Normally, we let the Academy do their thing and we do ours. But every once in a while, they do something right, like when they bring to national attention a number of little-seen short-subject docs. Here are the ones up for the Oscar on Mar. 5:

God Sleeps in Rwanda (dir. Kimberlee Acquaro & Stacy Sherman, 27 min.) — Five Rwandan women who are rebuilding their society and their nation after the 1994 genocide.

The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club (dir. Dan Krauss, 27 min.) — A passionate South African photojournalist committs suicide weeks after his photograph of a horror in Sudan won the Pulitzer Prize.

The Mushroom Club (dir. Steven Okazaki, 35 min.) — The story of the men and women who survived the 1945 atomic bombings.

A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (dir. Eric Simonson, 39 min.) — About “the greatest radio presentation in the history of the medium” — Norman Corwin’s broadcast announcing V-E Day, May 8, 1945. (JC)

Thursday, Feb. 23, 8pm; Ragtag Cinema
Monday, Feb. 27, 5:30pm; Ragtag Cinema

Whether you associate Tommy Chong with Up in Smoke or That 70s Show, you probably didn’t know that he and his son ran a company that sells bongs. Not that it would surprise you. But it will shock you to learn of the DEA’s overreaching efforts to entrap Chong and bust him for shipping bongs across state lines. And that in the trial they cited his movies as “glamorizing the illegal use and distribution of marijuana and trivializing law-enforcement efforts to combat drug use.” Heavy, right? This amusing, troubling and freewheeling look at Chong’s lengthy legal trip pulls back the curtain on the current administration’s equating of pot smoking with terrorism. And Chong proves as funny in real life as he is on screen — even without the van made out of pot. (DW)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 10:30pm; Forrest Theater

In person: Josh Gilbert

Heroes are hard to find, but director Ian Anaba’s thrilling roller-coaster ride proves they still exist. Exhibit A? Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The Democrat from Georgia uncovered evidence about a private company that the state of Florida hired to disqualify many thousands of black voters in the 2000 election, and she was one of the lone Congressional opponents to the Iraq war. Her brave stands ultimately led to a dirty 2002 campaign, in which McKinney was defeated after Republicans infiltrated the Democratic primary. Two years later, as evidence of voter disenfranchisement appears in the Ohio presidential election, McKinney fights to reclaim her seat. Poignantly echoing the struggle for black civil rights in the ’60s, Blackout suggests that none of us should take our right to vote for granted: the struggle continues and the good fight never ends. (MF)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 10:30am; Missouri Theatre

In person: director Ian Inaba

The finest nonfiction transports the reader or viewer to lands or people unknown, unseen by the vast majority of us. Director Edward A. Burger’s journey began when he read Bill Porter’s Road to Heaven, which whispered secrets about an ancient sect of Zen masters living in isolation in the furthest reaches of the Zhongnan Mountains. Inspired, Burger retraces barely visible footprints and locates the wise men and women who call the mountains their home and who maintain traditions reaching back 5,000 years. Burger himself becomes a student of one master, but his camera and curiosity lead to ever more remote areas of the mountains in search of the most revered wise men. Few foreigners have ever been this close, and it is with exceptional grace and an eye for details that he allows the viewer the privilege of joining him. (MF)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 11am & 4:30pm; Forrest Theater

Director Nathanial Hörnblowér, aka MCA, came up with a brilliant conceit — buy 50 video cameras from an unnamed national chain, give them out to fans at a Beastie Boys concert, and then collect the results and return the cameras. The resulting footage (plus that from five or so “pro” cameras) was then thrown into a computer blender of effects and manipulation. The result is breathtaking, pulse-pounding and overwhelming — Awesome is a visual barrage that comes closer to replicating the concert-going experience than any movie ever. There are many high points — a drawn-out attempt to get backstage, a concession worker’s spontaneous air guitar solo, a note of unexpected calm in the midst of an elevator ride. But most exciting is the clear intellectual curiosity at the heart of a grand, ultimately successful, cinematic experiment. (DW)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 1:30pm; Blue Note

