It seems obvious that African-American filmmakers should be allowed to make Menace II Society or House Party or Sankofa—or whatever—depending on their own muse. With violence decimating black inner-city communities, though, should they think twice about making films that some viewers might see as glamorizing thuggery? That’s what five panelists—film- and videomakers Ada Babino, Bruce Brown, Thomas Poole, and Tim Wilson and Black Film Review editor Leasa Farrar-Frazer—will debate in “Gangsta Mack Cinema: Perpetuating Negative Images or Expanding Opportunities?” The panel discussion (at 6 p.m.) will be preceded by three hours of films (starting at 3 p.m.), including work by the panel members. At 8Rock, 1920 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE. FREE. (202) 529-4887. (Mark Jenkins)