"Strange and wonderful. The bizarre at its best." NEW YORK TIMES

Director Errol Morris fashions a study of the human condition at the turn of the millenium out of interviews with four men who have unusual passions, professions and outlooks on life. Featured in the film are Dave Hoover, a circus trainer of big cats; George Mendonca, a gardener who has spent his life shaping trees and bushes into giant animal topiary; Ray Mendez, dedicated to the study of blind, hairless molerats; and Rodney Brooks; a robotics scientist who makes lifelike machines and who believes carbon-based life is obsolete. The film is enhanced by daring cinematography in 35, 16 and 8 mm video, both color and black-and white, by Robert Richardson who regularly shoots Oliver Stone's films. (1997, 82 minutes)

"Miraculous, epic film making." WESTWOOD ONE RADIO

The moving, early life of Tibet's Dalai Lama. (Martin Scorsese, 1997, 134 min.)

"Impressive, audacious and seductive." NEW YORK NEWSDAY

An L.A. thriller about two men transformed. (Wim Wenders, 1997, 122 min.)

"A portrait of the young Dylan tearing the pop world apart." L.A. HERALD EXAMINER

The 1965 English concert tour chronicled. (D.A. Pennebaker, 1967, 96 min.)

"Sophisticated black comedy, seductive and whimsical." NEW YORK NEWSDAY

Marriage, murder, mayhem in 1950s Mexico. (Arturo Ripstein, 1996, 109 min.)

"Deftly drawn, carefully cool." BOXOFFICE

Can Daniel Day-Lewis' boxing club save Belfast? (Jim Sheridan, 1997, 112 min.)

"Simultaneously epic and precisely minuscule." NEW YORK TIMES

This Iranian film was the 1997 grand prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival. The maker of the films Through the Olive Trees and Close-Up, and author of The White Balloon and The Key, Abbas Kiarostami presents a small slice of life and succeeds in capturing something so universal it transcends cultural boundaries. In Taste of Cherry, a solitary man contemplates suicide while driving through the hills outside Teheran in search of someone to either save or bury him. Taste of Cherry screens in Farsi with English subtitles. (1997, 95 min.)

"Gorgeous to look at and passionately acted." BOSTON GLOBE

This film adaptation of Henry James' 1902 novel brings turn of the century London and Venice to sumptuous life in this drama about a devastating clash between love and greed, class distinctions and the modern era. A young woman cannot marry the man she loves because he is penniless. When the pair meet a lonely and ailing young heiress, they hatch a plot to romance her and acquire her fortune so they can be together. Directed by Iain Softley, who made Backbeat and Hackers, The Wings of the Dove stars Helena Bonham Carter, Spitfire Grill's Alison Elliott, Linus Roache and Charlotte Rampling. (1997, 101 min.)

"A delicate and assured exploration of tragedy." LOS ANGELES TIMES

In this delicate exploration of tragedy and healing, a small town copes with a devastating school bus accident. In the wake of the crisis, a big-city lawyer played by The Fifth Element's Ian Holm comes to town and introduces the divisive forces of lawsuits and fingerpointing that pervade our society, compromising community ties and impeding the grieving process. Narrated by several different characters who present their individual accounts of the accident and its aftermath, The Sweet Hereafter is a richly detailed quilt of impressions, memories and beliefs that points to the importance of individual and community responsibility. (Atom Egoyan, 1997, 110 min.)

"A smart, unsettling comedy edged with horror." NEW YORK TIMES

A gripping tale of surviving the Holocaust, based on George Tabori's memoirs of his mother's survival of Nazi terror. With its unusual use of story structure, flashbacks and interruptions of the storyline for commentary, the film is innovative cinema as well. At one point, Tabori, who periodically narrates the story, is shown walking through the set of the film, reminding audiences that while this is a movie, it is mainly a haunting tale of actual events. A naive Hungarian woman, barely aware of the German occupation of her homeland, is brutally awakened to the harsh reality of Nazism when she's tagged for mass deportation. Directed by Michael Verhoeven, who made The White Rose and The Nasty Girl, My Mother's Courage screens in German with English subtitles. (1995, 88 min.) co-sponsored by UCSB Hillel

"A taut, elegant, acutely observant study of intersecting lives." LOS ANGELES TIMES

A taut, observant study of the subtle connections between several intersecting lives in a Paris neighborhood, the film brings together an aspiring actress from provincial France, a Slavic vagabond, a musician from Martinique and his transvestite brother. The links among the characters come to light as a series of unsolved murders shakes up the neighborhood. Made by French director Claire Denis, I Can't Sleep screens in French with English subtitles. (1995, 110 min.)
This program is made possible with the support of The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Cultural Ministry of France.