Argentina

The Adventures of God - Elisio Subiela

Subiela's "metaphysical" thriller continues his exploration of the supernatural and metaphorical, blurring the boundaries between reality and nightmare. A man and a woman are trapped in what seems to be a dream unfolding in the labyrinthine corridors and mysterious rooms of a spacious 1930s hotel by the sea. The man remembers nothing of his past or how he came to the hotel, but two men accuse him of having committed a crime elsewhere. As he and the woman investigate their predicament, they fall in love and together are pushed to extraordinary measures to find the true nature of their existence. Rich with big ideas, bold, surreal images and Dadaist spirit, Subiela has created another surprising and fantastical meditation. (90 mins.) Print courtesy of INCAA and CQ3 Films. Filmography: Little Miracles (97), Wake up Love (96), Dark Side of the Heart (92), Man Facing Southeast (86). Showtimes: 2/10, 8:15pm and 2/11, 5pm FX.

Waiting for the Messiah - Daniel Burman

Two men from different parts of Buenos Aires find their lives upended and intertwined by the ripples of the world financial markets. For Daniel, a young Jewish man proud of his identity, the chaos provides the opportunity to escape inheriting his father's failing restaurant and to strike out on his own. For middle-aged Santamaria, the sudden collapse of the bank where he works leads to a life on the streets. For both men, one who simply wants his old life back and the other eager for a new future, the challenge of creating acceptable new places in society is fraught with universal emotions. Parallel lives, intersecting stories- told with heart and sensitivity- paint an alternately bleak and charming portrait of life in the Argentine capital at the end of the century. (98 mins.) Print courtesy of Adriana Chiesa Enterprises. Filmography: A Chrysanthemum Explodes in Cincoesquinas (96), Garage Olimpio (99, producer). Showtimes: 2/10, 1pm and 2/17, 9:15pm BW.

Australia

Chopper - Andrew Dominik

Hailed as a Mad Max for the 21st century, Andrew Dominik's audacious first feature has stunned audiences worldwide with its grisly humor and gut-wrenching violence. Based on the true story of the most infamous criminal in modern Australian history, Mark "Chopper" Read, this true crime story is a darkly funny portrait of an outlaw's obsession with his own image. Read earned his nickname for a habit of taking a knife to the extremities of people who owed him money, and found even greater fame for writing about it in his best-selling book, "How To Win Friends and Kill People." In a bravura performance, Eric Bana provides a candid portrayal of a con man who, in disturbing fashion, managed to elevate himself into the mainstream of public imagination. Mature audiences. (94 mins.) Print courtesy of First Look Pictures. First Feature. Showtimes: 2/16, 9:30pm GU and 2/17, 9:30pm FX.

The Dish - Rob Sitch
The Dish is an immensely funny spin on the events surrounding man's first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969. The famous live television images captured the attention of 600 million people around the world and still leave a powerful imprint on our collective memory. But what if the plug had been accidentally pulled and the moonwalk unrecorded? The Dish is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to that monumental event, filled with hilarious disasters as a group of scientists struggle to make the historic broadcast possible. Manning the only radio telescope in position to receive the images, all hell breaks loose when the team in Parkes, Australia, led by project director Cliff Buxton (Sam Neill), suddenly gets the call, but loses Apollo 11's signal and must scramble to locate the astronauts before NASA discovers their critical errors. With its irreverently humorous script and accomplished cast, "The Dish is guaranteed to delight." -Toronto Film Festival. (104 mins.) Print courtesy of Warner Brothers. Filmography: The Castle (97). Showtime: 2/24, 8pm WH
Innocence - Paul Cox
Cox's warm, evocative story is a romantic meditation on mortality and a celebration of living life to the fullest. Fifty years after a passionate love affair in post-war Belgium, retired music teacher Andreas discovers that Claire is actually living in the same city as he is. Having survived as a widower for 30 years, he finds he is desperate to see her again and writes a letter to her. Claire, who is barely existing in a loveless marriage, agonizes over whether to respond, but eventually succumbs to curiosity. The two septuagenarians soon realize that time has not diminished their love, and they embark-much to the bewilderment of those around them-upon a relationship, every bit as fiery, passionate and intense as that which they enjoyed in their youth. "A truthful, philosophical film about what love means, what time means and how time can steal love or deepen it." -Roger Ebert. (95 mins.) Print courtesy of IDP. Filmography: Lust and Revenge (96), A Woman's Tale (91), Vincent (87), My First Wife (84), Man of Flowers (83), Lonely Hearts (82).Showtimes: 2/9, 7:30pmFX, 2/10, 6:15pm and 2/11, 7:30pm BW.

Looking for Alibrandi - Kate Woods
Adapted from Melina Marchetta's acclaimed novel, Looking for Alibrandi is a touching coming-of-age tale following the lives of three cursed generations of Italian-Australian women living without a man around the house. Young Josie (Pia Miranda), a teenager in suburban Sydney, loathes her own family rituals, and dreams of a better world outside of "little Sicily" and of finding the right man. She meets her father (Anthony Lapaglia) for the first time, falls in love with the wrong guy and discovers astonishing things about her own family heritage. An insightful exploration of class, multiculturalism and family, that surfaces a full range of emotions that ring true. Winner of the Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Film, Original Screenplay and Best Actress (103 mins.) Print courtesy of Beyond Films and Cowboy Booking. First Feature. Showtimes: 2/11, 2:30pm FX and 2/13, 9pm BW.
The Natural History of Chickens - Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis demonstrates once again his affectionate rapport with animals and the people who love them, confirming his reputation as a superb documentarian who is able to color social analysis and bizarre psychology with a sardonic humor that verges on the surreal. His new film is dedicated to the natural historian Ulisse Aldrovandi who saw the chicken as part of a much larger order of things. It includes a wealth of chicken facts (e.g. they love to watch TV and enjoy classical music), a thorough documentation of the chicken production industry, and Lewis' characteristically eccentric selection of human interview subjects. There's the woman who gives mouth-to-beak resuscitation to an accidentally frozen chicken; the man who imitates the rooster's mating dance and the community that revolted against a neighbor raising cocks for fighting. If you loved Cane Toads or Animalicious, come right along. (54 mins.) Print courtesy of Mark Lewis. With a short TBA. Filmography: Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (87), The Wonderful World of Dogs (89), Rat (98). Sponsored by Alaska Airlines Showtimes: 2/10, 4:30pm WH and 2/15, 7:15pm GU.

Australia/Hong Kong

The Goddess of 1967 - Clara Law

Clara Law's best film yet cooks up a fine stew of mysteries, fetishes and wolf-in-sheep's clothing gags. Young salaryman JM leaves his chic apartment and pet snakes in Tokyo to go to Australia in search of a dream. To be precise, a dream car: a pink Citroen DS 19, the car known to millions of fans as the desses or goddess, the car Roland Barthes identified as the Nautilus of the modern world. But on arrival JM finds the intended seller dead in bizarre circumstances. Shocked and alarmed, he winds up taking a blind girl on a five-day cross country drive in return for the chance to buy the glorious car. As journey turns to quest, both young people have to confront secrets from their past.... "A Zen road movie with a sweet-sour heart."-Tony Raynes, Vancouver Film Festival. (118 mins.) Print courtesy of Fortissimo Film Sales. Filmography: Farewell China (90), Autumn Moon (92), Temptation of a Monk (93), Floating Life (96). Showtimes: 2/22, 7pm and 2/23, 9:30pm WH.

