Descriptions of Films in alphabetical order (except the Opening Night film and the Gallery Exhibit which are first) Opening Night film - The Forgotten    (Website) We are pleased to present the Pittsburgh debut of The Forgotten, a locally-produced film shot entirely in Pennsylvania. This story of history, memory and redemption was six years in the making. Set in October 1950, UN forces have just crossed the 38th parallel, beginning of the invasion of North Korea. A US Army platoon flees an enemy assault, and two tanks find themselves lost and isolated from their company. Recalling the work of director Sam Fuller, The Forgotten explores the emotional and psychological journey a soldier faces during war. Writer/director/Pittsburgher Vincente Stasolla says, "This is a story of a forgotten war told in a manner that has long since been abandoned by Hollywood. The Forgotten was made as a memorial to both." (Directed by Vincente Stasolla; produced by Henry Simonds; PA; 2003; 91 min) The filmmakers will present the film and speak at each screening. Ed Vogel, president of the Korean War Veterans Association of Western PA, will lead a discussion after the Nov 10 screening • Regent Square Theater: Fri, Nov 7 @ 7:30 - tickets for this opening night are $25, including after-party at Concept Art Gallery, no passes accepted. • Regent Square Theater: Mon, Nov 10 @ 2:00. Gallery Exhibit - Media artist Zoe Beloff    (Website) Pittsburgh Filmmakers Galleries highlights three interactive works by New York media artist Zoe Beloff, through November 30.      The Influencing Machine of Natalija A. is an interactive digital installation based on a famous psychoanalytic case study. A young woman in Vienna (circa 1919) thought an electrical apparatus had been implanted in her brain and was manipulating her mind. "My interactive video installation attempts to materialize Natalija's hallucinations for the participant," Beloff explains. "I wish to reveal how the fantastic machine imagined by a schizophrenic is not nearly as bizarre as it appears." The installation consists of a large diagram on the floor with small projected video images within it. The viewer can don 3-D glasses and (with a pointer) move the images around, re-creating a virtual world much like Natalija's hallucinations.      Where Where There There Where is a CD-ROM, inspired by Gertrude Stein's play, Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, that examines issues of language, logic, and "thinking machines." Beyond is also a CD-ROM that explores the paradoxes of technology, desire and the paranormal posed since the birth of mechanical reproduction. Viewers are invited to sit at a computer to interact with these exhibits. Alphabetical list Addiction    (Website) This low-budget indie thriller tells the story of a clean-cut businessman who's happy with his life, and married to an understanding woman. One day he accidentally kills a mugger in self-defense, and he gets a rush of emotions he doesn't understand: rage, excitement, joy, even lust. As he slowly alienates himself from his friends, his job, and the only woman who truly loves him, the downward spiral of his life takes hold and he soon finds he is no better off than the heroin junkies chasing ever-more-elusive highs in dark alleys and forgotten hallways. Murder becomes his passion, his obsession, his compulsion, his addiction. (Directed by James Tucker; 2003; USA; 115 min) Writer and actor Joshua Nelson will present the Nov 22 screening. • Melwood Screening Room: Fri, Nov 21 @ 9:30; Sat, Nov 22 @ 9:30. Anonymously Yours    (Website) Shot clandestinely in Myanmar, Anonymously Yours presents with brutal honesty four Burmese women who share their experiences in the dangerous world of sex trafficking. Sometimes shocking, these stories expose the commonplace bartering and selling of women and the cycle of poverty that enslaves them. Filmmaker Ferraro takes brilliant advantage of her limitations, creating a looming sense of unease as she weaves the women's intimate testimony with footage of "everyday" life in the streets of Myanmar. In the process, we connect emotionally with these four unforgettable survivors who are struggling against odds to retain their dignity and senses of humor. (Directed by Gayle Ferraro; 2002; 90 min) The director, former Pittsburgher Gayle Ferraro, will present and discuss the film. • Harris Theater: Thu, Nov 13 @ 9:15; Fri, Nov 14 @ 9:30; Sat, Nov 15 @ 4:30. Anything But Love    (Website) For all the incurable romantics out there, an homage to the golden age of cinema, when musicals and technicolor were all the rage. Billie (Isabel Rose) is a cabaret singer with big dreams, but she lives with her mom and can only get gigs in the lounges of the "airport circuit." Meanwhile, two men are vying for her attention — a piano teacher (Andrew McCarthy) with no money, and a highly paid corporate attorney (Cameron Bancroft). Who should she choose? Only Eartha Kitt can solve the dilemma; yes, that Eartha Kitt. (Directed by Robert Cary; USA; 2003; 102 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 8 @ 4:15; Sun, Nov 9 @ 6:00. The Barbarian Invasions    (Website) The characters who populated Denys Arcand’s randy and argumentative 1986 hit The Decline of the American Empire are back in this sequel, still contentious and still obsessed with sex, but now confronting new issues. The bon vivant, raconteur, and inveterate lothario from the last film is now confined to a Montreal hospital. His days are numbered and his womanizing is done, but he has no intention of going out tamely. In short order he’s surrounded by a disorderly crew of family and friends. Arcand expertly manages the vibrant ensemble, establishing the perfect tone in which broad comedy gives way to honest truth telling. Winner of Best Screenplay at Cannes. In French with subtitles. (Directed by Denys Arcand; Canada; 2003; 95min) • Regent Square Theater: Sun, Nov 16 @ 8:00. Beyond the Soul It is a universal question: why are we who we are? In this exotic drama, an American physician, Dr. Lewis, seeks a cure for a patient who is suffering from a mysterious illness. While surfing the net, the doctor discovers an Indian system of ancient medicine. Skeptical, he travels to India to meet with a professor who teaches alternative medical practices. Once there, the doctor has enigmatic visions, which he soon learns are part of the bizarre theories the professor teaches. Filmed in both India and the US, this lovely film weaves together a suspenseful journey with spiritual enlightenment. (Directed by Rajiv Anchal; 2003; USA/India; 93 min) • Harris Theater: Thu, Nov 20 @ 7:15; Sat, Nov 22 @ 5:15. Blind Shaft    (Website) To make Blind Shaft, his first feature film, writer/director Li Yang infiltrated the illegal coal mines of northern China, dodging authorities and relying on helpful, local workers. Switching from pitch-black underground to chilly gray outdoors, Blind Shaft paints an authentic picture of the fall-out from modern-day China's economic boom. The story revolves around a motley assortment of dubious characters, including two young miners who've found a way to work a scheme with the boss. Yang has a sharp eye for detail in this powerful film, while raising questions about a system that breeds an underclass with nothing to lose. (Directed by Li Yang; China; 2003; 92 min) • Regent Square Theater: Fri, Nov 14 @ 9:45; Sat, Nov 15 @ 4:15; Mon, Nov 17 @ 9:30. Blue Vinyl Judith's family home in Long Island was clad in red wood siding, until her parents decided that it would look better dressed in blue vinyl. Award-winning documentarian Judith Helfand travels the globe in search of the hidden social and environmental costs associated with vinyl, or PVC, the ubiquitous and often friendly-feeling product that reveals itself to be far more toxic than anyone is prepared to admit. Like vinyl itself, Blue Vinyl takes many forms, morphing from live-action into telling animation through passages of horror, humor and compassion in its quest to explore building a better consumer culture. (Directed by Judith Helfand; USA; 2001; 98 min.) John Sipos, Esq., New York State Attorney General’s office, lead attorney in the successful defense of New York State's GreenBuilding tax credit regulations, will speak at the screening. • Harris Theater: Wed, Nov 12 @ 8:00. Bollywood/Hollywood    (Website) A hilarious, madcap love song to both East and West, from the acclaimed director of Fire and Earth. This over-the-top melodrama fuses Indian music, Hollywood choreography, North American locations, and Bollywood stars. Rahul is a dashing, young millionaire desperate to stop his mother and grandmother from interfering with his romantic life. But when they threaten to call off his sister's wedding unless he finds himself a nice Indian girl, he hires an escort, Sue (the stunning Lisa Ray), to pose as his fiancée. Let the charades begin in this Big Fat Indian Wedding of a film. (Directed by Deepa Mehta; Canada; 2003; 106 min) • Regent Square Theater: Fri, Nov 14 @ 7:30; Sat, Nov 15 @ 9:00; Sun, Nov 16 @ 3:15. Bonhoeffer    (Website) Three weeks before the end of World War II, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life was cut short at the end of a gallows rope in a concentration camp. He had been one of his country's best-known religious thinkers and most outspoken pacifists who, nonetheless, became a conspirator to assassinate Hitler. His theories espousing the difference between talk and action have not lost their relevance in today's world. This compelling film, which has been playing to SRO crowds in festivals and churches across the US, covers much of Bonhoeffer's life, including a trip to America, where he taught Sunday school in Harlem. It features acclaimed actor Klaus Maria Brandauer as the voice of Bonhoeffer. (Directed by Martin Doblmeier; USA; 2003; 90 min) • Harris Theater: Fri, Nov 14 @ 7:30; Sat, Nov 15 @ 7:00; Mon, Nov 17 @ 9:15. Borders Seven Africans, a woman and six men, try to enter Europe clandestinely to start a new life. Together they face dangers and obstacles, but as they near Tangiers - the last stop before they reach Spain, and liberty - their solidarity starts to fall apart. The director presents consistent moral questions, demanding judgement on