Photo by french toast

FRIDAY:

MOVIES: The Hola Mexico Film Festival runs through Tuesday at Landmark’s E St. Cinema, with a lineup of 14 films representing some of the best in contemporary Mexican cinema. Consult the full schedule at the festival website. Among tonight’s options are Jaime Ruiz Ibanez’s Half of the World at 9 p.m., a coming of age story about a young man with a mild mental retardation.

Head up to the AFI Silver to catch the Best of 10 Years of the 48 Hour Film Project. The long-running festival and short film competition has selected a group of the best of the best from the past decade. 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.

JAZZ: One of the area’s best free concert series, the National Gallery of Art’s Jazz in the Garden, kicks off tonight with vocalist Leslie Summey. 5 to 8:30 p.m. Free.

MUSIC: Erykah Badu, N.E.R.D. and Janelle Monae are playing two consecutive shows at DAR. Both are either sold-out and nearly sold-out, so your best bet may be to hang around outside and make the most of strangers trying to get rid of extras. 8 p.m.

The Velvet Lounge has Greenland, Frau Eva (***), Orbit to Leslie, and The Armchairs. 9 p.m., $8.