Some of you might have noticed that the power went off for about 15 minutes Wednesday afternoon. Let's just say it's going to take more than a temporary cut in electricity to slow down the FLEFF locomotive! Thursday ramps up the action with the usual broad assortment of screenings, plus several artists' events and an evening concert downtown. But get this -- the unbelievable amount of happenings this weekend is going to make Thursday's program look like Romper Room.

If you like what you're seeing at FLEFF this week -- or if you have suggestions for next year -- feel free to comment on this or any Rattle post using the comment section at bottom.

Thursday's Highlights

9:25 a.m.: Tulia, Texas -- Through its scrupulous investigation of a landmark legal case, Cassandra Herrman and Kelley Whalen's documentary convincingly shows how the "war on drugs" has become a war on due process, waged against African Americans. With faculty facilitator Todd Schack. (Park Hall 285, 54 minutes)

1:10 p.m.: The Route of the Chontaduro -- This film documents the life cycle of the chontaduro, an exotic and supposedly aphrodisiac fruit that is transported from deep to the jungle to the biggest cities in South America. Filmmaker Alexander Gonzalez Tascon and IC professor Stewart Auyash will be on hand to lead a discussion in this FLEFF Lab presentation. (Hill Center 57, 50 minutes)

2:35 p.m.: Health for Sale -- The 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world accumulate $205 billion in pretax profits -- more than the combined profits of the 490 other Fortune 500 companies. Are these companies, paradoxically, presenting a collective obstacle to global public health? With faculty facilitator Karen Edwards, assistant professor of health promotion and physical education. (Hill Center 53, 53 minutes)

2:35 p.m.: The Carbon Connection -- This film focuses on two locations on opposite sides of the world both suffering from side effects of the "emission trade." In Brazil, a company uses carbon credits to "outsource" their industrial pollution; while in Scotland, an oil refinery faces few constraints in its ecological plunder after paying its "carbon bill." (Park Hall 270, 40 minutes)

5:00 p.m.: FLEFF Artists' Reception -- Installation artists Ray Ghirardo and Megan Roberts, whose "Water Theory" exhibition runs at the Handwerker Gallery through April 5, will be present at this opening reception, as will Pamela Mei Leng See. (Roberts and Ghirardo will also host a talk earlier in the day at noon, also in the gallery.) (Handwerker Gallery, Gannett Center)
Read more about "Water Theory"
Handwerker Gallery Website

8:00 p.m.: Sheherazade Trio -- IC faculty members Jennifer Hayghe (piano), Elizabeth Simkin (cello), and Susan Waterbury (violin) named their trio after the mythical "Arabian Nights" storyteller who told 1,001 beguiling tales to save her own life. The trio takes on Paul Schoenfield's 1987 work, "Café Music," as well as Maurice Ravel's Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1914) against a backdrop of ambient media projections from Microcinema International, mounted by Ann Michel, Phil Wilde, and Tom Nicholson. (Unitarian Church, corner of Buffalo and Aurora Streets, Ithaca)
Read More about the Concert

Trailers and Clips

Tulia, Texas

Health for Sale

The Carbon Connection