In person: possible special guest

The youngest is 84, the oldest 95, and none are ready to give up dancing yet. The Silver Belles are a group of classy, sassy hoofers who met in the 1930s as chorus dancers at the famed Apollo and Cotton Clubs. There, they learned their trade and performed with legendary bandleaders and performers including Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. They also formed lifelong friendships. When the dancers met up again in 1985, they discovered that they’d lost none of their moves — and their performances packed ’em in at concert halls in New York. Director Heather Lyn MacDonald has created a loving, stereotype-busting portrait of age-defying women who have never wavered in their love of dance or of each other. (KC)

Preceded by Afloat (dir. Erin Hudson, 5 min.), a timeless vignette about seniors who keep aging at bay through the art of wading.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 12:30pm; Forrest Theater (Tiger Hotel)

In person: Heather Macdonald

What do you do when you land a bit part in the biggest religious movie ever? How do you wile away the hours spent sitting and waiting in period costume? Grab a camera. Turn it on your fellow cast members. And ask them about what they believe in and why. Shot on the set of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ with everyone from Catholic bishops to Monica Bellucci and Mel weighing in, this is a film about big ideas — but also about small moments, gestures and awkward silences. It’s a film that welcomes careful viewing and guarantees vigorous discussion long after audiences leave the theater. Whether you’re deeply devoted or a staunch skeptic, The Big Question encourages us all to think a little harder about life, the universe and everything. (DW)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 1pm; Missouri Theatre

In person: co-directors Francesco Cabras and Alberto Molinari

The bean stops here. In this revelatory journey, Marc and Nick Francis travel from coffee shop to coffee farm, tracing the vast inequities existing in between. In the impoverished nation of Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, the filmmakers meet Tadesse Meskela, a representative of a coffee grower’s collective dedicated to improving the lives of its 70,000 member farmers. Meskela criss-crosses the globe seeking fair prices and contending with a $55 billion coffee industry that cares little that his farmers make less than 50 cents a day. As prices for beans plummet, farmers begin replacing coffee crops with narcotics, which command sustainable prices. Will Meskela return to the lush, green farms of Harare with good news? Black Gold takes what could have been a typical advocacy piece and infuses it with wit and liveliness. (MF)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 10:30am; Blue Note

In person: co-director Nick Francis

Teens say the darndest things. At least they do when they’ve got a camera to talk into, and know their confessions may make it onto national television. Such is the case with the subjects/creators of Chain Camera, a documentary that consists of footage shot chain-letter style by 16 teens from L.A.’s John Marshall High (Sunnydale!). They talk about everything from racism to revolution, alcoholism to oral sex. But are they just acting out for the camera? Certainly there are performative elements, but, in the end, Chain Camera isn’t so much an expose of teen life as a diaristic performance piece starring 16 media savvy writer-actors. But the realness seeps out between the jokes and the bravado, and the film is all the truer for it. (JS)

Thursday, Feb. 23, 6pm; Ragtag Cinema

File under: so real it hurts. “50% of teachers quit within the first three years of teaching.” So begins this humorous, frenetic and painful tale of three novice teachers and one reluctant administrator attempting to navigate one year in the public school system. Mr. Lowrey, a former software engineer (and misguided altruist), is entering his first year as a history teacher; Coach Webb, a second-year P.E. teacher, searches for love in all the wrong places; Mr. Stroope, a third-year veteran, is vying for “Teacher of the Year” honors; and Mrs. Reddell, a first-year assistant principal, is assigned to rein in the Harrison High staff. As they deal with rebellious students, faculty squabbles and a mutinous photocopying machine, Chalk offers an intimate look at what those who can’t, do. (KC)

Preceded by The Sopranos in the West Wing (dir. Jonathan Mitchell, audio, 2 min.) What it might sound like to have Tony as president.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 9:30pm; Ragtag Cinema
Sunday, Feb. 26, noon; Ragtag Cinema

