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Top Things to Do in SoCal This Week: January 12-18, 2026

Every week, I highlight a few events across the SoCal region. This week, explore Black cinema, the photography of Wolfgang Tillmans, and panel discussions covering fantasy and folklore.

Photography in motion

Regen Projects unveils Keep Movin’, Wolfgang Tillmans’s ninth solo exhibition with the gallery since 1995. The exhibition brings together new photographs, videos, sculptural installations, and a fresh iteration of Tillmans’s incisive Truth Study Center. Known for moving between the physical and the sociopolitical, Tillmans invites viewers into a space where images question how we exist in the world today.

Regen Projects building
Regen Projects
6750 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Thursday, January 15, 6:00 PM
Free

Black feminist filmmaking

KAOS/LACMA Cultural Literacy Collider brings independent film and Black history to the forefront. Curated by Ben Caldwell, Alile Sharon Larkin, and Matazi Weathers, this series spotlights bold works by local filmmakers while examining how media shapes cultural consciousness. The January session pays tribute to the life and legacy of Nigerian filmmaker Ijeoma Iloputaife, the first African woman to study film at UCLA and a key figure in the L.A. Rebellion. Her groundbreaking short African Women, U.S.A. (1980) and the autobiographical documentary The Snake in My Bed (1995) anchor an evening of reflection and discussion. To learn more about the L.A. Rebellion, watch the Artbound documentary L.A. Rebellion: A Cinematic Movement.

KAOS/LACMA Cultural Literacy Collider
LACMA
5905 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles , CA 90036
Saturday, October 18, 6:00 PM
Free

Remixing Black cinema

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions brings Kahlil Joseph’s acclaimed video art project into a bold new cinematic form. Conceived like a record album for the screen, the film unfolds across 21 tracks while blending documentary, experimental cinema, and guest artists weaving in their own perspectives. Expanding on the influence of Joseph’s groundbreaking BLKNWS installation, the film investigates media, power, and Black life with urgency and poetic force. Stay after the screening for a panel discussion with Joseph and collaborators.

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions with Kahlil Joseph and Special Guests
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
6067 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Sunday, January 18, 6:00 PM
$10

Folklore comes alive

Night Parade: Yokai Unleashed is an after-hours event that blends folklore and pop culture. USC professors Michael Dylan Foster and Virginia Kuhn explore the cultural legacies of Japan’s mythical creatures. Perfect for folklore fans and anime lovers, the talk includes an early preview of USC PAM’s upcoming exhibition Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry.

Night Parade: Yokai Unleashed
USC Pacific Asia Museum
46 N Los Robles Ave
Pasadena, CA 91101
Saturday, January 17, 6:01 PM
$15

Books and chills

Award-winning author Kosoko Jackson joins moderator Dahlia De La Vega for a conversation about the dark themes found in his latest novel, The Macabre. Blending time travel, art history, and dark fantasy, the book explores magical paintings and the people who collect them. Known for hosting community-centered conversations around contemporary literature, Rep Club offers an inspired setting to unpack the craft and cultural resonances behind Jackson’s work.

BOOK EVENT: The Macabre w/ Kosoko Jackson & Dahlia De La Vega
Reparations Club
3054 South Victoria Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Friday, January 16, 7:01 PM
Free

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