BEST BETS: Saturday 9/11 : all day: Art & Performance

“Artspeaks!” has music, spoken word, movies . . . and a cause. Part of the larger “Mumia 911: National Day of Art to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal,” the Los Angeles festival has a dozen events, including concert performances by Ozomatli, Medusa, Aztlan Underground and others. An art installation by Pat Ward Williams titled “MOVE?” will be on display at the Watts Center. And at USC, a slate of political films includes Melvin Van Peebles’ “Classified X,” the documentary “Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt” and the 1969 Marlon Brando film “Burn!” Afterward, actors--including Ed Asner, Rene Auberjonois and Ed Begley Jr.--will present a theatrical reading of “A Matter of Life & Death: Voices of the People.” Elsewhere, local galleries have designed exhibits around the theme of Abu-Jamal and imprisonment. Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther and radio journalist, was found guilty of killing police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981 in Philadelphia, but has maintained his innocence and sought a new trial.

* “Artspeaks!,” noon to midnight at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee--The Center, 10950 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles. $12. (310) 854-4681. Films: “Solutions,” 11:30 a.m.; “The Murder of Fred Hampton,” noon; “Classified X,” 2 p.m.; “Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt,” 3:15 p.m.; and “Burn,” 5 p.m., at Norris Cinema Theater, USC campus. “A Matter of Life & Death: Voice of the People” follows at 8 p.m. $5 each; $15 for all-day pass. (323) 769-7037. Art exhibitions: SPARC Gallery, 685 Venice Blvd., Venice. (310) 822-9560; Espresso Mi Cultura, 5625 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 461-0808; Studio 1030 1/4, 1030 1/4 Western Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 464-5811; Track 16, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, (310) 264-4678. Spoken word performances: Friday, 9:30 p.m. at Lucy Florence, Gallery Too, 6541 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. $5. (800) 961-610. Saturday, noon-4 p.m. at Midnight Special bookstore, 1318 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica. Free. (310) 393-2923. For full event schedule on the Internet: https://www.mumia911.org.

8 pm: Pop Music

Dave Alvin is one of the key songwriters in the roots / folk field, but when he tours with his band, the Guilty Men, he likes to remind people that he’s one of the most rocking musicians to come out of the Los Angeles scene.

* Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men, with the Iguanas, the Roxy, 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $12.50. (310) 278-9457.

11 am: Movies

The Laemmle Theaters will host Strand Releasing’s 10th Anniversary Film Series, a 15-weekend retrospective at the Sunset 5. The Santa Monica-based Strand is one of the true independent distributors and has built a reputation for discovering and supporting new talent (Gregg Araki, Alison Maclean), introducing U.S. audiences to acclaimed foreign directors (Andre Techine, Beno^it Jacquot) and handling cutting-edge gay-themed fare. The series kicks off with Filipino filmmaker Lino Brocka’s “Macho Dancer,” a look at the gay underworld of Manila. See Screening Room, Page TK. Several of the screening films, including “Macho Dancer,” are not available on video or DVD.

* Strand Releasing’s 10th Anniversary Film Series, Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Saturday and Sunday: “Macho Dancer.” Sept. 18-19: “The Living End.” Sept. 25-26: “Claire of the Moon.” Oct. 2-3: “For a Lost Soldier.” Oct. 9-10: “Grief.” Oct. 16-17: “Crush.” Oct. 23-24: “Boys Life.” Oct. 30-31: “Totally F***ed Up.” Nov. 6-7: “Wild Reeds.” Nov. 13-14: “Stonewall.” Nov. 20-21: “Hustler White.” Nov. 27-28: “Boys Life II.” Dec. 4-5: “A Single Girl.” Dec. 11-12: “Contempt.” Dec. 18-19: “I Think I Do.” All films start at 11 a.m. $5 to $8. (323) 848-3500.

noon: Festival

Food, dancing, music and art from Mexico, Central America and South America are part of the Latino Fest, which takes place in Pasadena’s Playhouse District. The street celebration will include local talent and professional groups performing live music and folklorico dances from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.

* Latino Fest, Playhouse District, centered at El Molino Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, nnoon-midnight. Free. (626) 744-0340.

7:15 pm: Pop Music

An irresistible force in Cuban music for three decades, Los Van Van has been making up for its long absence from the U.S. The dance orchestra has toured here repeatedly since its 1997 debut in the States, including a couple of Playboy Jazz Festival appearances. The Universal Amphitheatre concert is a benefit for the nonprofit Latin Sounds Initiative Inc.

* Los Van Van, with the CalArts Latin Jazz Student Ensemble, Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, 7:15 p.m. $28 to $58. (818) 622-4440.

8pm: Theater

The playwrights are young, still in their teens, but “A Night Out With Young Playwrights” is theater for adults, two professionally staged winning one-acts from the respected Blank Theatre Company’s Annual Young Playwrights Festival, directed by noted directors Daniel Henning and Jessica Kubzansky. The plays are “Boy,” about two young men seeking love and identity, by 18-year-old Beth Bigler, and “Starry Night,” about a young woman’s sexual awakening, written by 19-year-old Joshua Levine.

* “A Night Out With Young Playwrights,” Blank Theatre Company at 2nd Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 16. $17.50. (310) 289-2999.

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FREEBIES: Artisans sell pottery, sculptures, etchings, jewelry, stained glass and other work at the Santa Monica Fine Arts and Crafts Fair, Third Street Promenade, between Wilshire Boulevard and Broadway. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (818) 709-2907. Also Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Artist William Pajaud presents a slide show and lecture at the California African-American Museum, Exposition Park, 600 State Drive, L.A. 2 p.m. (213) 744-7432.