In person: Mike Akel

Filmmaker Eric Metzgar found himself captivated by one of those TV news human-interest segments about a quirky guy who had let turtles take over his New York City apartment. Was there more to this story? After two years of immersive journalism, Metzgar produced this startlingly accomplished film, telling the story of a driven man, Richard Ogust, who is dedicated to saving the world’s endangered turtle populations. Ogust is, in effect, building an ark, and as he races against time, the palpable tension mounts. Through perceptive camera work and a musician’s mastery of rhythmic editing, Metzgar has fashioned a bracing parable about our own fragile foothold on the planet. (PS)

On Sunday at 9:30am, join Metzgar and composer Eric Liebman for “Cuts + Beats: Composing a Doc.” A free master class.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 3pm; Missouri Theatre

In person: director Eric Daniel Metzgar, producer Nell Carden Grey, and composer Eric Liebman

Kurt Cobain once called Daniel Johnston “the greatest living songwriter.” And although Johnston’s long list of devotees includes Beck, Wilco, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits and Matt Groening, his music has yet to puncture mainstream consciousness. Director Jeff Feuerzeig traces Johnston’s life as artist, rebel, musician and outsider from teenage days making folk music in his basement to his multiple hospitalizations (Johnston suffers from manic depression) and through his frequent and extraordinary bursts of creativity. Insightful, heart-wrenching and redemptive, The Devil and Daniel Johnston explores the weave of creation and madness, punctuated with Johnston’s raw, funny and moving music. Both fans and neophytes will be amazed at the phenomenal, largely untouched body of songs and paintings Johnston has created. (JS)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 12:30pm; Missouri Theatre

In person: director Jeff Feuerzeig and producer Henry Rosenthal

The origin and uses of the English language’s favorite curse word, featuring enthusiastic purveyors such as comedian Billy Connolly, rapper/actor Ice T and filmmaker Kevin Smith, mixed in with folks like Miss Manners, Ron Jeremy, Pat Boone and Hunter S. Thompson. A film that, in the wrong hands, could have been a f*cking mess is given visual zip with animation (from Bill Plympton) and creative use of some amazingly funny historic footage. But it’s the calvacade of great interviews that carries the film and helps it find its voice. With theories of origin (most of which are proven wrong), a clever guide to proper usage and, finally, some real insight into the political power of words, this film is guaranteed to offend some and leave others chortling in their seats. (DW)

Friday, Feb. 24, 10pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: Steve Anderson

In person: co-director Jeff Zimbalist and sound designer Michael Furjanic The favelas of Brazil are brutal places — 600 slums with views and built into the steep mountains surrounding Rio’s beaches. Jobs are rare; corrupt policemen routinely escalate the violence; and children, ensnared by warring drug cartels, die in epidemic numbers. Favela Rising tells a story of hope and change within one favela, where, after a police massacre, Anderson Sa resolves to find a way to end the violence and resurrect his town. Sa and his friends start a band, AfroReggae, and stand up to the gang leaders through their message of community and peace. Their success sparks the Afro-Brazilian movement, and soon music and dance classes give youth an outlet and foster community solidarity. Winner of the director’s award at Tribeca, Favela Rising tells an inspiring story of change against all odds, one person and one song at a time. (ST)

Preceded by Who Is John Cage? (dir. Jesse Atkins, hearingvoices.com, audio, 2 min.) in which the man on the street is asked.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 7pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: co-director Jeff Zimbalist and sound designer Michael Furjanic

During the late 1960s “Summer of Love” era, Ralph Arlyck made a short film about Sean Farrell, a four-year-old Haight-Ashbury waif surrounded by a parade of freewheeling addicts and dreamers. More than 30 years later, Arlyck returned to San Francisco to film Sean and his family again. An engaging essayist, Arlyck shares his own rites of passage, lending a fresh personal spin on an era that long ago became calcified into same-old archival footage. Following Sean also subverts the standard ’60s narrative, in which Sean could only become a druggie parasite or a reactionary conservative. Arlyck builds his film with an uncanny power, evoking the crucial choices that each of us makes on our life’s path, and revealing the place where idealism and practicality meet. (PS)

Preceded by Sun Song (dir. Steve McGreevy, hearingvoices.com, audio, 3 min.) Surprising sounds from our magnetosphere.