the decisions and actions of his characters; even the most sympathetic become ruthless and callous in their quest for freedom. Borders confronts the global controversy of refugees, while examining of the complexities of human nature. In French with subtitles. (Directed by Mostefa Djadjam; 2002; Algeria; 102 min) • Harris Theater: Sun, Nov 16 @ 5:00; Mon, Nov 17 @ 7:15; Tue, Nov 18 @ 9:00. Brakhage Tribute Stan Brakhage, who died in March of this year, was the father of the experimental film movement in this country, and all subsequent independent filmmakers owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. In 1952 (at the age of 19) he completed his first film, and in over 50 years of filmmaking, he made more than 300 personal works. They range from the purely abstract to the representational, from 9 seconds in length to 4 hours. He treated celluloid as a living, organic substance. For Brakhage, the love of film intensified his love of life, and his films simultaneously celebrate both the natural world and the remaking of the world with cinema.   Brakhage Tribute: Music and Image     Text of Light (1974). One of his most beautiful films, this is an abstract study of the prismatic play of light beams in a glass ashtray. This powerful work will be matched in sound by a group of musicians in the vanguard of collective improvisation. Guitarist Alan Licht, Lee Ranaldo of avant-rock pioneers Sonic Youth, turntablist Christian Marclay, DJ Olive and drummer William Hooker will present a live improvised score to the film. • Regent Square Theater: Wed, Nov 19 @ 7:30 - tickets for this special event are $15, no passes accepted. Brakhage Tribute: The Best of Early Brakhage     Mothlight (1963). In this famous un-photographed short, Brakhage placed bits of leaves, flowers, seeds, and moth wings on pieces of Mylar splicing tape and then printed the results, creating an abstract, organic fusion of shapes.     Window Water Baby Moving (1959). Using the camera as an autobiographical recording device as well as an artist's tool, Brakhage observed and captured the birth of his first child in this film.     Dog Star Man (1961-1964). Told in four parts, this mythic film combines an adoration of nature with the journey of a man and his dog up a mountainside to create a cosmic view of man's relation to the universe. • Melwood Screening Room: Fri, Nov 14 @ 10:00; Sat, Nov 15 @ 4:00. The Burning Wall    (Website) Do you worry the USA Patriot Act may be used for more than fighting terrorism? This gripping, new documentary about the history of Communist East Germany's Stasi might provide a cautionary tale. The tight narrative digs into territory never before explored on film, using extensive research to focus on the secret police that (between 1949 and 1989) kept tabs on the populace with a force of 100,000 agents. Beller takes us into a world of heroism and brutality, finding those who were part of the system and those who resisted. (Directed by Hava Kohav Beller; USA/Germany; 2003; 116 min) • Melwood Screening Room: Sun, Nov 9 @ 3:00; Wed, Nov 12 @ 7:15; Fri, Nov 14 @ 7:30. Carnage    (Website) Winner of the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes, as well as prizes for best first film at the London and Stockholm film festivals. An original, intertwining story, Carnage traces the bizarre, often-magical effects a bull named Romero has on a disparate group of characters. Romero is killed in a bullfight, but not before the young bullfighter is gored. Overnight, various parts of the animal make their way to recipients across Europe. With elegance, humor and a remarkable visual command, director Gleize weaves these stories together, to examine whether beneath the spontaneity and chaos of our lives, there is some guiding principle that connects us all. Featuring the lovely Chiara Mastoianni. In French, Spanish, Italian with subtitles. (Directed by Delphine Gleize; Spain; 2002; 130 min) • Regent Square Theater: Wed, Nov 12 @ 9:45; Thu, Nov 13 @ 7:15. Crimson Gold A subversive look at Iran, with screenplay by Abbas Kiarostami (Ten). It opens with a jewelry store heist that goes from bad to worse, then backtracks to the period just before the botched job. We travel around Tehran with pizza-delivery man Hussein and his brother-in-law, witnessing examples of a repressive regime, as they draw each other into stealing and eventually the heist. "If you want to arrest a thief, you'll have to arrest the world," says one of the characters. In a city where squads roam the streets making random arrests, it seems that everyone is a potential criminal. In Farsi with subtitles. (Directed by Jafar Panahi; Iran; 2003; 97 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 15 @ 6:30; Sun, Nov 16 @ 5:30. Closing Night film - Debt Begins at Twenty In the late '70s, Pittsburgh experienced the birth of the punk movement. Bands were playing everywhere, from their  own basements, to the Banana to Flagstaff Hill. Three chords and a mike and you had a band. Part fiction, part truth, this lengendary film chronicles the early days of that scene. It’s also a delightful and nostalgic character study of some of the movement’s most colorful figures. features Bill Bored, Sesame Spinelli, and Reid Paley with music by The Cardboards, The Shakes, Hans Brinker and The Dykes. (Directed by Stephanie Beroes; 1980; USA; 40min) Ms Beroes, who now lives in New York, will be present for this first public screening of Debt Begins at 20 in over a decade. She will screen other recent work, including footage from the contemporary music scene in Prague.  