Five Saturday Nights starting Feb 11, 2006 at Hollywood's Raleigh Studios

Chaplin Theater

7 - 10pm

March 11, 2006

Raleigh Studios - 7pm

Enter on Van Ness Street

This is a free screening - with donations to the non-profit accepted to continue this series.

BERKELEY

Directed by Bobby Roth

Berkeley is the story of Ben Sweet (Nick Roth), an eighteen year old middleclass boy who comes to UC Berkeley in 1968 to study accounting and avoid the draft. There begins an odyssey through sex, drugs, rock and roll, and political activism which turns his conservative world upside down, and leaves him on a path of exploration and self-discovery, far from the life of his father, Sy (Henry Winkler).

Bobby Roth in attendance for a post screening Q+A!

See the trailer at www.Berkeleythefilm.com

PLUS

AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILMS BY MITCHELL ROSE

Mitchell Rose's "Modern Daydreams", winner of nineteen festival awards, is a suite of four Chaplinesque shorts. The New York Times calls Modern Daydreams "funny and surprisingly touching fantasies." It has played in locations as diverse as the Getty Museum, inflight entertainment, and the CBS SpectacularVision in Times Square. The suite includes:

"Treadmill Softly" — A man reaches aerobic heart rate at the gym when he falls for a hunkette.

"Islands in the Sky" — Four people weave fifty feet in the air atop four cherry-pickers, aloft and aloof in their ivory towers.

"Unleashed" — A cubicle-bound Dilbert-ditto gets in touch with his inner puppy.

"Deere John" — A man and a twenty-two ton John Deere excavator dance a dance of discovery, fulfillment, and eventually, the loss that any diesel-based relationship must suffer.

"One of the greatest minds in the short film world, Rose continues to impress with ability to go from pitch session to actually getting these gems made...a true comic genius....Need a guy to come up with some original, laugh out loud new ideas for a commercial/advertising campaign?  He's the guy."

- Bob Sharka, Executive Director, Friends Of Film 

Check out his works on www.MItchellRose.com

Feb 25, 2006

KARLA

Directed by Joel Benders

35mm

karla, the true-crime movie based on the story of "couple-next-door" killers, Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo, stars Laura Prepon as Homolka and Misha Collins as Bernardo.
karla tells the tale of Homolka's life with Paul Bernardo and the
horrific crimes that their ill-fated union produced. Based on court
transcripts, interviews and videotape shot by the couple, the film gives a
straightforward accounting of how the duo met and what happened over the next several years as Homolka traveled a dark and twisted road from respectable high school senior to convicted killer.

Gripping and tension-packed with measured and intelligent performances
from the two lead actors, karla leaves the viewer to ponder the psyches of two individuals in a tragically demented relationship.

karla has already generated heated controversy in Canada and particularly
in Ontario where the murders occurred.

See the trailer on its web-site.

"An absolute stunner of a film....a real conversation-starting, thought provoking, mind opening, experience...a film that'll have you feeling like you went fifteen rounds with the champ, in the end barely still standing on wobbly legs, unsure of what hit you the last 90 minutes.  Make plans for a post-screening drink or two;  you're probably going to need them."

- Bob Sharka, Executive Director, Friends of Film

February 11, 2006 

Academy Awardâ nominees in the short documentary category.

"One of the strongest list of films in recent memory."

Bob Sharka, Executive Director, Friends of Film

GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA

Directed by Kimberlee Acquaro, Stacy Sherman
30 minutes, 35mm

The 1994 Rwandan genocide left the country nearly 70%
female handing Rwanda's women an extraordinary burden
and an unprecedented opportunity. An inspiring story of loss and redemption GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA captures the spirit of five courageous women as they rebuild their lives, redefining women's roles in Rwandan society and bringing hope to a wounded nation.

THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER: CASUALTY OF THE BANG BANG CLUB

Director/Producer - Dan Krauss

27 minutes
The turbulent story of South African photojournalist Kevin Carter, who won the New York Times its first Pulitzer Prize in photography in 1994, then committed suicide just weeks later.

THE MUSHROOM CLUB

Directed by Steven Okazaki

35 minutes, new 35mm print 

Twenty-five years ago, in his documentary SURVIVORS, Steven Okazaki interviewed men and women who had lived through the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 2005, he returns to this subject and its many unresolved questions to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

THE MUSHROOM CLUB offers an urgent reminder of the destructive legacy of war, and a plea for more thoughtful engagement. The film's subjects include a 90-year-old survivor who collects the melted glass and metal that still washes ashore in Hiroshima, and members of "The Mushroom Club," a support group created for children born with defects caused by nuclear contamination.

Both a personal reflection and a moving portrait of the city and people of Hiroshima, THE MUSHROOM CLUB explores the legacy of the bombing, from its myths and monuments to its survivors, to the complex politics of pacifism and militarization which Japan still struggles with today.

Feb 18th, 2006 , 7pm

Academy Awardâ Nominee for

Best Foreign Language Film

A pre-release screening of

SOPHIE SCHOLL - THE FINAL DAYS

Directed by Marc Rothemund

35mm - 117 minutes

Print Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films

www.Zeitgesitfilms.com

The true story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine is brought to thrilling life in the multi-award winning drama SOPHIE SCHOLL-THE FINAL DAYS.  SOPHIE SCHOLL stars Julia Jentsch (The Edukators) in a luminous performance as the young coed-turned-fearless activist. Armed with long-buried historical records of her incarceration, director Marc Rothemund expertly re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life: a heart-stopping journey from arrest to interrogation, trial and sentence.

In 1943, as Hitler continues to wage war across Europe, a group of college students mount an underground resistance movement in Munich. Dedicated expressly to the downfall of the monolithic Third Reich war machine, they call themselves the White Rose. One of its few female members, Sophie Scholl is captured during a dangerous mission to distribute pamphlets on campus with her brother Hans. Unwavering in her convictions and loyalty to the White Rose, her cross-examination by the Gestapo quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and personal responsibility that is both haunting and timeless.

SOPHIE SCHOLL-THE FINAL DAYS received three Lolas (German Oscars) including the Audience Award and Best Actress Award to Jentsch for her brilliant characterization of the title role. The film also won two Silver Bears for Best Director and Best Actress at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.

"HARROWING! HEROIC! EXHILARATING! INSPIRING! RIVETING!" - Kevin Crust, LOS ANGELES TIMES

"Not to be missed.....an educational experience on the power of a few to stand up against the machine with Julia Jentsch leading the class in a top-notch performance!"

- Bob Sharka, Friends of Film