Benin

Barbecue-Pejo Jean Odoutan
A poor Beninoise corn farmer wanting to break out of his deep misery buys a shaky Peugeot 504 and tries his hand at being a bush cabdriver. When the engine of his jalopy breaks down, he converts it into a flour mill, but it too soon fails. When his wife is forced to prostitute herself to support the family, he decides to give one last effort to make something profitable out of his only two resources-his corn and his fickle Peugeot. Recounted as a black fable full of comic characters, Odutan's dreamlike story confronts a society where the bonds of social solidarity have broken. (88 mins.)
Playing with: The Smoke in the Eyes (Francois Woukoache, Cameroon). Malou has come to spend the weekend with Bwesi, a young filmmaker living in Brussels. Things seem alright, but Malou is a kind of undecided girl, willing, not willing, yet willing (23 mins.) Prints courtesy of the African Film Festival. Showtimes: 2/17, 7pm and 2/18, 1:45pm BW.
This year's African Films, from Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Senegal, and South Africa, are part of the African Film Festival Traveling Series, organized by the African Film Festival Inc., in association with the Film Society of Lincoln Center. This series has been made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation.

Brazil

Me, You, Them - Andrucha Waddington
When a news story appeared in Brazil describing a woman who spent a decade simultaneously married to three husbands, each of whom gave her a son, the nation's collective imagination was oddly delighted. From this story, Waddington has fashioned a warm comedy that challenges the assumptions of a "macho" culture. In a dusty village in northeastern Brazil, Darlene, a single mother, pragmatically marries an unaffectionate old man. It is not long, however, before she's tired of being his slave and, well, one thing lustfully leads to another. Providing a fresh and funny redefinition of "family values" Me, You, Them is this year's Brazilian submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (102 mins.) Print courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Filmography: Twins (99). Showtimes: 2/17, 7pm and 2/20, 7pm WH. Sponsored by American Airlines
Villa Lobos: A Life of Passion - Zelito Viana
For 20 years, director Zelito Viana dreamed of filming the complex life of Brazil's most important twentieth-century composer. An adventurous and intuitive man, Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) struggled to stay true to his cultural roots and his love for Brazil, conveying this passion in his music. Villa Lobos delves into the composer's professional and personal lives, filtered through his brilliant talent and his madness. The film traces the rise of his art in the midst of a colonized culture, while delving into both his tumultuous relationship with first wife Lucilla and his fear of losing Mindinha, his greatest love. Famed Brazilian actor Antonio Fagundes (Bossa Nova, Gaijin) shines as the adult Villa Lobos, who early in life discovered that "music is the voice of nature." (130 mins.) Print courtesy of Nathalie Hoffman & Associates. Sponsored by Southpark Seafood Grill Showtimes: 2/13, 7pm and 2/14, 7pm FX.

Britain

House - Julian Kemp
Threatened by overwhelming competition from the new Mega Pleasure Bingo Arena, which is stealing not only the customers but also La Scala's star caller, the local bingo hall may be forced to close. Then waitress Linda discovers she has a gift: she knows the numbers before they come up. As the new caller for La Scala, she can determine who wins the million-dollar game. But Linda's mother had the same powers, which led to family misfortune. The stage is set, as Linda must decide whether to use her ability to save La Scala, or if some gifts are better left unwrapped. ÒAn Ealing-style light comedy in which the little guys take on the forces of capital and modernity, House comes very close to scoring the jackpot." -Variety. (91 mins.) Print courtesy of Victor Films. First Feature. Showtimes: 2/9, 7:30pm 2/10, 4pm, 2/15, 9:15pm BW
The Last Resort - Paul Pawlikowski
Tanya and her street-wise nine-year-old son arrive in England expecting to be met by her English fiancé. When he does not show up, immigration officials become suspicious and she, in fear of being sent back to Moscow, naively claims political asylum. Little does she know that their fate will be months of close surveillance in a small apartment in Stonhaven, a dreary seaside resort. Stuck in this dead-end holding pattern, they find themselves with meal-tickets, but no job, money, or rights until her resourceful son makes friends with the manager of the local amusement arcade and hope emerges from the ruin. Full of warmth and humor, Pawlikowski's fresh film avoids the expected cliches to tell a touching autobiographical story brimming with realism and humanity. (75 mins.) Print courtesy of The Shooting Gallery. Filmography: Tripping with Zhirinovsky (95), Stringer (98). Showtimes: 2/14, 7pm WH and 2/16, 9pm BW.
Aristotle's Plot - Jean-Pierre Bekolo
In a Southern African town, a group of wannabe gangsters named for their screen gods hang out at the Cinema Africa, subjecting themselves to mega-doses of the latest action-fest. Into their world walks an earnest cinéaste who wants to enlist the government's help in cleansing Cinema Africa of Hollywood imports, replacing Schwarzenegger with Sembene. The government is indifferent to the cause, and the gangsters won't submit quietly, so our champion takes matters into his own hands and becomes a vigilante of indigenous film culture. (72 mins.) Playing with: Konate's Gift (Fanta Regina Nacro, Burkino Faso). Dieneba brings her husband a wonderful gift from the city- a condom-but it takes a while for him to appreciate the true value of what he has been given. (33 mins.) Prints courtesy of the African Film Festival. Filmography: Quartier Mozart (92), Have You seen Franklin Roosevelt (94). Showtimes: 2/20, 7pm and 2/21, 6:45pm BW.

Bye Bye Africa - Mahamet - Saleh Haroun

Bye Bye Africa is a clever, personally formulated mix of documentary, autobiography and drama. Exiled for many years in Paris, a film director goes back home for the death of his mother to discover the faltering state of the Chadian film industry-closed down cinemas and the proliferation of video rooms. With his old friend, Garba, the former projectionist of the Normandie Theater, Haroun roams the city with his video camera to document the cause of cinema's decline, but ends up discovering-through a series of often comic encounters with his family and countrymen-how his own filmmaking affects a cultural mentality that perceives fiction and reality in non-western terms. Exile, loyalty, art and responsibility are deftly woven together, creating an affectionate meditation on African cinema and a realistic portrait of Haroun and his homeland. (86 mins.) Playing with: Picc Me (Mansour Sora Wade, Senegal). Two young street beggars survive the brutal world of adults with their own spirit and imagination (16 mins.) Prints courtesy of the African Film Festival. Filmography: Maral Tanie (94), Sotigui Kouyate, Un Griot Modern (97). Showtimes: 2/18, 4:45pm BW and 2/19, 6:30pm FX

China

Devils on the Doorstep - Jaing Wen

In a remote village during WWII, a peasant, Ma Dasan, is surprised when Chinese soldiers "temporarily" deposit a Japanese prisoner and his Chinese interpreter in his house-then worried when six months pass and the soldiers don't return. In order to calm and ingratiate himself with the villagers, the interpreter falsifies his translations and says the prisoner is begging for mercy when, in fact, he hopes his insults will provoke their prompt and honorable deaths. But with food and nerves running short, the villagers finally decide to kill their charges. However, no one has ever killed anyone, and no one wants to. Employing a savage wit and a brutal humor, Devils attempts to unearth the essential ideas that lie beneath what it means to be "Chinese" and "Japanese". (164 mins.) Print courtesy of Fortissimo Film Sales. Filmography: In the Heat of the Sun (94). Sponsored by Dragonfish Asian Cafe Showtimes: 2/22, 7pm BW and 2/24, 3pm WH.

Colombia

Our Lady of the Assassins - Barbet Schroeder

"Fernando, a gay, middle-aged writer, returns to drug-capital Medelin after a long absence, and quickly forms a liaison with Alexis, one of the city's street thugs. Fernando reminisces about his past and shares his disillusioned opinions. Alexis interrupts in order to kill people, sometimes on the slightest whim. What starts as a poignant romance becomes a disturbing voyage into a world saturated in violence and death. But for all its blood-soaked grittiness, the film achieves startling moments of redemption and beauty. Comparable to Bunuel's Los Olvidados and De Sica's Shoeshine as a parable of innocence crucified, this is the major work of director Barbet Schroder's career thus far." -Telluride Film Festival. (96 mins.) Print courtesy of Paramount Classics. Filmography: 101 Amin Dada (74), Koko, A Talking Gorilla (78), Reversal of Fortune (90), Kiss of Death (95). Showtimes: 2/23, 9:30pm and 2/24, 1pm GU.