Live music will follow the screening. • Regent Square Theater: Sun, Nov 23 @ 7:00 - tickets for this closing night are $10, no passes accepted. The Embalmer    (Website) Peppino is a diminutive taxidermist who secretly courts an unsuspecting young hunk named Valerio to be his assistant. This beautiful film's seemingly gentle path gives way to a dark undercurrent and a creeping suspense that's irresistible and unnerving. When the beady-eyed embalmer gazes longingly at the reclining half-naked body of the vapid but gorgeous young god he desperately wants to control, he says, "you could have the world at your feet." And we know it's true. "…[A] macabre and fiendishly entertaining tale of lust, unrequited love and the fine art of taxidermy." – TV Guide's Movie Guide. (Directed by Matteo Garrone; Italy; 2003; 101 min) • Harris Theater: Fri, Nov 7 @ 7:30; Sat, Nov 8 @ 5:00; Mon, Nov 10 @ 9:15. Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet Between clips of rigorous performances of Swan Lake and what the dancers call "Bejart's" Ninth Symphony (referring to the choreographer instead of the composer), Etoiles provides a backstage look at Paris Opera Ballet's world-renowned and highly competitive corps de ballet. The art's sublimity is detailed in interviews, exquisite footage, and gorgeous black and white stills. A touching portrait of very dedicated people, most of whom grew up hermetically sealed in a world where their closest comrades are their biggest rivals. In French with subtitles. (Directed by Nils Tavernier; France , 2001; 100 min) • Harris Theater: Sat, Nov 8 @ 7:00; Sun, Nov 9 @ 5:00; Tue, Nov 11 @ 7:15. The Event    (Website) This thought-provoking film stars an ensemble of outstanding actors — Parker Posey, Jane Leeves, Sarah Polley, Olympia Dukakis and Don McKellar — and tackles the controversial issue of assisted suicide. Matt, an AIDS patient, stages a farewell party for himself to celebrate his passing on his own terms. The story, told mostly in flashback, emphasizes the friends and family in Matt's life who are forced to examine their feelings about this complicated issue, and are now implicated in a crime. (Directed by Thom Fitzgerald; 2002; USA/Canada; 105 min) • Regent Square Theater: Tue, Nov 18 @ 7:15; Thu, Nov 20 @ 9:30. Everybody Says I'm Fine    (Website) Filmed in India, this charming story centers around Xen, a hairstylist who's had the ability to read minds ever since witnessing a accident as a child. He's kept himself from going insane by fine-tuning his skills, and now only hears thoughts while cutting hair. When beautiful Niki visits his salon, Xen's stunned to find out he can't sense her thoughts. Is she pretty vacant, or is something inscrutable going on? Part Bombay soap opera, part murder mystery, a quirky little gem. In English and Hindi with subtitles. (Directed by Rahul Bose; 2002; 103 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 8 @ 9:00; Sun, Nov 9 @ 4:00; Mon, Nov 10 @ 7:15. Film Kitchen Special: Space is the Place    (Website) This cult classic featuring intergalactic messenger of peace-through-music Sun Ra, has become an important piece of African-American cultural literacy. Sun Ra descends from the heavens after exploring the universe in his music-powered starship. He establishes an interstellar employment agency to recruit black folks to escape from the evil Overseer by leaving Earth. Part biography, part blaxploitation flick, and part music video, the director's cut highlights Sun Ra's career. The innovative combination of social commentary and psychedelic musical space adventure captures the funkiness of the 1960s and the polemics of the counter culture. (Directed by John Coney; USA; 1974; 85min) Join us after the screening for local band Opec 13, who will perform live Sun Ra music from the '70s. • Regent Square Theater: Tue, Nov 11 @ 7:30. The Flower of Evil    (Website) Master director Claude Chabrol has been delighting audiences with his darkly twisted take on the bourgeois for almost half a century, and he's at it again. This is the wicked tale of the Charpin-Vasseurs, one of the most respected upper-middle-class families in the Bordeaux region of France. The family's picture-perfect image is shattered by murder. In Chabrol's elegant and ironic style, the film retraces each family member's actions in the two weeks leading up to the crime, revealing both their true characters and the skeletons in their closets. In French with subtitles. (Directed by Claude Chabrol; France; 2003; 104 min) • Regent Square Theater: Mon, Nov 17 @ 7:15; Tue, Nov 18 @ 9:30. Girlhood    (Website) Oscar-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus tells two coming-of-age stories from an America