Saturday, Feb. 25, noon; Ragtag Cinema

In person: Ralph Arlyck

Grace Lee grew up in Columbia. As the only Grace Lee around, she never gave much thought to her name. But once she left the cradle of the Midwest, everyone she met seemed to know another Grace Lee. What’s more, Grace Lee had a profile. She was reserved, good at school, religiously minded, and, of course, she played piano. But this didn’t exactly fit Grace. So she set out to get to the bottom of these stereotypes by studying what she knew best — Grace Lee. The result is a very funny, highly unscientific study of what it means to be named Grace Lee. Along the way she meets Graces who match the stereotypes, but many more who explode it, from an inspired lifelong activist to a mysterious rebel who tried to burn down her school. Using her natural wit and charm to confront weighty issues of identity and prejudice, Grace does her hometown proud with this fresh spin through the question “what’s in a name?”

Sunday, Feb. 26, 2pm; Forrest Theater

In person: filmmaker and Columbia native Grace Lee

With unprecedented access, Frank Poulsen tracks a 21-year-old recruit in a FARC rebel army training camp located deep within the Colombian jungle. Her name is Isabel, and she has said goodbye to family, boyfriends, house and the comforts of modern living. The rugged life is a challenge for her — from being asked to kill a cow with a bare knife to needing to take short showers. Poulsen captures one key moment after another in Isabel’s political and practical education as a new soldier. Shot with a tripod, good lighting, and remarkable cinematography and sound, Poulsen’s crew more than overcomes crude circumstances, capturing what only the best of documentaries achieve: a peek into an otherwise unreachable world. (PS)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 2:30pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: Frank Piasecki Poulsen

The Internet is changing the nature of documentary filmmaking, exposing us to more movies, in an array of forms, than ever before. Mini-docs that are sensational (an unfortunate regurgitation on a morning news show), embarrassing (the Star Wars Kid) and provocative are finding mega-audiences as they fly through the Webosphere. But is an audience of one (at a time) fundamentally different than the shared pleasures of a darkened cinema? And when do we cross the line from viewer to voyeur? Find out on this wild ride, which includes Sam Green’s elegiac Lot 63 Grave C; Justin Hall’s soul-baring Darknight; Jesse Epstein’s clever Wet Dreams & False Images; Aaron Koblin’s dazzling Flight Patterns; the Peggy Ahwesh interview with Damian Lacedaemon from This Spartan Life; Jim Munroe’s machinimasana Yoga Deathmatch; Andy Bobrow’s laser-like send-up of stuffy historical documentaries, Old Negro Space Program, and Claude Lelouch’s hair-raising, jaw-dropping Rendevous, plus a few surprise shorts. (DW)

Friday, Feb. 24, 8pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: Sam Green

The most thrilling nonfiction film of the year brings us deep into the dramatic world of high school basketball. Bill Resler was a college professor before he decided to take a job as the women’s basketball coach at Roosevelt High School in Seattle. His unorthodox tactics and sheer love of the game brought a new dedication to his athletes, and a team that had been a perennial loser started winning games. But a dramatic change in the life of star player, Darnellia Russell, could put the team’s entire season in jeopardy. The saga that follows would be unbelievable if it weren’t entirely real. Jaded industry execs cheered and cried at this film’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. The Heart of the Game is proof positive that the most incredible stories are often real. It’s an ideal tip-off for our fest. (DW)

Friday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm; Missouri Theatre

In person: Ward Serrill

What a long, strange trip it’s been… When fiddler Peter Stampfel teamed up with guitarist Steve Weber in the early ’60s, the two eccentric musicians didn’t know they were setting out on a four-decade musical adventure. Dubbing themselves the Holy Modal Rounders, the two shared a fascination with both American roots music and early psychedelia. This film does more than chronicle an obscure band — filmmakers Sam Douglas and Paul Lovelace have created an engaging, revealing portrait of musical passion, collaborative spirit, missed opportunities and the fickleness of life. With appearances by Dennis Hopper, John Sebastian, Peter Tork of the Monkees, music editor Robert Christgau of The Village Voice and playwright (and former Rounders drummer) Sam Shepard, Bound to Lose is a must-see no matter what your musical persuasion. (KC)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 3pm; Forrest Theater

