Friday Happenings

Still from Los Muertos courtesy HFA.

Argentinian cinema is in great shape these days, and Lisandro Alonso is a big reason why. The HFA runs through the young director's four films this weekend to give Bostonians a glimpse at a promising talent who is not screened often enough in this country. The series kicks off today with Los Muertos (2004), which follows "the enigmatic journey of a newly released convict through the sweltering heart of the jungle," and Fantasma (2006), a companion piece that follows the star of Los Muertos as he wanders through Teatro San Martin looking for the premiere of his film. Alonso will be on hand to tell you why. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge, 7 p.m. $12. More information.

Attractive Men

The Office heartthrob and Newton native John Krasinski will introduce his new film adaption of David Foster Wallace's short story collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, his debut as a director. Kendall Square Cinema, 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.

Singing

The Cantata Singers open their season with a refreshingly diverse slate of offerings, including music by Heinrich Schütz, Hugo Distler, Arnold Schoenberg, and J.S. Bach's entrancing Cantata BWV 8. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough St., 8 p.m. $17 to $52. More information.

Night Nurse

Lady Saw often gets advanced as a point against dancehall's well deserved reputation for misogyny, and it is true that her songs cover territory—abuse and neglect, female sexual autonomy—that most dancehall hits, shall we say, gloss over. The fact that she shares a bill that also features Beenie Man—one of the best deejays of his generation—and Shaggy says something about the advancement of contemporary Jamaican music, but we are not sure what that is. Club Lido, 1290 North Shore Rd., Revere, 9 p.m. $35/$40.

Weird Music

Swedish experimental music concern Sons of God (Guds söner) make their Boston debut alongside Joachim Nordwall and local-ish trumpeter Greg Kelley. The band describes "their field of activity as an investigation of a mental airspace, undertaken with the aid of unconventional tools. The aural aspect is important, but equal care is devoted to the visual." Room 181, North Hall, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Ave., 8 p.m. $10.