in which childhood is in shorter and shorter supply. We follow teen girls Shanae and Megan over the course of three years, as they move through the juvenile detention system and out into the world. A dramatic and heartbreaking story, much of it spent at the Waxter Children's Center in Maryland, where Garbus gained unprecedented access. Skillfully edited to present a well-rounded picture of the girls, the system, and the family support that determines their fate. Girlhood is a compelling and ultimately positive portrait of teenagers. (Directed by Liz Garbus; USA; 2002; 82 min) • Harris Theater: Sun, Nov 16 @ 7:15; Tue, Nov 18 @ 7:15. Girls Will Be Girls    (Website) Three actresses at various places on the Hollywood food chain navigate the minefield of love, aging, and ambition. Oh, and they're all played by men (including CMU grad Jack Plotnick)! Very funny and completely captivating. The visual style is all '70s pastel kitsch: house, clothes, hair. Cheesy low-tech special effects add to the fun. Think of it as Hairspray meets Valley of the Dolls. Produced by and starring Carnegie-Mellon alumnus Jack Plotnick. (Directed by Richard Day; USA; 2003; 79 min) • Harris Theater: Fri, Nov 21 @ 9:45; Sat, Nov 22 @ 9:45; Sun, Nov 23 @ 4:00. Harryhausen Films (family & kids event)   The Three Worlds of Gulliver    (Website) Withdrawn from circulation soon after its initial release, this is the least known of the Harryhausen films. Jonathan Swift's globetrotting Gulliver travels to strange lands populated by tiny Lilliputians and giant Brobdingnaggers and stranger still, inhabitants of modern-day England. As always the "dynamation" by Harryhausen is superb, but this one also features a score by the great Bernard Herrmann. (1959; 100 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 8 @ 2:00. The First Men in the Moon    (Website) With some of Harryhausen's best, eye-popping visual effects, this delightful tale of space travel is based on H. G. Wells's story. Scientists from 1964 tell the tale of ancient space exploration — back in 1899, an eccentric scientist and his brave female assistant took a trip to the moon in a homemade spaceship. Once there, they become trapped by an alien civilization. Fun for the whole family! (1964; 103 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 15 @ 2:00. Horns and Halos    (Website) The thoroughly engrossing, strange story of a book that caused a media sensation during the 2000 Bush campaign. Fortunate Son, by J.H. Hatfield, claimed that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession in the '70s and that it was covered up. Then the publishing company came under fire, Hatfield's background (as a felon) was exposed, and, even though it was a bestseller, St. Martin's Press recalled the book. Enter underground publisher Sander Hicks, who ran his Soft Skull Press from a tiny room in a tenement, where he worked as a janitor, when he announced he was going to re-publish the book. This moving documentary is a compassionate portrait of an American maverick, and a reminder to question what is told as the truth. (Directed by Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky; USA; 2002; 79 min) • Melwood Screening Room: Fri, Nov 7 @ 7:30; Sat, Nov 8 @ 2:30; Sun, Nov 9 @ 4:30. Hukkle    (Website) It means "hiccup" in Hungarian, and is a delightful mix of puckish humor, dark mystery and nature meditation, set in an idyllic countryside. The story unfolds with virtually no dialogue. The teeming soundtrack and fluid imagery serve as a narrative — from an old man with a stubborn case of hiccups, to pigs rooting in the mud, to a postman's rickety bicycle rattling over the road. The scenes fuse dramatically together, rising to a pitch of menacing suspense. This is the first feature from this young director, and was one the most critically-acclaimed films of '02. (Directed by Gyorgy Palfi; 2002; Hungary; 75 min) • Regent Square Theater: Fri, Nov 21 @ 7:30; Sat, Nov 22 @ 5:00. In My Skin    (Website) Esther, a young writer, becomes preoccupied with her body and skin, especially her healing wounds after suffering deep gashes to her leg in a fall. Before long she opens them back up. Her boyfriend becomes understandably concerned and angry, but his inability to empathize alienates Esther further. This intelligent film stays quiet about what and why this is happening — social, professional, biological pressures all seem like relevant but insufficient explanations. Influenced by feminist and avant-garde performance art, In My Skin examines the body as a boundary and as a battleground. (Directed by Marina De Van; France; 2003; 93 min) • Harris Theater: Sun, Nov 9 @ 7:15; Mon, Nov 10 @ 7:15; Tue, Nov 11 @ 9:15. Kedma    (Website) Another provocative film from Amos Gitai, Israel's most acclaimed filmmaker (Kadosh, Kippur). The freighter Kedma is making its way across the Mediterranean, 1948. Several hundred exhausted Holocaust survivors are packed onboard, drifting toward the one place that might finally offer them a safe haven: Palestine. But the dissonance that will characterize the next 50 years of Israel's history is already in place. Gitai