ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The 17th Arizona International Film Festival takes place April 17-27 at venues throughout downtown Tucson, including the Screening Room, the Fox Tucson Theatre, Hotel Congress, La Placita Village and Dinnerware ArtSpace. More than 80 films from 12 countries will be featured during Arizona's longest-running and largest film festival.On Thursday, April 17, "Opening Night at the Fox Theatre" features Hollywood Chinese at 7:30 p.m.; on Friday, April 18, "Opening Night at the Screening Room" offers Father G and the Homeboys at 8 p.m. And on Sunday, April 27, the Screening Room will show the festival-award-winning and audience-favorite films at "The Best of the Fest" at 1 and 4 p.m.
Visit the festival Web site for the complete schedule, which includes screenings, panels, workshops, music performances and other special events. Festival passes range from $40 to $150; call 882-0204 or visit the Web site for pass information. Individual films are $8, or $6 for the first afternoon screening each day. Single-admission tickets can be purchased only two hours prior at the screening location.
BURNING MAN FILM AT THE SCREENING ROOM
Director and producer Doug Jacobson brings his film Journey to the Flames: 8 Years of Burning Man to the Screening Room at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 29. Journey to the Flames documents a group of friends on a trek to the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, and features footage from eight different festivals. Jacobson will do a Q&A after the screening. The Screening Room is at 127 E. Congress St.; admission is $8. For more information, go to the film Web site.
NAGASAKI FILM AT THE UA
At 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 2, the UA School of Media Arts will host documentary filmmaker Robert Richter and his film The Last Atomic Bomb at the UA Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Building, Room 212. The Last Atomic Bomb documents the story of 10-year-old Sakue Shimohira, who was hiding in a shelter near ground zero when the bomb exploded in Nagasaki in August 1945. It includes rarely seen archival footage and never-before-told accounts of what happened to her and other bomb survivors. Richter's work has won numerous awards; he has produced prime-time documentaries and news features with Charles Kuralt, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and other correspondents. There will be a Q&A after the showing, which is free. For information on the event, contact Jill Bean at 626-1405 or by e-mail; for information on the film, visit its Web site.
DYSTOPIA FILM SERIES
The Dry River Radical Resource Center is running eight films in its Dystopia Film Series, which organizers describe as "a selection of depictions of unwanted alternate worlds." The lineup: Friday, March 28: Idiocracy is at 7 p.m., and Blade Runner shows at 9 p.m.; Saturday, March 29: Fahrenheit 451 screens at 3:30 p.m.; Sunday, March 30: Metropolis (the 2001 anime version) plays at 3:30 p.m.On Friday, April 11: Zardoz screens at 7 p.m., and Brazil shows at 9 p.m.; Saturday, April 12: Soylent Green plays at 3:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 13: Minority Report screens at 3:30 p.m.
Dry River is at 740 N. Main St.; admission is by donation. Visit the Dry River Web site for more information.
VERBOBALA SPOKEN VIDEO AT THE TUCSON POETRY FESTIVAL
The Verbobala Spoken Video troupe will present an interactive performance with poetry and video at the Historic YWCA as part of the Tucson Poetry Festival at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 12. They will also hold a workshop at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 13, also at the Y, in the conference room. Verbobala Spoken Video is a binational video-performance group based in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and Tucson. The Historic YWCA is located at 300 E. University Blvd.; for admission prices or more information, call 620-2045, or visit the festival Web site.
IFASA MEETING
The April meeting of the Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, April 7, at Access Tucson, 124 E. Broadway Blvd. The meeting will feature prop-master Lee Lazarow, who will do a show-and-tell on props and set dressing. Visit the IFASA Web site for more info, or e-mail with any questions.
EVENTS AT THE LOFT
Found Footage Film Festival: Curators/scavengers Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett return to the Loft at 8 p.m., Thursday, April 3, with the second edition of the Found Footage Film Festival. Dubbed "a celebration of odd and hilarious found videos," the festival includes films and videos found at garage sales, in Dumpsters, at thrift-stores, etc. $8.50; visit the festival Web site/ for a full lineup.Taxi to the Dark Side: At 7 p.m., Saturday, April 5, the 2007 Academy Award-winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side will be featured during a special screening presented by the Tucson Peace Action Coalition. There will be tables by community activist groups and a post-film Q&A with Father Stephen Kelly and Father Louie Vitale, priests who were recently released after a five-month prison sentence for their 2006 nonviolent protest at Fort Huachuca; regular admission prices.
The Loft's Promo-Palooza: The Loft is offering a $1,000 prize for the best 30-second promo spot for the Loft. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, April 16, and the screening and awards show is slated for April 30. Download the rules and info at the Loft's Web site. Info packets are also available at the Loft's box office.
Essential Cinema screens a new print of Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows at 1 p.m., Sunday, April 13, and 7 p.m., Monday, April 14. Essential Cinema screenings are free, but donations are encouraged.
The Loft Cinema is at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Call 795-7777 or check the Loft's Web site for a full schedule of films and events, and for further information.
