lost creatively as he struggles to come up with an idea for his next film. Tickets are $10 and the screening begins at 7 PM.
Get a glimpse into the secret world of graffiti street art with the DC premiere of Exit Through the Gift Shop at E Street Cinema on Friday. It is the first film by the renowned and notorious graffiti artist Banksy, whose anonymous artwork can be found sprayed on walls all over the world. Tickets are $10.
National Book Award-winning author Robert V. Remini discusses and signs his new book At the Edge of the Precipice: Henry Clay and the Compromise That Saved the Union at Politics and Prose. The event begins at 7 PM on Friday.
On Saturday the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum will host a Cinco de Mayo Celebration. Visitors can learn the history of the holiday and make masks and other crafts beginning at 10:30 AM.
Wine and puppies will be on hand during the Wags & Wine Spring Wine Festival at the Palladium Civic Green (1445 Laughlin Ave., McLean; 703-288-2970) from 1 to 4 on Sunday. Try over 40 wines and speak with wine experts, all while playing with some adorable pups looking for homes at the Washington Humane Society’s portable adoption station. The $10 admission fee benefits the Washington Humane Society.
On Sunday, dance, eat, and play Mexico-style at the 18th annual Cinco de Mayo Festival at the Sylvan Theater on the grounds of the Washington Monument. Watch the Maru Montero Dance Company and tour the Mexican market. Kids can participate in various arts-and-crafts activities. The festival is free and goes from noon to 6. For more information, call 202-337-0566.
Get in touch with your inner self at the Sackler Gallery’s event, In the Realm of Tibetan Buddhism: A Place for Transcendence. Teachers from the Tibetan Meditation Center in Frederick will guide you through the tenants of Tibetan Buddhism as you explore the gallery’s In the Realm of the Buddha exhibition. The event is free and begins at 2 PM on Sunday.
The 2010 Korean Film Festival continues with M at the Freer Gallery. This fragmented puzzle of a film by Lee Myung-se places viewers into a mind going mad, recalling films like The Shining in the process. Tickets are first come, first served, and the screening begins at 2 on Sunday.
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Michael J. Gaynor has written about fake Navy SEALs, a town without cell phones, his Russian spy landlord, and many more weird and fascinating stories for the Washingtonian. He lives in DC, where his landlord is no longer a Russian spy.