uses fictional characters to dramatize historical reality, and, while minimalist in style, by the end the film is operatic in intensity. In Hebrew, Arabic and Polish with subtitles. (Directed by Amos Gitai; Israel; 2003; 100 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 8 @ 6:45; Sun, Nov 9 @ 2:00; Mon, Nov 10 @ 9:15. Long Gone The life of a hobo attracts misfits of all sorts. They ride that train to freedom, to escape, to belong. They may come out of prison or the military to find that there isn't a place for them in society anymore. Then there are those that have never fit in anywhere. Seven years in the making, Long Gone began one summer when David Eberhardt and co-director Jack Cahill started still-photography projects on American hobos independently of each other. "I ran away from the circus to join the hobos," says Cahill, a former Ringling Brothers advance man. Eventually the two decided to team up on the Super 16mm and video-shot feature. The filmmakers lived and traveled with their subjects, riding the trains, and eating out of dumpsters with them. This compelling documentary also features an original soundtrack by Tom Waits. (Directed by David Eberhardt and Jack Cahill; 2003; USA; 90 min) Filmmakers David Eberhardt and Jack Cahill will present and discuss the film. • Melwood Screening Room: Sat, Nov 8 @ 9:00; Sun, Nov 9 @ 6:30. Melvin Goes to Dinner    (Website) Melvin goes to dinner with three almost complete strangers. They discuss marital infidelity, religion, a guy in heaven wearing a Wizard's jersey, anal fetishes, cigarettes and schizophrenia, ghosts, stewardesses, masturbation, and how it's all going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Helmed by the great Bob Odenkirk (in his directorial debut), the humor may not be as uniquely surreal as his HBO series, Mr. Show (whose David Cross makes a funny cameo) but has the universal truths of the comedy inherent in our everyday lives. Jack Black is brought in for a hilarious flashback as a medical patient who believes God is just a front for the real creator of the universe: himself. (Directed by Bob Odenkirk; USA; 2003; 84 min) • Melwood Screening Room: Sun, Nov 16 @ 4:15; Mon, Nov 17 @ 7:15; Tue, Nov 18 @ 7:15. Milk and Honey Fresh from this year's Sundance Film Fest, this is a clever exploration of intersecting lives, lost loves, missed opportunities and the devilish hand of fate. Young stockbroker Rick spontaneously re-proposes to Joyce, his wife of 10 years, at a cocktail party. She rejects him, and his zones of comfort and security come apart. When the two go their separate ways, both the fragility and resilience of their psyches are tested. In this thoroughly inventive film, clues are dropped and picked up again like breadcrumbs along the path to hope and happiness. (Directed by Joe Maggio; 2003; USA; 90 min) Former Pittsburgher Matt Myers, the producer of Milk and Honey, will present and discuss the film. • Melwood Screening Room: Thu, Nov 13 @ 9:15; Sat, Nov 15 @ 6:30. On_Line    (Website) Director Jed Weintrob (a digital junkie from the early days of interactive entertainment) has a lot more on his mind than sex, even though On_Line is set in Manhattan's cybersex industry. It's built around very revealing and very funny streaming video sessions with an assortment of young people who live their unfulfilled lives in cyberspace. Using a ground-breaking mix of new technology and romance, it won the Silicon Valley's Cinequest festival award for best narrative feature. The characters here may spend too much time "communicating" with each other online, but this insightful film offers a solution to their problems: meeting in person. (Directed by Jed Weintraub; USA; 2003; 97 min) • Harris Theater: Sat, Nov 22 @ 7:30; Sun, Nov 23 @ 2:00. Peripheral Produce Presents    (Website) Peripheral Produce started as an itty-bitty screening series in Portland, Oregon 1996, and now put out art by some of the finest American experimental filmmakers. This is a collection of the best and brightest short films and videos from Peripheral Produce’s history. The compilation includes Miranda July’s Getting Stronger Every Day, Naomi Uman’s Removed, Matt McCormick’s The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal, Bill Brown’s Buffalo Common, Animal Charm’s Stuffing, Bryan Boyce’s Election Collectibles, Jim Finn’s Wustenspringmaus, Vanessa Renwick’s Crowdog, Sam Green’s N. Judah 5:30, and Brian Frye’s Oona’s Veil. Works from this collection have screened from the Sundance Film Festival to the Whitney Biennial and is a representation of the some of the best experimental work that has been made in the last decade. (2003; USA; 90 min) • Melwood Screening Room: Sat, Nov 22 @ 7:30. The Returner    (Website) The year is 2084 and the human race is fighting an alien militia to save the last remnant of civilization. In this hyper-action sci-fi from Japan, Miyamoto acts on a client’s tip, infiltrates deep into the recesses of the black market, and steals big scores of non-traceable cash. He is unbeatable in combat but his past harbors a darkness: as a young orphan, his bosom buddy was murdered. His heart is sworn to revenge for the murder of his friend. With elements from The Matrix, ET, and The Terminator, this is one cool movie. In Japanese and Mandarin with English subtitles.