There are so many concurrent FLEFF screenings and events this weekend, it’s almost hard for us to keep track of them all! We can’t possibly cover all of the worthy events here, but here goes nothing …

Saturday’s Highlights

1:00 p.m.: Ice Bears of the Beaufort -- This film shows the plight of polar bears near Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, who are in danger of losing a critical habit due to offshore oil drilling. This is the first feature film from director Arthur C. Smith III, who has contributed footage to National Geographic and Discovery Channel films. With directors Arthur and Jennifer Smith. (Cinemapolis, 55 minutes; with additional showing Sunday at 3:00 p.m.)
View the Trailer

2:30 p.m.: The Black Pirate -- In the second of three "Silent Films/Live Music" events, Fe Nunn and Friends and local poet Michelle Berry will perform during a screening of Albert Parker's 1926 swashbuckling classic. Will the Black Pirate (played by Douglas Fairbanks, who also wrote the story) save his love Isobel from certain doom? (Cinemapolis, 88 minutes)
FLEFF: Silent Films/Live Music

3:00 p.m.: A Class Apart -- This film, by Carlos Sandoval and Peter Miller, follows a team of unknown Mexican-American lawyer who took a 1951 Texas murder case all the way to the Supreme Court, and in the process challenged Jim Crow-style discrimination against Mexican-Americans. The panel discussion will include Tompkins County legislator Kathy Luz Herrera. (Fall Creek Pictures, 60 minutes) 

4:35 p.m.: Nuestros Desaparecidos (Our Disappeared) -- Filmmaker Juan Mandelbaum will be on hand for the screening of his documentary, which traces his efforts at discovering a long-lost girlfriend’s fate after the Argentine military’s 1976-1983 reign of terror. (Cinemapolis, 99 minutes; screens again at 9:00 p.m.)

8:30 p.m.: FLEFF After-party with Toivo and No Radio DJs (Lost Dog Lounge)

Sunday's Highlights

1:00 p.m.: At the Top of My Voice -- Set against the backdrop of the 2007 crackdown on democracy in the Republic of Georgia, the film follows activists Irakli Kakabadze and Anna Dolidze as they return to their native country to shine a light on the violence and corruption of President Saakashvili's regime and take part in monitoring his controversial reelection. The screening will feature live poetry readings and performances by activists Kakabadze and Dolidze. (Fall Creek Pictures, 60 minutes)

2:00 p.m.: Steve Tropiano reading -- Tropiano, IC television and radio professor and director of the College's program in Los Angeles, reads from and signs copies of his new book, Obscene, Indecent, Immoral, and Offensive: 100+ Years of Censored, Banned, and Controversial Films. Our guess is that nothing could shock Tropiano after writing this book. (The Bookery)
More on Tropiano's Indecent Book

7:00 p.m.: The Wildcat -- In an "exploration of cinematic and sexual spice" (spice being one of this year's programming streams), this 1921 silent film from Germany will be accompanied by live music from Robby Aceto on guitar, Peter Dodge on percussion and keyboards, and Chris White on cello. Considered to be one of Ernst Lubitsch's best films, this playfully subversive satire of military life is a forerunner of later films like M*A*S*H, Dr. Strangelove, and the work of Monty Python and Woody Allen. (Cinemapolis, 82 minutes)

8:30 p.m.: Korova After-party – Come toast the end of a long, busy week of FLEFF with staff, fans, and members of the local community. (Korova, on the Ithaca Commons)

Trailers and Clips

Clip from The Black Pirate

BostonLatino.tv Interview with Our Disappeared Director Juan Mandelbaum   

Dream Sequence from The Wildcat