Croatia

Marshal Tito's Spirit - Vinko Bresan

Following up on his witty hit How the War Started on My Island (PIFF 21), Bresan takes another satiric look at the current state of his homeland. Since the Balkan wars of the '90s this small Adriatic island's economy has been a wreck. But when reports begin to circulate that the ghost of Marshal Tito (who ruled Yugoslavia for 40 years) has shown up, tourists begin to flood in from the mainland. As rumors spread (with a bit of help from nouveau capitalists), The Association of Soldiers of the WWII Liberation Army dust off their uniforms while the mayor, eager for fame and fortune, organizes Tito tours. Skewing the cliches of the communist past and the "democratic" capitalist present, Bresan affectionately makes his political and economic points while still hopeful for a better future. This year's Croatian submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (97 mins.) Print courtesy of Achab Film. Filmography: How the War Started on My Island (96), The Last Will (2000). Showtimes: 2/18, 5pm FX, 2/20, 9:15pm BW and 2/23, 7pm WH.

Cuba

A Paradise Under the Stars - Gerardo Chijona

Eager to follow in her flamboyant, absentee mother's footsteps, beautiful young Sissy longs to dance in Havana's hottest club, The Tropicana. Her macho father, Candido, forbids it. When the mysterious and handsome Sergito comes to stay at the house it seems only a matter of time before he and Sissy will fall for each other. But doesn't that star-shaped mole on Sergito's hip match the one on Candido's? Could they be related? Combining exuberant musical numbers, bedroom farce and some light-hearted satiric jabs at Cuban machismo and the National Guard, A Paradise Under the Stars won the Audience Award at the Havana Film Festival. (90 mins.) Print courtesy of ICAIC. Filmography: Adorables Mentiras (91). Showtimes: 2/12, 8:15pm and 2/15, 9:15pm FX; 2/17, 4pm BW.

Czech

Divided We Fall - Jan Hùrebejk

Hùrebejk's sly, ironic black comedy is this year's Czech submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Josef and Marie are a young, childless couple in a small Czech town occupied by the Germans in the waning days of WWII. Joseph is sterile, disillusioned and totally annoyed by the visits of Horst, a former subordinate, now thriving as a Nazi collaborator. One day they discover David, a former neighbor who has managed to escape from a concentration camp. They decide to offer him refuge in their home, an act that becomes increasingly risky with the constant visits by Horst, who has his eye on Marie. When Horst's advances are rejected, his revenge is to try to move a Nazi clerk into their empty nursery, a move certain to end David's stay. A temporary solution keeps the Nazis at bay, but it takes a selfless act of human dignity to insure their futures. (117 mins.) Print courtesy of Czech Television Telexport. Filmography: Big Beat (93), Cosy Dens (99). Showtimes: 2/17, 4:15pm WH and 2/19, 7:30pm BW.

Denmark

The Adventures of Aligermaa - Andra Lasmanis
Andra Lasmanis' exotic docu-drama is fascinating viewing for all ages. Eight-year-old Aligermaa lives to ride horses and dreams of competing in the annual summer horse races. She lives in Mongolia and in the summer, on the wide-open steppes, trains for the day she will ride the fiery white stallion in the competition. Seen and told through Aligermaa's eyes, Lamanis captures the sweeping landscape, beautiful horses and the lessons Aligermaa must learn to be a winner-"You must tame yourself as much as your steed"-with magnificent flair. (67 mins.) Print courtesy of Danish Film Institute. First Feature. Showtimes: 2/11, 1:30pm BW and 2/18, 2:30pm FX.
A Place Nearby - Kaspar Rostrup
A single mother (Ghita Norby, Hamsun) who runs a small shop in a provincial town, Mrs. Nielsen is fiercely protective of her autistic adult son. One hot summer night Brian is late coming home. The next morning brings news of a girl murdered in a nearby field. Immediately suspecting her son, she begins destroying any potentially incriminating evidence and coaches him on what to say if the police come. Jespersen, the veteran police detective, is soon more than suspicious and begins to bore into the hapless boy and his protector. Not sure whether he is guilty and afraid to ask, Mrs. Nielson's web of deceptions begins to unravel. This provocative and intensely nerve-shredding psychological drama is this year's Danish submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (100 mins.) Print courtesy of the Danish Film Institute. Filmography: Jeppe Pa Bjerget (81), Waltzing Regitze (89). Showtimes: 2/10, 7:45pm, 2/11, 2pm and 2/14, 6:45pm BW.

Egypt

The Closed Doors - Atef Hetata

"Hetata's engrossing debut centers on a teenage boy caught in an ever-tightening vise between incestuous longings for his mother and the authoritarian temptations of religious fanaticism. Set in 1990, during the Gulf War, the film stands out as a vehicle for showing mounting social tensions and, much rarer, a convincing psychological portrait. When his high school teacher begins to court his mother, the disturbed, sexually confused Mohamed gears his massive Oedipus complex towards a dangerous sect of religious fanatics, who convince him that he-being a man-should have total control over her life. The Closed Doors reveals a finely balanced portrait of various social classes caught in a swirl of religious, cultural and personal fixations, done with remarkable sympathy, sensitivity and control." -Deborah Young, Variety. (109 mins.) First Feature. Showtimes: 2/14, 7:15pm and 2/15, 9pm BW.

Finland

Seven Songs from the Tundra - Anastasia Lapsui, Markku Lehmuskallio

A fascinating glimpse of life on the snow covered, wind-swept top of the world, this anthology of short pieces was stunningly filmed in the far north of Russia where an Inuit-like people called the Nenets live. Co-director and writer Anastasia Lapsui, a native Nenet, has transcribed a number of legends and her own experience to dramatize an account of life in this region. "Sacrifice" documents a religious ceremony in which a reindeer is sacrificed to the gods. "The Bride," set in an era before the Russian revolution, tells the story of a wife-to-be who elopes with three men to avoid an arranged marriage. Four other stories deal with the effect of Soviet communism on Nenet culture, which comes to life in intriguing fashion in this unusual film. This year's Finnish submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (85 mins.) Print courtesy of Finnish Film Foundation. First Feature. Showtimes: 2/11, 4:15pm 2/12, 8:15pm and 2/21, 9pm BW.

France

The Gleaners and I - Agnès Varda

Taking as her inspiration the paintings of 19th century artists like Millet and Van Gogh, who captured the centuries-old peasant tradition of gleaning the fields for left-over harvest, Varda embarks on an extraordinary journey across France in search of their contemporary counterparts. Capturing herself as well, a gleaner of images, she finds those who rummage, forage and scavenge for a variety of reasons. Some literally harvest food for survival; some are activists whose refusal of consumerism leads them to live off "ownerless goods." Still others are artists who recycle found objects. Connecting her discoveries are Varda's own reflections on gathering images and memories-and on waste, the environment, aging and art-woven into a funny, provocative and poetic film-essay. (82 mins.) Print courtesy of Zeitgeist. Filmography: Cleo From 5 to 7 (61), Le Bonheur (67), One Sings, the Other Doesn't (76), Jacquot de Nantes (90), 101 Nights (94). Showtimes: 2/17, 7:15pm and 2/18, 7:15 pm FX. Sponsored by Southpark Seafood Grill

With a Friend Like Harry - Dominik Moll

Part cliffhanger, part black comedy, Harry is a clever twist on the Hitchcockian style so loved by the French. A chance meeting at a rest stop reunites Michael with Harry, a classmate from the distant past. While Michael can't quite put his finger on Harry, Harry, it seems, has always idolized Michael and can recall amazing details from the past. With unnerving persistence, the rich, charming and helpful Harry, and girlfriend Plum, soon insinuate themselves into Michael's, his wife's and their three daughters' family vacation and set about a dark ulterior plan to make Michael into the man he was always destined to become. Moll's finely crafted tale of pathological obsession features an exceptional performance by Serge Lopez (the twisted Harry) who won the Best Actor Prize at the European Film Awards. (117 mins.) Print courtesy of Miramax Films. Filmography: Intimacy (94). Showtimes: 2/9, 7pm and 2/11, 1:45pm GU.