In person: directors Paul Lovelace and Sam Douglas and star Peter Stampfel

Set against the magnificent landscape of the Missouri Ozarks, Rick Minnich’s film follows one beautiful day in the life of Big Smith, a band that creates music true to its roots — and always brings the house down. In Homemade, these neo-hillbillies guide us musically through their rich cultural legacy. We see them mixing old-time religion with hippie stylings as they play at family gatherings and spontaneous jam sessions. Minnich depicts religion, family and the Ozarks in the least hokey way imaginable, offering a portrait of the devout that’s authentic and convincing. Best of all, Homemade introduces us to Mark Bilyieu, Big Smith’s unpretentious, rootsy and soon-to-be-legendary singer-songwriter. (PS)

Tickets for the movie & concert combo available for $12 (concert tickets are $8). Closing Night Reception: 5:30pm (appetizers provided by Addison’s). Movie: 6:30pm (with band and director Rick Minnich). Big Smith Concert: 8:30pm

Sunday, Feb. 26, 6:30pm; Missouri Theatre (concert @ 8:30pm)

In person: director Rick Minnich and band Big Smith

Columbia’s prodigal son returns with this insightful look at the history of “aerosol art.” From exclusive interviews with pioneers of New York’s subway-train graffiti movement to a provocative exploration of the complex relationship between hip hop and spray-paint art, Just to Get a Rep brims with careful research and visual flair. The film’s texture reflects the energy and freedom of this outlaw art form — as it spans the globe, you can feel its enthusiasm. From the train tunnels of Europe to the river walls of the Midwest, an international yet tight-knit community of aerosol artists are banding together in the face of hostility from the media, cops and traditional art world. Just to Get a Rep takes you inside their global network. (DW)

Thursday, Feb. 23, 10:30pm; Ragtag Cinema
Monday, Feb. 27, 9:45pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: Peter Gerard

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains perhaps the most divisive, polarizing and documented political issue of our time — it’s a fact of life most of us wish would just go away. With the daily bombardment of sensational images on TV, is it any wonder we have become desensitized? Just Vision offers an antidote to hopelessness, providing a portrait of a group of unlikely grassroots activists that include an Israeli settler, a convicted Palestinian fighter, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian ex-prisoner. All of them courageously journey through their own war-torn communities and urge others to reject hatred and violence to build a secure, peaceful future for their children. Just Vision should be required viewing for anyone in search of hope for peace in the Middle East. (KC)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 5:30pm; Forrest Theater

In person: co-director Ronit Avni

Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki) is one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers. She has directed more than 20 documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada, and is an eloquent advocate for social justice. She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1983 and has recently been honored with film retrospectives at major film festivals, including the 2003 Margaret Mead Film Festival and the 2004 IMAGeNative Film Festival. The screening is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a Q&A with Obomsawin and a reception sponsored by the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative. Hot spiced cider and dessert tarts will be served!

This event is co-sponsored by the True/False Film Festival and the University of Missouri-Columbia, including the Alumni Association, the Canadian Studies Program, the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative, the Center for Multicultural Research, Training, and Consultation, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Film Studies Program, the Office for Faculty Development and International Programs, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the University Bookstore, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, and the departments of English, Geography, and Romance Languages and Literatures.

Alanis Obomsawin’s films

National Film Board of Canada “Citizen Shift” bio of Alanis Obomsawin

Canadian Women in Film profile of Alanis Obomsawin

Thursday, Feb. 23, 7pm; Memorial Union S107/Jesse Wrench Auditorium

In person: filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin

This visually arresting doc-meets-installation-art-piece explores the tradition of a last meal for condemned prisoners that was originally done to protect a deceased person on the long journey to the afterlife. Yet now mostly devoid of meaning, the ritual continues on. The film is anchored by visits with former death-row chef Brian Price, the author of Meals to Die For, who, by virtue of residing in Texas, prepared more than 200 final meals. Stockholm-based designers Bigert and Bergstrom exhibit a lightness of touch, a historical curiosity and an endlessly inventive graphic sense that makes this something special. (PS)