(Directed by Takashi Yamazaki; Japan; 2003; 117min) • Harris Theater: Thu, Nov 20 @ 9:15; Fri, Nov 21 @ 7:30. Scumrock    (Website) The latest feature by underground film's perpetual bad boy revolves around the members of a San Francisco punk band. Clueless filmmaker Miles (Malone) aims to make "the ultimate art film," while his wannabe rock star friends scrap, switch sides, and fight dirty in their attempt to dominate a smalltime music scene. Moritsugu, proud standard-bearer of low-tech analog video, exploits the medium's gritty, you-are-there qualities to the utmost. Scumrock was voted Best Feature in the 2002 Chicago Underground Film Festival. (Directed by Jon Moritsugu, USA 2002. 79 min.) The director, Jon Moritsugu, will present and discuss the film. • Melwood Screening Room: Sun, Nov 16 @ 7:00; Mon, Nov 17 @ 9:15. Seaside    (Website) Winner of the Camera d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, Seaside marks the arrival of an important young director. Over the course of four seasons, the characters of a once-grand, French resort town are introduced anti-dramatically, gradually forming a micro-society of young and less young, the prosperous summer folk and the hardscrabble townies. Like the pebbles on the resort's rocky beach, these people are transformed by rubbing up against each other. On one level a gallery of heart-stopping photographs, each a visual haiku; Seaside unfolds with a kind of stunned languor full of gaps and silences, perfectly at one with characters frozen in sameness or groping for new selves. In French with subtitles. (Directed by Julie Lopes-Curval; France; 2003; 88 min) • Harris Theater: Thu, Nov 13 @ 7:15; Sat, Nov 15 @ 9:00; Sun, Nov 16 @ 3:00. Shorts Programs New to this year's Shorts Program is a competitive component. Artists from around the country submitted a wide variety of narrative, experimental, animated and documentary shorts. The Shorts Program devotes space within the film festival (three separate programs) for media artists to present work that allows them to creatively take risks, break new ground, or challenge the viewer. Winners of first, second, and third place prizes will be announced during the screenings.   Program I Keum-Taek Jung Chris Prouty Jay Golden Tony Gault Elsi D. Caldeira Mendes E.S. Wochensky Sarah Bowen Joyce Oates Bryn Zellers Levi Abrino KC Milliken Program II Liana Dragoman Caleb Smith Mike Bonello Erik Brandt Licia Slimon Andrew Fake Peter Rose Nicole Koschmann Eric Fleishauer Gary Adlestein Smilen Savov Ana Kelly Program III Seth Squadron Katheryn Ramey L. Marcus Williams • Prog I: Melwood Screening Rm: Sat, Nov 8 @ 7:00; Mon, Nov 10 @ 7:15. • Prog II: Melwood Screening Rm: Mon, Nov 10 @ 9:15; Thu, Nov 13 @ 7:15. • Prog III: Melwood Screening Rm: Tue, Nov 18 @ 9:30; Thu, Nov 20 @ 7:15. The Singing Detective    (Website) A delirious genre-shattering mix of film noir, fanciful musical, outrageous comedy, and psychodrama, The Singing Detective is one of the most talked about films of the year. Re-configuring the landmark BBC series, the story revolves around Dan Dark (Robert Downey Jr.) a misanthropic pulp-writer with a debilitating skin condition. His feverish mind shifts between several worlds: his afflicted present, his painful childhood, and a detective novel he’s working on - which stars himself as a debonair, crooning sleuth. A brilliant supporting cast includes Adrien Brody, Katie Homes, Jeremy Northam, Mel Gibson, and Robin Wright Penn. (Directed by Keith Gordon; USA; 2003; 109min) • Regent Square Theater: Sun, Nov 9 @ 8:15. Stoked: the Rise and Fall of Gator    (Website) Set to a punk rock beat, this biographical film about Mark "Gator" Rogowski, a legendary 1980s skateboarder, starts with the shocking news of his demise after being convicted for rape and murder, then goes back to Gator's boarding beginnings as a 14-year-old. A devilish, cocky personality, he set the stage for many of skateboarding's modern moves. Footage of Gator soaring off the ramp in a dramatic arc clearly demonstrates his prowess. Testimonials from his former friends — skating icons like Ken Park and Tony Hawk — shed light on the sport as a counterculture while telling funny, sad, insightful and often scathing stories about Gator. "A vertical, high-flying rush of a movie." - Film Threat. (Directed by Helen Stickler; USA; 2003; 82 min) • Melwood Screening Room: Sat, Nov 15 @ 9:00; Sun, Nov 16 @ 2:00. The Stone Reader    (Website) In 1972, when Mark Moskowitz was 18 years old, he read a review of Dow Mossman's book The Stones of Summer, and knew he'd like it. Though he didn't get around to actually reading it for another 25 years, Moskowitz was shocked to learn its author never penned another book. In this labor of love, Moskowitz documents his quest to find the forgotten writer and get to the bottom of a great publishing mystery: how do so many great works of literature and great writers just disappear? An infectious excitement about