Little Darling - Anne Villaceque

At 30, Sybille is no beauty. She still lives at home and is so painfully shy that she undresses under her nightgown even when alone in her room. Her days are spent reading cheap romance novels and working at the bank; her nights with her parents. Then, one day her eyes meet Victor's, and it's as if her book has come to life. Victor is handsome, free and mysterious. She takes him home and in no time he has managed to move in. Although he pretends to leave for work each day, we know what he really does. Sybille's tolerant parents are so thrilled by her new found happiness they are blind to Victor's increasing demands and impositions. Soon, it looks like Sybille's future may be much worse than they ever imagined. But Sybille is not the helpless heroine of her novels. (106 mins.) Print courtesy of Celluloid Dreams. Showtimes: 2/12, 7:15pm GU and 2/16, 9:15pm BW.

Kirikou and the Sorceress - Michele Ocelot

Based on West African folk tales, Kirikou and the Sorceress is a delightful family movie that was five years in the making. The film tells the story of Kirikou, a headstrong baby who asks to be released from his pregnant mother's womb and proceeds to lead the fight against a mad sorceress who has put a spell on the village drinking water. As Kirkou goes on his incredible journey, the audience is treated to striking visuals and the wonderful music of Youssou N'Dour. Ocelot's beautiful animated film offers some valuable lessons about forgiveness, understanding and love. "Definitely a sunny spot in the mire of frenetic, violent and often dopey cartoon films produced by Hollywood."-San Francisco Chronicle. (74 mins.) Print courtesy of Art Matten. Showtime: 2/24, 1pm WH.

The Taste of Others - Agnès Jaoui

Castella is a successful suburban businessman caught behind the changing times. More out of boredom than interest, he allows his wife Angelique to drag him to a performance of Racine's "Berenice." Much to his surprise he is overwhelmed by the power and beauty of the lead actress, Clara, who plays the Queen. He becomes so infatuated with her that he goes back to the play night after night. These are but two satellites revolving in writer-director Janoui's universe. Around them gravitate others who perhaps should never have met, but their encounters reveal hidden facets of their personalities they would never have suspected. This buoyant, comic, tender and very French comedy of manners introduces us to characters the movies tend to forget: great actresses who don't get the breaks, bored rich women with no sense of style, and sexy, knowing barmaids who can't find love. This year's French submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (112 mins.) Print courtesy of Artistic License. Showtimes: 2/14, 7:15pm GU and 2/15, 7pm WH.

The Widow of St. Pierre - Patrice Leconté

An epic drama, Patrice Leconte's new film is an unconventional love story set in 1850 on the isle of St. Pierre, a small French territory off the coast of Newfoundland. A condemned murderer (Serbian director Emir Kusturica) awaits execution, while the French government ships a guillotine to the island for the event. Meanwhile, his custodians, the military commander (Daniel Auteuil) and his compassionate wife (Juliet Binoche), wanting to help him live out his remaining days productively, actually transform him into a cherished member of the community. By the time the guillotine finally arrives and "justice" is to be delivered, no one wants the sentence to be carried out. Based on true events, this spectacular film evocatively captures the timeless power of forgiveness and redemption (113 mins.) Print courtesy of Lions Gate Films. Sponsored by American Airlines. Filmography: The Girl on the Bridge (99), Ridicule (96), The Hairdresser's Husband (90), Monsieur Hire (88). Showtimes: 2/16, 7pm and 2/17, 3pm GU.

Germany

A Handful of Grass - Roland Suso Richter

A heart-wrenching contemporary thriller that moves from the mountains of Iran to the mean streets of Hamburg, A Handful of Grass tells a story of friendship and survival. His village in the wilds of Kurdistan is poverty-stricken. And so Kendal, a 10-year-old boy, is taken by his uncle to Germany to earn money to send back home. Once there, he is used as a runner by Kurdish drug dealers. Since he is a minor, he can't be arrested, but his life is hell. Hellkamp, a cab driver and ex-cop, becomes his friend and tries to look out for him. There is, however, something dark in Hellkamp's past that comes between them. Kendal must decide between the world of the drug dealers, his own people, and a friend who, it seems, can never really be his friend. Either way, he loses... (114 mins.) Print courtesy of Bavaria Film. Filmography: Buddies (96), 14 Days to Life (97), After the Truth (99). Showtimes: 2/21, 6:30pm and 2/22, 7:15pm BW.

Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler - Fritz Lang

We welcome Los Angeles composer, pianist and silent film historian Robert Israel for a special performance of one of the classics of early German cinema. Fritz Lang's two-part Dr. Mabuse (1922) is at once an exciting thriller and a devastating social portrait: the criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse capitalizes specifically on the malaise of post-World War I Berlin in building his evil empire. Mind control is the key to the power of the superman: Mabuse, a renowned psychiatrist and cheat seduces and defrauds his victims through the lure of gambling and sex. Lang uses the thriller format to inscribe a time in which lawlessness and depravity is the norm and in which the police and the underworld are as two sides of the same tarnished coin. Part I: The Great Gambler-A Portrait of Our Time (120 mins.) Part II: Inferno-A Play of People in Our Time (90 mins.) Past festival performances by Robert Israel have included Richard III (12), The Mark of Zorro (20), Peter Pan (25), The Gold Rush (26) and Mother (26). Showtimes: Part I-2/18, 2pm WH; Part II-2/18, 6pm WH. Shown with a one hour dinner break. Admission: $8 for both parts.

No Place to Go - Oskar Roehler

Winner of the German Film Prize for Best Picture and Best Actress and this year's submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, No Place to Go is anchored by a riveting performance by Hannelore Elsner as Hanna, a fading left-wing writer in Munich. A darling of the chic '60s literary scene, the times have passed her by. A study in contrasts, she espouses a strident anti-capitalist stance yet lives out a luxurious Leninism of bourgeois comfort: a posh Munich apartment and binges at swank boutiques. When the Berlin Wall falls it brings despair and the end of her cherished ideals. Disillusioned, drug-addicted and nearly broke, she gears up to revive her career one last time. Selling everything except her Dior coat and Cleopatra wig, she begins an odyssey into her past, returning to Berlin for a series of painful encounters with former publishers, alienated friends and neglected family and the reality of her illusions.(100 mins.) Print courtesy of Bavaria Film. Sponsored by American Airlines Showtimes: 2/16, 7pm BW and 2/17, 9:15pm WH.

Greece

Peppermint - Costas Kapakas

Peppermint offers an engaging fresco of Greece in the '60s as filtered through the remembrances of its 40-something protagonist, Stefanos. Attending the bedside of his dying mother, Stefanos recalls the cherished adventures of his mischievous child and teen years as well as the pain and regret of difficult choices. Her funeral brings back many people he has not seen for 30 years, including the beautiful Marina. Pulled away from him by fate, they now have more than memories to share. Winner of nine prizes at the Greek Film Awards, Kapakas' tender and very personal film is also this year's Greek submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (105 mins.) First Feature. Showtimes: 2/10, 5:15pm and 2/12, 6pm BW.