Preceded by Ice Music (dir. Gregory Whitehead, audio, 2 min.) in which sounds get frozen into ice cubes, then are released upon melting. And The Holocaust Tourist (dir. Jes Benstock, 2004, 10 min.), a wry look at the tourism industry that’s grown up in post-Schindler’s List Poland.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2:30pm; Ragtag Cinema
Sunday, Feb. 26, 7pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: co-director Mats Bigert and star Brian Price

Philip Sharpe, a former rabbi living in a quiet English town, believes that he is destined to become a Hebrew king. To fulfill his fate, he must take multiple wives. Now, in addition to raising horses and running four antique shops, the go-getting Sharpe lives with seven women. While not legally his spouses, Sharpe’s “wives” try to believe that God sanctions their union. Director Marc Isaacs insinuates himself into the polygamous clan’s lives, filming their all-night meetings — marked by the passing of a microphone — as they muddle through their unconventional arrangement in search of what they hope will be spiritual fulfillment. Away from the group, many of the wives reveal intimate, surprising details and confess their inner struggles with the unconventional arrangement. And Sharpe discovers being a messiah isn’t as easy as it may seem. (PS)

Playing 10am Sunday: Isaac’s Someday My Prince Will Come.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 10am; Forrest Theater

In person: Marc Isaacs

John Peterson doesn’t mind the hard work of farm life, but he also likes glitz, glitter and glamour. John is anything but a conventional salt-of-the-earth type. He writes plays, shoots low-budget movies, hosts all-night, hippie-infested parties and occasionally puts on a feather boa or bumblebee outfit to plow his fields. As for the usual hurdles of keeping a small farm alive, John must deal with confused and frightened neighbors, vicious rumors and outright violence. Filmed over three decades and employing gorgeous home movie footage (John’s mother documented life on her farm beginning in the ’50s), Real Dirt captures it all — John losing his farm, regaining it, combating his neighbors’ intolerance and eventually building the best-known organic farm in the region. (JS)

Shows with Grand Luncheonette (dir. Peter Sillen, 4 min.), a perfect movie about the end of an era.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 4:30pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: sustainable agriculture advocate John Ikerd

This inspiring story, plucked from a country ravaged by a horrific civil war, chronicles a group of musicians from Sierra Leone as they attempt to make a life for themselves at a refugee camp in Guinea. After ten years of war, these survivors bear deep physical and emotional scars, yet find that playing music gives a sense of purpose to their lives and lifts the spirits of those in the camps. Filmed in refugee camps over the course of three years, All Stars follows the band back to their homeland to record an album of their songs. Revealing both life-changing moments and joyous music, this film won the Grand Jury prize at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles, and it provides clear evidence of the healing powers of music. (DW)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 1pm; Blue Note

In person: directors Zach Niles and Banker White and 9 of the Refugee All Stars

Afflicted since childhood with cystic fibrosis, Bob Flanagan fought pain with pain, using whips, chains and stranger implements to push his body to alarming lengths. Sometimes he did it on stage, mutilating his body for art’s sake. Kirby Dick’s sensitive, shockingly funny portrait includes frank interviews with Flanagan and his partner Sheree Rose, footage from their legendary performances (before his death at age 42, Flanagan became a hero of avant-garde theater) and a haunting, harrowing finale. An undeniable masterpiece, Sick operates simultaneously as a love story, biography and performance video, and as proof that spirituality is in the eye of the beholder. Flanagan remains one of cinema’s most compelling characters, and Dick tells the story with a mixture of toughness and sensitivity. We won’t kid you: Sick is not for the queasy. Then again, neither is life. (JS)

Friday, Feb. 24, 5pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: Kirby Dick