literature — reading it, collecting it, understanding it, enjoying it — comes through loud and clear in this inspiring film. (Directed by Mark Moskowitz; USA; 2003; 128 min) • Regent Square Theater: Wed, Nov 12 @ 7:15; Thu, Nov 13 @ 9:45. A Talking Picture    (Website) Set sail for the historic Mediterranean ports of Marseilles, Pompeii, Athens and Istanbul in this delightful work from the 94-year-old, amazingly prolific, Portuguese master Manoel de Oliveira. Starring Catherine Deneuve, this celebration of travel, conversation and ideas follows a history professor as she sets off by sea with her precocious daughter to meet her husband in Bombay. Journeying through the wonders of Western civilization, they encounter a series of intriguing cultural guides and passengers (movie legends Irene Papas, Stefania Sandrelli, and John Malkovich) who weigh in on the sites and state of the world. This lovely odyssey weaves a seductive web, while holding a dark and provocative twist up its sleeve. (Directed by Manoel de Oliveira; Portugal; 2003; 95 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 22 @ 7:00; Sun, Nov 23 @ 2:00. The Three Marias    (Website) Three temptresses from the Brazilian countryside are sent by their mother to find the country's most notorious killers for a revenge mission in this mythical film. With its epic quests, deadly feuds, heroes who draw their power from the animal kingdom, evil villains and grandiose revenge plots, you might expect Xena Warrior Princess to leap into the fray and kick somebody's ass. But the strikingly unusual movie is also a good old-fashioned melodrama. Boldly stylized, this grim fairy tale is acted and directed with originality and flair. In Portuguese with subtitles. (Directed by Aluizio Abranches; Brazil; 2003; 90 min.) • Harris Theater: Fri, Nov 7 @ 9:30; Sat, Nov 8 @ 9:15; Sun, Nov 9 @ 3:00. To Be and To Have    (Website) One dedicated teacher, Georges Lopez, now approaching retirement, teaches all the boys and girls in a rural, French, one-room schoolhouse. Amidst the reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, there's also tobogganing in the snow, making pancakes, and picnicking in the fields. Lopez's enlightened philosophy is evident as he prepares his charges for an adult world. While hand-held digital video is currently popular for documentaries, Philibert chooses the expressive qualities of traditional celluloid. Shot over most of a year, in long composed takes, the style enhances this wonderful story of a devoted teacher. In French with subtitles. (Directed by Nicolas Philibert; 2003; France; 104 min) • Regent Square Theater: Thu, Nov 20 @ 7:15; Fri, Nov 21 @ 9:30; Sat, Nov 22 @ 3:00. The Triplets of Belleville (family & kids event)    (Website) Already being hailed as the front-runner for this year's Best Animated Feature Oscar, this brilliant film forges a new narrative and visual style that will set the bar for all animated features to come. Diminutive Madame Souza lives with her grandson, named Champion, and faithful dog Bruno. Champion spends years training for the Tour de France but when he's finally ready, he's kidnapped by the French Mafia. Madame Souza and Bruno's rescue mission takes them to Belleville where they meet the renowned Triplets — three old women, former music-hall stars — who turn out to be quite helpful. While totally original, Triplets shows influences as diverse as Caro and Jeunet (City of Lost Children), Mr. Magoo, and Wallace and Gromit. Exciting, hilarious, magical, and touching, this is the must-see film of the festival. (Directed by Sylvain Chomet; France; 2003; 80 min) • Regent Square Theater: Sat, Nov 22 @ 9:30. ONE NIGHT ONLY! Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself    (Website) A favorite at this year's Toronto Film Festival, this dark comedy, set in Glasgow, is from the director of Italian for Beginners. Wilbur attempts suicide at every given opportunity. But he feels he has good reason: he's the world's worst nursery school employee, he's inherited a bookstore he doesn't want, and he has a crush on his brother's wife. Don't let the title put you off ­ with a beautifully written, witty script and terrific performances, this is a truly life-affirming film. (Directed by Lone Scherfig; UK; 2002; 105 min) • Melwood Screening Room: Fri, Nov 7 @ 9:30; Sat, Nov 8 @ 4:30. The Year That Trembled    (Website) This coming-of-age drama, war chronicle, and unconventional love story is set in the shadow of the turbulent events at Kent State. On May 2, 1970, three teenagers find themselves caught up in the anti-Nixon upheaval. Following a guerilla theater performance, they meet a young activist woman who takes refuge at their summer farmhouse, hoping to sidestep an FBI investigation. All the while, the draft lottery hovers over them like a helicopter with a passenger list they've yet to see. Confronted by the hypocrisy of the war and the complexities of the counter-culture, no one emerges unscathed. Cameos by Martin Mull and Fred Willard. (Directed by Jay Craven; 2002; USA; 95 min) • Melwood Screening Room: Thu, Nov 20 @ 9:30; Fri, Nov 21 @ 7:30; Sun, Nov 23 @ 2:00.