(Frank Tashlin, US 1954, 98 min., 35mm)

Mark (Dick Powell) a successful Hollywood scenarist with a penchant for juvenile delinquency stories, gets involved with jailbait JD Susan (Debbie Reynolds). Perhaps the only film narrated by an Oscar statuette, Tashlin’s provocatively funny Tinseltown satire takes plenty of potshots at the entertainment industry and flirts dangerously with several ’50s taboos. Preceded by Tash-lin’s shorts: SPEAKING OF THE WEATHER (1937, 35mm) and NOW THAT SUMMER HAS GONE (1938, 16mm).

Two screenings: Fri., March 23, 8 p.m., and Sun., March 25, 5 p.m.

(Ramin Bahrani, US 2006, 87 min., 35mm)

A former Pakistani rock star Ahmad (Ahmad Razvi) spends his days selling coffee and doughnuts from a cart that he literally pushes and pulls through the streets of Manhattan. In this arresting mixture of Italian and Iranian neorealism, we follow Ahmad as he works endless, physically grueling hours, reflects on his estranged family, and befriends a young Spanish woman (Leticia Dolera) who works a newsstand. “**** (four stars) Bahrani, as director, not only stays out of the way of the simplicity of his story, but relies on it; less is more, and with restraint he finds a grimy eloquence.” —Roger Ebert. Co-presented by the Rochester Labor Council.

(LA TIGRE E LA NEVE, Roberto Benigni, Italy 2005, 115 min., Italian with subtitles, 35mm)

As he did in Life is Beautiful, the Oscar-winning actor/writer/director Roberto Benigni delivers another bittersweet comic love story set against a backdrop of war and devastation. After the start of the recent hostilities in Iraq, Rome-based poet and lecturer Attilio (Benigni) heads to Baghdad when he learns that the woman he loves, Vittoria (Nicoletta Braschi), has been critically injured in a bomb explosion. Facing numerous obstacles and helped by his Iraqi friend (Jean Reno), Attilio risks his life to protect and save the unconscious Vittoria. Singer Tom Waits, who co-stars as himself, contributed the lovely theme song.

(David Waingarten, US 2006, 61 min., Beta-Sp projection)

The debut feature from filmmaker and Rochester native Waingarten is a quietly creepy tale about a troubled nine-year-old boy. After the suicide of his father, Addison and his grief-stricken mother move to a modest Portland, Oregon neighborhood. Defiantly refusing to speak, Addison drifts further and further into a fantasy world where he controls the fates of those closest to him…or is it just a fantasy? Evocatively shot in high-contrast black and white, Addison’s Wall is a strongly acted and atmospheric chiller that announces the arrival of a talented young filmmaker. Preceded by POST (David Waingarten, US 2003, 6 min., Beta-Sp projection). Waingarten will introduce his films and answer questions following the screenings.

Click here to visit the official site for the film, and to see a trailer.

(LES AMANTS RÉGULIERS, Philippe Garrel, France 2005, 178 min., French with subtitles, 35mm)

A more thoughtful alternative to Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, Garrel’s epic-length masterpiece re-creates the Paris student revolts of May 1968 with astonishing authenticity and an unsentimental eye. Focusing on a small group of rebellious and dissatisfied young men as they violently skirmish with authorities, the film follows their lives after the riots as they try to make sense of what happened. Far from a conventional melodrama or nostalgic reminiscence, Regular Lovers isn’t just a movie to watch—it’s an event to be experienced.