The setting is a courthouse, and the heroes are a brilliant, sharp-tongued prosecutor and a tough but fair-minded judge. Although it sounds like the template for a thousand movies and TV shows, Sisters in Law is a wholly distinctive courtroom drama. The action unfolds in a Cameroon town where attorney Vera Ngassa and judge Beatrice Ntuba are nurturing a revolution. Using the law, public opinion and, most of all, their formidable intellects, these legal eagles ensure that victims of rape and domestic abuse receive legal protections — finally, African women are getting their day in court. Directors Florence Ayisi and Kim Longinotto provide many familiar elements of courtroom drama — pathos, surprising turns of events, even a slick defense lawyer. But Sisters in Law, an award winner at Cannes 2005, avoids all clichés. This is social-action filmmaking at its most surprising, moving and relevant. (JS)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 6pm; Missouri Theatre

In person: stars Vera Ngassa and Beatrice Ntuba

A fairytale, a performance art piece, and a documentary in one beautiful package, this is the story of Simone Aaberg Kaern. Like a Danish Julie Andrews, Simone has an indomitable spirit that comes in handy when she reads about a young Afghan girl’s desire to be a pilot. Refusing to be bogged down by bureaucratic naysayers, Simone finds a funny little airplane and departs from Denmark, heading for Afghanistan and flying over contested airspace — making a strong statement in support of open skies and freedom in the aftermath of 9/11. Using 1940s style Hollywood melodramatic music, rich DV cinematography, and plenty of fanciful and charming moments, Simone and co-director Magnus Bejmar keep Smiling floating above the typical message film. (PS)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 10am; Missouri Theatre

In person: Magnus Bejmar, Simone Aaberg Kaern

Heartrending and hilarious in ways that only the love life of an 11-year-old can be, this British doc is certain to provoke lots of discussion and perhaps some controversy. Rare in its willingness to accept kids on their own terms, Someday My Prince Will Come is narrated in rhyming voice-over by its subject, Laura-Anne, as she brings us along on her quest to find a “prince.” Along the way, we’re reminded of the tumultuous nature of young love and offered an unvarnished look at the social life of a small British coastal village.

Preceded by My Brother Anton (dir. Dantia Macdonald, 7min.), an experimental documentary that uses images of bugs and birds to detail a struggle with schizophrenia. (DW)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 10am & 7pm; Ragtag Cinema

In person: director Marc Isaacs

If democracy is a contact sport, then the mayoral race in Newark, New Jersey, was a bare-knuckled, eye-gouging backroom brawl. In one corner is Sharpe James, the incumbent and an old-school civil rights battler; in the other is the young idealist Cory Booker, a Yale-educated sports hero who chooses to live in public housing while serving on the city council. They’re both Democrats, so the real battle is old vs. new, upstart vs. machine. Things turn ugly. The camera crew is threatened. Scandal rocks both campaigns. And the finale is white-knuckled even for those who know the results. A recent Academy Award nominee, Street Fight tells a different kind of political story, one minus spin doctors and high-profile TV ads. Two candidates slug it out, and you’re in the middle of the action. (DW)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 3:30pm; Missouri Theatre

In person: Marshall Curry

As Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” In the case of Darryl Hunt, that curve took its own sweet time. Hunt spent nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and emerged only due to the heroic efforts of a group of lawyers and activists. Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg began filming Hunt’s story in the early ’90s, enjoying intimate access once attorney-client privilege was waived. With rich visual material from a 20-year period, they present an engrossing tale of police obstruction, inane press coverage, and bumbling judges. While partly an indictment of a broken, racist judicial system, Trials also serves as a tribute to the saving grace of friendship and a portrait of a man whose spirit survived an epic ordeal. (PS)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 4pm; Blue Note

In person: co-director Annie Sundberg

Movie ratings — those Rs, PG-13s and NC-17s — won’t look nearly as innocuous after seeing this sharply observed and funny investigation of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA keeps the rating process completely secret, but filmmaker Kirby Dick and the private eye he hires discover a hidden society, closed to filmmakers but overseen by religious figures. As Dick goes deeper, we start to understand how the MPAA’s ratings system reflects some of American society’s troubling propensities, including the glorification of violence, a fear of sex of any kind and a paranoiac attitude towards gays, lesbians and other nonconformists. Using animation, interviews and, most of all, his substantial powers as a storyteller, Dick turns This Film into a potent mix of black comedy, social critique and old-fashioned muckraking. (JS)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 3:30pm; Blue Note