Hong Kong

In the Mood for Love - Wong Kar-wai

Set in Hong Kong in 1962, two married people (Maggie Chung and Tony Lelung) discover their spouses having an affair with each other. Drawn together by mutual feelings of sadness and humiliation, their sublimated relationship develops into a hot-house of emotions, the great unsaid expressed in an evocative mood indigo of gesture, touch, color, pattern and sound. A ravishing portrait of the look and sound of love, In the Mood for Love is a paean to agony and ecstasy-impossibly beautiful, impossibly sad. By the time it ends, in the shadow of Angkor Wat, you know that some things, like impossible love, last forever. "The most breathtakingly gorgeous film of the year."-Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times. This year's Hong Kong submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (97 mins.) Print courtesy of USA Films. Sponsored by American Airlines. Filmography: As Tears Go By (88), Days of Being Wild (90), Chungking Express (94), Ashes of Time (94), Fallen Angels (95), Happy Together (97). Sponsored by Dragonfish Asian Cafe Showtimes: 2/17, 8:30pm and 2/19, 7pm GU.

The Mission - Johnnie To Kei-Fung

Taut and atmospheric, Johnnie To's instant Hong Kong neo-noir classic won him the Best Director Prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards. A respected Triad crime boss is marked for death. Five bodyguards are recruited to protect him and his family. A simple "mission" but in Hong Kong-with mixed loyalties and misplaced passions-the path is not so straight. As the bodyguards protect their boss from bold plotting, they must also unravel the mystery of who has ordered the hit. Constructed with flawless cool, blazing guns and balletic action, The Mission is both a minimalist study of heroic codes of brotherhood and loyalty and an artistically accomplished action picture of the first order. (87 mins.) Print courtesy of Milkyway Image. Filmography: Lifeline (94), Running Out of Time (97). Showtimes: 2/18, 7pm BW and 2/21, 7pm GU.

Iceland

101 Reykjavik - Baltasar Kormakur

Twenty-something Hlynur lives with his mother in delirious downtown Reykjavik, happy to hide from any hint of real, troublesome existence. Loafing on welfare, boozing and surfing the net for porn, his quiet life is turned upside down after a passionate one-night stand with a beautiful flamenco teacher, Lola (Victoria Abril). As if it wasn't enough to discover that Lola is his mother's lesbian lover, he must come to terms with an unpleasant Oedipal reality: she is pregnant with his child and wants to keep the baby. "Imagine an Almodovar comedy played out in the snowy wastes of a grungy Icelandic 'hood and you're still only half-way...a funny, touching and off-the wall film."-Derek Elley, Variety. (100 mins.) Print courtesy of Menemsha Entertainment. Sponsored by Saucebox Showtimes: 2/10, 8:30pm BW and 2/11, 7:15pm FX.

Angels of the Universe - Fridrik Thor Fridriksson

Fridriksson's newest film is a luminous, unearthly portrait of a talented schizophrenic (brilliantly played by Ingvar Sigurdsson). Together with his fellow psychiatric inmates Oli, the missing Beatle who communicates by telepathy, and Viktor the sometimes Hitler, the outcasts try and come to grips with a world that neither knows or wants them. Calling to mind One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Fridriksson effectively blurs the line between sanity and madness, casting doubt on how we come to decide which is which and questioning an all-too-often ambivalent psychiatric world. Fridriksson's quirky, tragi-comic film is this year's Icelandic submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (96 mins.) Print courtesy of Menemsha Entertainment. Filmography: White Whales (87), Children of Nature (92), Movie Days (94), Cold Fever (94), Devil's Island (96). Showtimes: 2/16, 7:30pm WH and 2/17, 5:45pm GU.

India

Bollywood Calling - Nagesh Kukunoor

Bollywood-India's answer to Hollywood, producing its annual quota of Masala films or musical soap operas-is the backdrop for this bittersweet comedy. Subra, a wily film producer, concocts a plan to pair Pat Stormore, an out of luck star of American B-movies with the legendary Manu Kapur, an aging Indian star in need of a comeback. In order to prove to everyone that he is a big-shot producer, he moves the large-scale production from Bombay (Bollywood central) to Hyderabad, his hometown. As the action/drama/romance extravaganza called Maut begins production, Pat experiences a parallel universe of color, confusion, melodrama and passion while he (and we) gets an insider's view of the unique world of commercial Indian filmmaking. (100 mins.) Print courtesy of Satyam Entertainment. Filmography: Hyderabad Blues (98), Rockford (96). Showtimes: 2/10, 5:45pm and 2/12, 6pm FX.

Iran

Bride of Fire - Arouse Atash

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Film at the Fajr (Tehran) Film Festival, Bride of Fire uses the conventions of melodrama to boldly explore the rights of women in Iranian society. Ahlam, a beautiful young woman about to become a doctor, wants to marry Parviz, her professor. Their relationship is based on a commonality of interests and respect. It is also, however, fraught with danger as her relatives, in accordance with tribal custom, consider her the property of her cousin Farhan, an illiterate smuggler who wants her for his wife. Parviz, a man of the modern world, does not understand the deeply held codes of honor that govern tribal relations. Making light of Ahlam's worries, he pressures her to visit her family and tell them of her new plans, but this attempt to mould her fate leads to tragedy. (115 mins.) Print courtesy of Third Eye. Filmography: The Friend Is at Home (87), In the Alleys of Love (91), Alley in the Autumn (97). Showtimes: 2/16, 6:30pm, 2/17, 2:15pm and 2/19, 7pm BW.

The Girl in the Sneakers - Rassul Sadr Ameli

When free-spirited Tehran teenager Tadai's parents learn she has been inappropriately seen in public with her boyfriend Aideen, they are furious. Forbidden to see him again, Tadai runs away from home in anguish. During her 24-hour wanderings through the streets of the city she encounters people whose lot in life is a far cry from her sheltered upper-middle-class environment. Confronted with realities she never imagined, she must decide if her love for Aideen is worth fighting for, or whether she should return to her family. In this realistic examination of the complexities of life for adolescents and women in contemporary Iranian society, Ameli has crafted both an entertaining satire on the naivetes of youthful idealism and the cruelties of a world indifferent to the young. (110 mins.) Print courtesy of Farabi Cinema Foundation. Filmography: The Release (82), The Chrysanthemums (83, Paizan (87). The Victim (91), Tehran Symphony (93). Showtimes: 2/10, 2:45pm, 2/12, 7pm and 2/15, 6:30pm BW.

Israel

Yana's Friends - Arik Kaplun

An irresistible romantic comedy, Yana's Friends won virtually every top prize at the Israeli Film Awards and has charmed audiences worldwide. Yana, pregnant and newly arrived in Tel Aviv from Russia, is suddenly abandoned when her husband sneaks back to Moscow. Young and beautiful, she speaks very little Hebrew and without resources or friends, faces the challenges of immigrants everywhere: language, culture, money, jobs, love. As Yana adapts to her new life, her tenement roommate Eli, an aspiring filmmaker, professional video voyeur and charming womanizer, focuses his camera on her progress. When the threat of Iraqi missiles (the eve of the Gulf War) sends both of them into the only gas-sealed room in the house, sparks of another kind soon fly. (90 mins.) Print courtesy of Transfax Film. First Feature. 2/9, Showtimes: 7:30pm and 2/11, 4:30pm WH. See Opening Night

Italy

Bread And Tulips - Silvio Soldini

Silvio Soldini Licia Maglietta gives a luminous performance as Rosalba, an Italian housewife who is accidentally left behind at a rest stop by a- tour bus-with her family aboard. Suddenly on her own, Rosalba capriciously decides to hitchhike to Venice, the fabulous city of her dreams, rather than make her way home. A one-day whim turns into weeks as she finds herself lured into a new life in a wild universe of giddy self-discovery. She finds a job in a florist shop run by a hopelessly romantic anarchist, lives with a mysterious man from Iceland (Bruno Ganz), who speaks in epic verse, finds a joyous accomplice in a holistic masseuse and is reunited with her great passion for the accordion. Soldini's heart-warming Venetian comedy won nine of Italy's David di Donatello (Oscar) Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor and Actress. (115 mins.) Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Film. Print courtesy of First Look Pictures. Filmography: The Peaceful Air of the West (93), A Split Soul (93), The Acrobats (97). Showtimes: 2/9, 7:00pm and 2/10, 3pm FX. Opening Night.

