In celebration of the World Day of Puppetry, the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry and Somerville Media Center present an evening of short puppetry films for families on Friday, April 6. Beginning at 7:00 p.m., singing sheep, piano-mouth puppets and an updated Old Mother Hubbard fill the screen in Handmade Puppet Dreams for Families, Volume 1, an episode of a traveling film series created by puppet artist Heather Henson. The evening continues at 8:00 p.m. with Puppet Showplace Resident Artist Sarah Nolen’s Treeples, in which girls join forces with lively forest creatures to rid the woods of monsters, followed by Brooklyn puppeteer Spencer Lott’s chocolate drama Cupcake and other independent short films.

Through the Handmade Puppet Dreams series, Heather Henson has set out to showcase a new generation of puppeteers and puppet artists who embrace film as a medium for artistic expression. Volume 1 includes artists Paul Andrejco, Laura Heit and Sesame Street’s Leslie Carrera-Rudolph, among others. The films are best for ages 4 to 104. For more information please see Handmade Puppet Dreams for Families.

Admission to “Puppet Film Night” is free and limited to 50 people. Advance registration is recommended through puppetfilm.eventbrite.com.

Union Square’s Somerville Media Center (SMC) is a thirty-year-old nonprofit community media center that exists to foster creativity, innovation and community expression through training, production resources and global distribution. Hundreds of adults, students and children have built their communication skills through SMC’s programs, which include the Somerville Community Access TV (SCATV) Channel 3, Boston Free Radio (BFR), Somerville Neighborhood News (SNN) and SMC Youth Media.

The Boston Area Guild of Puppetry is a group of puppet artists and enthusiasts who meet regularly to support puppeteers and encourage the art of puppetry. Bi-monthly meetings are held at the Puppet Showplace in Brookline. For more information, see puppetsbostonguild.org.