APRIL 29 - 30, 2026 | Event starts at 7pm
Bartram’s Gardens | 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19143
Journey Arts’ beloved Table Sessions returns in April, curated by award-winning filmmaker Kristal Sotomayor. Prime yourself for an ebullient evening with the boisterous sounds of the kumbia-klezmer-punk collective Mariposas Galácticas, whose music is inspired by their Ancestor’s shared roots in “radical joy.”
Mariposas Galácticas | photo credit: Mike Arrison
Then sit forward for a screening of Kristal’s short film Expanding Sanctuary — the winner of the 2024 BlackStar Philadelphia Filmmaker Award — which flips the script on the current moment by telling the story of an immigrant mother’s triumphant fight for safety for Philly families.
And, of course, leave filled not only with joy, but with a delicious dinner by the James Beard Award-winning Chef Cristina Martínez of South Philly Barbacoa.
South Philly Barbacoa | photos courtesy of chefcristinamartinez.com
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS •
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Kristal Sotomayor is an award-winning nonbinary Peruvian American director, producer, journalist and curator based in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Named one of “10 Latinx Filmmakers You Should Know About” by HipLatina, they are a 2023 DOC NYC Documentary New Leader Honoree and Rockwood Documentary Leadership Fellow. Their college thesis film To My Motherland streamed on Comcast Xfinity On Demand. Kristal’s short Latinx immigrant rights documentary Expanding Sanctuary won the Philadelphia Filmmaker Award at the 2024 BlackStar Film Festival and is distributed through OTV, Kanopy, and New Day Films. Their short experimental documentary Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens won Best LGBTQ Documentary at the 2025 Poppy Jasper International Film Festival. Kristal’s debut narrative short film Las Cosas Que Brillan is a coming of age story about a Trans Latina mermaid and produced with support from BlackStar. They are in development on their debut feature documentary Untitled PARS Project about surveillance of immigrant communities, produced with support from the Sundance Film Institute. Kristal’s work has also been supported by the Outfest, If/Then, Points North Institute, MDOCS, DCTV, and NeXtDoc.
Sotomayor Productions is a queer, Latinx-led production company, fiscally sponsored by CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia, dedicated to creating justice-driven films and impact campaigns that amplify immigrant, queer, and underrepresented communities.
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Las Mariposas Galácticas is a 8-piece Cumbia-Klezmer-Punk band based in Philadelphia. Drawing on the members’ South American and Jewish roots, the band creates a unique diasporic sound that gets audiences dancing with rebellious joy. Honoring their Indigenous Andean musical ancestries and blending it with punkified ancient Jewish melodies, they perform a mix of original compositions and classic tunes that span languages, cultures, and genres. Las Mariposas have toured the East Coast and collaborated with international acts such as the legendary Argentinian Tropi-punk band Kumbia Queers and the renowned Indigenous Mexican rock band Los Cogelones. They’ve headlined the L.A.T.I.N. PunkFest in both Philadelphia and New York City, and continue to support their communities’ struggles for liberation—from prominent stages to cultural, activist, and grassroots community spaces.
Follow Las Mariposas Galácticas journey through sound and revolution by following them on Instagram.
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Cristina Martínez is a Mexican-born chef and undocumented in the United States since 2009. Raised by barbacoa masters, she has dedicated the better part of 40 years to mastering her singular tradition. Fleeing violence in Mexico, she came to live in the USA and worked as a dishwasher, prep cook, and pastry chef, eventually losing her position due to her undocumented status. She pivoted to cooking barbacoa out of their apartment, eventually moving to a food cart, and onto a brick and mortar and becoming an activist for undocumented workers' rights along the way.
She has been featured on Netflix's "Chef's Table", and was awarded the prestigious 2022 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic Region; although the most important recognition in here eyes are families who travel to eat her barbacoa in the heart of south Philly every weekend. In addition to South Philly Barbacoa, she owns and operates Casa Mexico, focusing on guisados and family style dishes, and the People's Kitchen at El Compadre, which has served 100,000 free meals in the last year and employs a rotating crew of chefs, students, and volunteers from the community.
Learn more about Chef Cristina’s work and mission by visiting her website: https://chefcristinamartinez.com/en/