In person: Kirby Dick

The simplicity of this high-concept film belies the depth and skill of the filmmaking involved. Directors Bradley Beesley (Okie Noodling) and Sarah Price (The Yes Men) take us through an entire summer at a kids’ nature camp. Both filmmakers have an eye for beautiful compositions, and both share an ability to converse naturally with their subjects from behind the camera. From these skills comes a film that tells the simple stories of summer’s highs and lows with a delicate perfection. With a score that’s chock full of the Flaming Lips (who Beesley worked with on last year’s T/F standout My Life With the Fearless Freaks), this quietly affecting take on the trial and triumphs of youth stands as another strong showing from two talented directors. (DW)

Preceded by The Orders of Love (dir. Jes Benstock, 10 min.), a fast-paced tale of the hidden influences that past generations exert on our personality.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 8pm; Forrest Theater

In person: Bradley Beesley

The latest results from our fall workshop that blends animation with documentary, spiced by some international standouts.

Hunting (Katherine Gorman) — Journey through the inaccessible parts of the mind and join in on a hunt for the elusive subconscious.

So Be a Good Boy (Stephanie Foley and Catherine Gleason) — All dogs might not go to heaven after all.

Look (Nikie Watson) — Take a look at what others see when they are asked to make sense out of the abstract.

The Macrocosmic Microcosm (Emily Grey) — The end of the world has been predicted, but don’t panic.

Casual Orchestration (Shawn Mayer) — The threads of a flowing and changing conversation parallel the improvised nuances of a musical score.

No Place Like Home (Hannah Robbins) — The displaced and disillusioned share their visions of what home is.

Mushrooms and Snowmen (Anna Guthrie) — Two teenagers openly share the highs and lows of heavy drug use based on personal experience.

Speaking Consequences (Sarah Whorton and Samantha Mazzara) — The power of words symbolized by natural elements and a journey through the forest.

How to Draw an Alligator in 60 Seconds (Deborah Zemke) — The title says it all.

10 Years From Now… (Laura Robinson) — Three friends see themselves in very different situations 10 years from now.

The Sides of Music (Sierra Jackson) — Gospel vs. hip hop vs. R&B: this animated documentary captures the flip sides of musical preferences.

Lose It (Allison Branham) — A musician, a song, a breath, a captive audience, a powerful image, a religious experience.

Crazy (Megan Bear) — A guided tour through the word “crazy”.

The Inevitable Conflict (Sharon Ferrell) — When humans take over the earth and development destroys all natural habitats, what will the animals do?

Diet Vanilla Coke is really good, but one time I spilled it on the evolution chart (Ian Reid and Kathleen Reeves).

Plus Full Metal Slacks (Scott Calonico), in which LBJ doesn’t let Vietnam slow him down from wearing stylish pants; How to Feed the Soul (Kate Hesse), a celebration of art and music; While Darwin Sleeps (Paul Bush), in which an insect collection comes suddenly alive; and Don’t Worry (Emily James), a tribute to the “unsung heroes” of the public relations industry, who keep anxiety at bay. (DE)

Sunday, Feb. 26, 11am; Blue Note

In person: 20 directors

With each new American war comes a new rationale: communism, drug traffic, terrorism. But what if the truth of American war goes deeper? What if our soldiers are put in harm’s way for the benefit of the manufacturers of guns, tanks, bullets and bombs? That’s the case Eugene Jarecki builds in this provocative history of what Dwight D. Eisenhower, back in 1961, dubbed “the military-industrial complex.” Jarecki reveals a disturbingly intimate bond between Congress, the Pentagon and military companies, arguing that weapon makers have become a fourth branch of government. As a result, American foreign policy has grown senselessly trigger-happy. Whether you believe America’s occupation of Iraq is well justified, or you find Halliburton as guilty as Saddam, Why We Fight provides a troubling new perspective on the U.S. military machine. (JS)

Saturday, Feb. 25, 8:30pm; Missouri Theatre

In person: director Eugene Jarecki