I Prefer the Sound of the Sea - Mimmo Calopresti

Divisions between geography, class and generations have been central themes in Italian cinema and Calopresti brings delicacy and emotional resonance to these questions in his powerful film. Rosario, from Calabria (Sicily), is a deeply religious teenager, polite but taciturn, and by nature resolved in his own convictions and independence, despite a father in jail and a mother killed by the Mafia. When Luigi, a distant relative wanting to give him a new start, brings Rosario to Turin, he meets Luigi's son, Matteo. Matteo, sullen and privileged due to his father's wealth, slowly and awkwardly develops a friendship with Rosario, but deeply rooted forces confound them both. For Luigi, the conflict between the two boys raises his own inner-tensions of being born in one world, the South, but uneasily now living in another. (84 mins.) Print courtesy of Celluloid Dreams. Sponsored by Pasta Veloce. Filmography: The Second Time (96), Notes of Love (98). Sponsored by Pasta Velocel Showtimes: 2/17, 5:15pm and 2/18, 7:30pm BW.

Japan

When the Rain Lifts - Takashi Koizumi

In Akira Kurosawa's last screenplay, set during the 18th century, a group of weary travelers are stranded in a country inn during a prolonged rain. Among them is Ihei, a poor ronin, or masterless samurai, who soothes rising tensions with his wise and gentle cheer. A man whose quiet spiritual powers match his fighting skills, he comes to the attention of the Lord of the fief who offers Ihei the job of court fencing master. But Ihei's quick ascendancy sets off the jealousies of the local masters vying for the same position, setting in motion a struggle that will test Ihei's powers to the limit. Beautifully recreating a bygone time of honor and moral goodness, Kurosawa's long-time assistant director has fashioned a work true to Kurosawa's vision: "It should be a story that, when you have seen it, leaves you feeling cheered." (91 mins.) This year's Japanese submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Sponsored by Dragonfish Asian Cafe Showtimes: 2/20, 9pm and 2/23, 5pm GU.

Mexico

Amores Perros - Alejandro González Iñárritu

"In this stunning debut, Iñárritu effortlessly interweaves three complex storylines that collide via a terrible car crash (seen three times from different perspectives) that connect the characters. From Mexico City's mean streets to posh high-rises, Amores Perros demonstrates fast and furiously contemporary city life and character: a young punk on fire for his brother's battered wife stumbles into the world of dog-fighting; an injured supermodel's designer pooch disappears under her apartment's floorboards; an ex-radical turned street person rescues a gunshot Rotweiler. Showing a sure narrative hand and a pedal-to-the metal style, Iñárritu drives this gripping film from Tarantinoesque action into Bu–uelian surrealism and back again, powering the ride with his own uncompromising vision of love's labors lost. Mature audiences."-New York Film Festival. Winner of the International Critic's Prize at Cannes and this year's Mexican submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (153 mins.) Print courtesy of Lion's Gate Films. Showtimes: 2/18, 7pm GU and 2/21, 7pm FX.

To and Fro - Salvador Aguirre

After working for three years in the United States, Filberto, a young Mexican peasant triumphantly returns to his native village hoping to remake his life and gain the respect he thinks he is due. But things have changed. His mother is dead, his best friend has married his ex-girlfriend and brutal political forces are trying to chase the native Indians off their land in an attempt to control the local water supply. Struggling to find his place, ambition and honor get in his way as he grapples with loyalty, betrayal and rejection. Aguirre's sobering film is a powerful portrayal of the displacement brought on by emigration and the ongoing struggle of Indian minorities to find social justice in Mexico. Winner of the International Critic's Prize for Best Film at the Guadalajara Mexican Film Festival. (92 mins.) Print courtesy of IMCINE. First Feature. Showtimes: 2/10, 1pm and 2/22, 9:15pm FX.

New Zealand

The Price of Milk - Harry Sinclair

We live in a cynical world. Even when good fortune shines down upon us we tend to search desperately for the cloud that obscures the silver lining. So does Lucinda (Danielle Cormack). A woman who finds herself entering the pinnacle of a relationship with a man (Karl Urban) so beautiful, so hard working, so sincere, so loving, and so perfect that she feels compelled to place obstacles in the path of her happiness, simply to validate the cynicism that permeates even a fairy tale existence in a tranquil land, far, far away. It takes every bit of magic that the idyllic rural farmlands and the marvelously unique people that 21st century New Zealand can muster to counteract the effects of Lucinda's awkwardness with an imperfect world and its imperfect people."-Harry Sinclair. (87 mins.) Print courtesy of Lot 47 Films. Filmography: Topless Women Talk About their Lives (97). Showtime: 2/11, 4:30pm GU.

Poland

The Big Animal - Jerzy Stuhr

The late Krzysztof Kielsowski wrote this gentle absurdist comedic commentary on the perils of offbeat behavior and the paranoid intolerance of those who always conform. Zygmut Sawicki (Jerzy Stuhr) is a small-town bank clerk who one day finds a camel in his garden. He and his wife soon love the camel, as do the townsfolk. But soon the town starts getting tired and suspicious of the animal, becoming hostile when various schemes to make money of the "attraction" are flatly refused by Zygmut. So the Sawicki family bears the brunt of ostracism until the camel takes matters into his own... hands. "Can someone love...a camel? By choosing something that isn't understood by normal standards, we bring upon ourselves loneliness, ill feeling and anger of others. This film shows how intolerance is bred." -Jerzy Stuhr. (75 mins.) Print courtesy of Telewizja Polska. Filmography: The List of Adulteresses (94), Love Stories (97), A Week in the Life of Man (99). Showtimes: 2/16, 7pm and 2/17, 5pm FX; 2/19, 9:15pm BW.

Life is a Fatally Transmitted Disease - Krzysztof Zanussi

While working in France on a film about the life of Saint Bernard, Tomasz, the film's physician, struggles with suspicions of his imminent death and soon confirms he has cancer. After a lifetime devoted to helping others, Tomasz's moral compass is completely thrown, causing him to doubt and deny the values-medical vows, Roman Catholicism, altruism-he once cherished and lived by. He bitterly begins to extract his own revenge on those around him, furiously testing their values as he seeks escape from his own wrath. Thoughtful and hard-hitting, this wry, insightful meditation examines the core of faith, humanity, compassion and morality. Winner of the Grand prize at the Moscow Film Festival and this year's Polish submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. (99 mins.) Print courtesy of Film Tor. Filmography: The Structure of Crystals (69), Camouflage (77), The Constant Factor (80), Inventory (89), Year of the Quiet Sun (92), At Full Gallop (96). Showtimes: 2/21, 7pm WH and 2/22, 7pm FX.

Russia

Brother II - Alexei Balabanov

The sequel to his internationally popular mobster thriller Brother (PIFF 22), again features Sergi Bodrov as Danilla and Viktor Sokhorukove as his contract killer brother. Set in Moscow and Chicago, Brother II explores the criminal underworld of both, taking Danila on an adventurous journey through the underside of Russian and American life. This time, he sets out to avenge the death of a Russian ice hockey player's brother, killed by the Russian partner of an American crime boss. A blockbuster in Russia, Balabanov's film portrays a wearied and corrupted Russian society in collapse, one in which, in true capitalist fashion, criminal and business worlds prosper together as they please. (123 mins.) Print courtesy of Intercinema Art Agency. Filmography: Happy Days (92), The Castle (94), Brother (97), Of Freaks and Men (98). Showtimes: 2/18, 4:15pm and 2/20, 6:45pm BW.

South Africa

Chikin Biznis - Ntshavheni Wa Luruli

Having worked for 20 years as a messenger at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Sipho decides to set up business on his own and sell chickens in the market of the township of Soweto. Long on charm and short on ethics, Sipho mixes business and pleasure in comic fashion and eventually gets what all scoundrels deserve. Filled with colorful characters and bustling with the exuberance of daily street life, Chikin Biznis is an authentic piece of poultry in motion. (103 mins) Playing with: Aida Souka (Mansour Sora Wade, Senegal). Wade takes us on a fascinating journey through the world of perfumes, jewels and stratagems that Senegalese women use to captivate their lovers. (16 mins.) Prints courtesy of the African Film Festival. Showtimes: 2/11, 7pm and 2/13, 6:30pm BW.

South Korea

Chunhyang - Im Kwon Taek
Set in 18th Century Korea, this epic tale of devotion and the triumph of love begins as Mongryong, the privileged son of the Governor, falls in love with Chunhyang, the beautiful daughter of a courtesan. Soon after they are secretly married, Mongryong is ordered to Seoul to finish his education. He leaves promising to send for his beloved. As time passes a new, cruel Governor is appointed to the province who soon eyes Chunhyang as his mistress. When she refuses his advances he orders her death. Her only hope is the vow of her distant husband. Drawing on his country's rich cultural heritage, Im KwonTaek's 94th film, widely hailed as his masterpiece, is visually ravishing and spectacularly epic. This year's Korean submission for the Best Foreign Film oscar. (120 mins.) Print courtesy of Lot 47 Films. Filmography: Mandala (81), Gilsodom (85), Sopyonje (93), The Taebaek Mountains (94), Chang (97). Showtimes: 2/16, 9pm FX and 2/18, 4pm GU.

Peppermint Candy - Lee Chang-dong

A film of daunting scope and power, Peppermint Candy opens inauspiciously enough, with a highly disturbed man, Yongho, screaming in the face of an oncoming train. We go backward from there, not in conventional flashbacks but in carefully labeled, irregular dollops-three days earlier, three years earlier, 10 years before that. Structured in reverse, the further back we go the more we learn about his suicide - about his failed business, marriage breakup, brutal career - and the less we know what to expect. The story of Yongho becomes a scathing indictment of the history of South Korea, the derailment of his life less a question of personal psychology than the betrayal of a generation. By the time we arrive at the end (or the beginning) we understand his horror at what he's become." -Ronnie Schieb, Chicago Reader. (129 mins.) Print courtesy of Cine Click Asia. Filmography: Green Fish (97), To the Starry Island (93, screenplay). Showtimes: 2/17, 9:30pm BW and 2/19, 8:45pm FX.

Spain

Calle 54 - Fernando Trueba

Calle 54 ventures into the sensuous world of Latin Jazz. Traveling to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden and the US, Trueba gets at the heart of a powerful movement. With a sweeping, unobtrusive camera and brilliant sound recording, some of the masters of the genre are captured in perfection: Veteran Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes, his "monster pianist" son Chucho and the timeless Cachao; the symphonic, Afro-Cuban sounds of Chico O'Farrill's Big Band; Argentinian tenor sax great Gato Barbieri and, in his last filmed performance, the "godfather" of Latino music, Tito Puente with his Golden Lion Jazz All Stars. A blend of traditional jazz and Latin percussion, Latin Jazz's singular harmonious rhythms are the kind that make jazz and dance synonymous. (105 mins.) Print courtesy of Miramax Films. Sponsored by Music Millennium. Filmography: Opera Prima (80), Belle Epoque (92), Too Much (95), The Girl of Your Dreams (99). Showtimes: 2/10, 8pm GU and 2/11, 2:30pm WH.

You're the One (A Story of the Past) - Jose Luis Garci

Set in 1947, Garci's new film is a sumptuously produced, "old-fashioned" period piece. Julia (Lydia Bosch), is a platinum-blond rich girl. Depressed by the imprisonment of her boyfriend for his political activities, she abandons her comfortable life in Madrid and heads off to the northern province of Asturias to be among "real people." Cultured, well educated, but disillusioned, perhaps a return to where she spent the summers of her childhood will be the tonic. (111 mins.) This year's Spanish submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Print courtesy of Nickel Odeon Dos. Filmography: To Begin Again (82), Cradle Song (97), The Grandfather (98). Showtimes: 2/14, 8:45pm and 2/17, 7:30pm BW; 2/18, 1:45pm GU.

Sweden

The Faithless - Liv Ullman
Faithless is a haunting, painfully honest study of infidelity written, autobiographically, by Ingmar Bergman. An aging artist named Bergman (Erland Josephson) struggles to recount memories of a destructive affair with a married woman long ago. Told in flashback through the eyes of Marianne (Lena Endre), it recounts her happy marriage to Markus, a successful conductor, and the slow, but sure development of a passionate love affair with David, Markus' best friend. What begins as curiosity tinged with loneliness ends in tragedy for everyone. Filled with references to Bergman's own films and his own relationship with Ullman (once his wife and lead actress) Bergman describes the film as "a morality tale that does not moralize or a modern day emotional thriller." For Ullman: "the light of the story is that we can forget the hours that were full of suffering. What we must not forget is what they taught us." (155 mins.) Print courtesy of IDP. Filmography: Sofie (92), Kristin Lavrandsdater (95), Private Confessions (96). Showtimes: 2/10, 1:45pm and 2/11, 6:45pm GU.

Tsatsiki, Mum, and the Policeman - Ella Lemhagen

Full of humor and heart Tsatsiki is an engaging romantic comedy for all ages. Eight-year-old Tsatsiki lives with his dashing rock guitarist mother, Tina. She barely knew his father, a Greek fisherman who has no idea he has a son. Tsatsiki only has a photograph of his father, and his mother doesn't offer much else about the handsome man pictured. A small, brown-eyed boy in a big, blond, blue-eyed world, he fantasizes about his father and strenuously cultivates his own innate Greekness, starting with his nickname. Winner of the Best Film Prize (Gold Bug) in Sweden last year, Lemhagen's film is irresistible as it chronicles familial longing and its consequences. (91 mins.) Print courtesy of Swedish Film Institute. Filmography: Welcome to the Party (97), Prince of Dreams (96), 13-Arsdagen (94). Showtimes: 2/17, 2pm WH and 2/18, 2pm BW.

Taiwan

Yi Yi (A One and a Two...) - Edward Yang

Yang, who won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for this intimate portrait of a Taiwanese family, their friends and neighbors, says yi yi in Chinese means "one-one" or "individuality." This signifies the film's portrayal of life through each member of a family representing a different stage of life. The characters include a middle-aged man who confronts the woman he first loved, a wife facing her mother's mortality, a girl undergoing her first crush and a 8-year-old boy who photographs the back of people's heads to show off "the half we can't see." As each grapples with the complexities and reversals of their lives we come to know them in an unforgettable way. This emotionally poignant, funny, and achingly beautiful domestic epic was selected by the National Society of Film Critics as the Best Film of 2000. (173 mins.) Print courtesy Winstar Cinema. Filmography: That Day, On the Beach (83), Taipei Story (85), A Brighter Summer Day (91), A Confucian Confusion (94), Mahjong (96). Sponsored by Dragonfish Asian Cafe Showtime: 2/10, 7pm WH.

Turkey

Clouds of May - Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Winner of the International Critic's Prize and Best Turkish Film of the Year at the Istanbul Film Festival, Clouds of May is an immaculately framed and beautifully captured portrait of Anatolian village life. Muzaffer returns home to produce his first film, The Town, about the charms of his rural home. Intent on using his family as cast and crew, he ironically has little time for their actual day-to-day problems and remains completely self-absorbed in his would-be project. Despite his father's impassioned battle with authorities to save his land, Muzaffer decides to cast him as the film's lead, only the start of the troubles... Full of careful observation and sharp humor, Ceylan's reverential film is an ode to filmmaking, family and the inextricable bond between people and the land. (120 mins.) Print courtesy of Keriman Ulas Ulusoy. Filmography: The Town (97). Showtimes: 2/11, 4:45pm, 2/13, 7:30pm and 2/22, 9:15pm BW.

A Run for Money - Reha Erdem

A Run for Money Reha Erdem Selim, a store keeper and loving husband is known throughout the neighborhood for his absolute honesty. He has no tolerance of the petty trickery of the streets, be it a ticketless bus passenger or a vendor who short changes customers. Until he finds a bag with half a million dollars in cash in a taxi. For the first time in his life, his integrity fails him. The money turns out to be stolen and Selim is consumed with fear and is convinced that both the police and the thief are on to him. The money takes over his life, turning it into a nightmare. With subtle and sly humor, Erdem accessibly explores the way materialism insinuates itself into the place where ideals were once heldÑby a man and by a society around him where questions of honesty are compromised by those of survival. (100 mins.) This year's Turkish submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Print courtesy of Atlantik Film. Filmography: A Ay (89). Showtimes: 2/15, 7pm and 2/20, 7pm FX; 2/21, 9pm BW.

United States

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antartic Expedition - George Butler

In October 1914 the Endurance sailed from Buenos Aires under the leadership of veteran British Explorer Ernest Shackleton. The goal: a journey to the South Pole. But before reaching the continent, the Endurance was trapped in a heavy ice pack, locked for more than nine months and slowly crushed. That was just the beginning of an incredible two-year, 850-mile ordeal in an open boat for Shackleton and his crew, all 27 of whom amazingly returned alive. Just as amazing was that they managed to bring back the expedition's filmed record of their journey. Using the original film recently restored by the British Film Institute and new footage, George Butler tells one of the great true-to-life survival stories of the century. (100 mins.) Print courtesy of White Mountain Films. Sponsored by Alaska Airlines. Showtimes: 2/10, 2pm and 2/13, 7pm WH.

Fast Food, Fast Women - Amos Kollek

Bella (Anna Thompson), a 35-year-old waitress at a New York diner, has been having a hopeless affair with a married man for too long. Bruno (Jamie Harrison), a cab driver and aspiring writer, looks like a possible alternative, but he's freshly divorced and has two kids to take care of. Bella isn't the only one looking for a mate. Every day at the diner she sees Paul, a shy retiree, deep into the lonely-hearts column and tentatively pursuing Emily (Louise Lasser), a frisky widow. Then there's old Seymour (Vincent Argo) and Wanda, the intellectual stripper. All, young and not-so-young, want to enjoy the sweetness of romance... Kollek's charming comedy, lying somewhere between the worlds of Hal Hartley and Woody Allen, celebrates the strange and unpredictable twists and turns of love in uplifting fashion. (95 mins.) Print courtesy of Lot 47. Filmography: Fiona (98), Sue (97), Double Edge (92), High Stakes (89), Worlds Apart (79). Showtime: 2/15, 7pm BW. Memento Christopher Nolan See Opening Night description. Showtimes: 2/9, 7pm BW and 2/10, 5:15pm GU.

Memento - Christopher Nolan
Leonard Shelby is a mysterious man, a former insurance investigator, who dresses in designer suits but lives in cheap motels. His sole mission is to seek vengeance on the man who killed his wife, but he is handlicapped by the fact that he suffers from a rare and untreatable form of amnesia. While he can remember things in the past, he can't remember what happened 15 minutes ago. His life is put into some kind of order be scraps of paper with names and numbers on them and tattoos intended to keep his life, and his enemies, in order. In Nolan's clever, ultra stylish noir-thriller, events unfold in reverse, a metaphor for the pulsing of time throughout the film; time ebbs and flows in rhythm to one man's journey through the fractured chaos of memory loss.(115 mins. Print courtesy of IFC. Showtimes: 2/9, 7pm BW and 2/10, 5:15pm GU.

Pollock - Ed Harris

The product of a decade-long quest, actor Ed Harris' film debut charts the tumultuous life of one of the great painters of the 20th century, abstract-expressionist Jackson Pollock. Starring as Pollock, Harris intensely inhabits the role of a man caught between the terrors of alcohol, criticism and fame with burning passion. Opting for the visceral rather than a pat psychological portrait, Harris traces Pollock's rise to fame in the 1940s, his troubled marriage to fellow painter Lee Krasner (Marcia Gay Harden) and problematic relationships with such champions as critic Clement Greenberg and collector Peggy Guggenheim. In one the most electrifying cinematic depictions of an artist's creative evolution and working methods, Harris literally recreates Pollock's masterpieces, dripping and scattering lines of paint as Pollock did and revealing the physical power of his seminal work. (119 mins.) Print courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Showtimes: 2/11, 7pm and 2/12, 7pm WH.

Startup.com - Chris Hegedus, Jehana Noujeim

"Startup.com" traces the paths of two freewheeling entrepreneurs and their quest for the American dream: developing a successful internet start-up company. Hegedus and Noujaim track the roller coaster ride of the creation of Gov.Work.co, a new-media solution for connecting citizens with the government via the internet. The exceptional filmmaking team pinpoint a critical time in our history by focusing on the trials and tribulations of Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Turzman, Gov.Work's charismatic founders. The camera captures each important milestone on the hoped for road to riches, from the inception of the idea to the courting of venture capitalists. Startup.com is also about friendship and dreams and has all the suspense and intriguing characters of a great fiction film."-John Cooper, Sundance Film Festival (96 mins.) Print courtesy of Artisan Entertainment. Hegedus Filmography: Co-director with D.A. Pennebaker: The War Room (93), Dance Black America (85), Town Blood Hall (80). Sponsored by Alaska Airlines Showtimes: 2/23, 7:15pm and 2/24, 3:30pm GU.

Yugoslavia

Sky Hook - Ljubisa Samardzic

Belgrade, spring 1999. The NATO bombardments have made life unbearable. Kaja, once a promising basketball player, lives in the war zone next to a burned-out-factory. Kaja's ex-wife is still in love with him and wants him to take her and their traumatized son to safety in Italy. One day, after more bombs and a few beers, Kaja proposes fixing up the nearby basketball court and preparing it for the summer season. Suddenly, Kaja and his disillusioned buddies have a purpose in life, but is it really possible to forget about the raids? "It's nothing but net for this improbably inspirational mix of war time drama and sports saga...for sheer novelty and sincerity...it's got game. " -Eddie Cockrell, Variety. (93 mins.) This year's Yugoslavian submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Print courtesy of Menemsha Entertainment. First Feature. Showtimes: 2/19, 7pm and 2/21, 9:15pm WH.

Shorts - Various Countries
Short Cuts I -
Showtimes: 2/13, 7:00pm GU

Short Cuts II -
Showtimes: 2/20, 7:00pm GU

Short Cuts III -
Showtimes: 2/22, 7:00pm GU

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