In celebration of the second century of cinema, the Eighth Annual Multicultural Film Festival is exploring the theme: "Border Crossing: Cinema and Video at Century's Turn." The theme of border crossing will be examined for thirteen weeks in the spring of 2001 as the Interdepartmental Program in Film Studies uncovers the latest round of achievements in independent world cinema.

An exciting line-up of films and videos, many accompanied by their directors, will explore the simultaneous fluidity and permanence of cultural, technological, aesthetic, generational, and personal boundaries. Working from a wide range of backgrounds and budgets, from the lavish resources of an established major director to the considerably more modest means available to a teenage newcomer, the film and video makers whose works have been brought together for this spring's film festival will challenge and delight audiences as they offer up fresh and provocative perspectives on life in a rapidly changing global environment.

Carolyn Anderson, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Acting Director of Film Studies and Curator of the festival comments: "We plan to continue the Festival's strong tradition of screening recent works otherwise unavailable to local audiences, along with opportunities to engage with the film and video makers themselves. This spring, to emphasize the vitality of the new century, we have programmed many events featuring popular music, dance, and comedy, and introducing the remarkable work of a new generation of filmmakers."

Since 1996, the Fine Arts Center Department of Multicultural Programs has been an active partner in co-sponsoring film presentations where either the subject matter is one or more of the performing arts, or a live performance is programmed in conjunction with a film screening. From our first joint project in the spring of 1996, a commissioned jazz score performed live along with a screening of Oscar Micheaux's 1919 silent film, "Within Our Gates," to last spring's mini poetry slam in conjunction with a showing of Marc Levin's Sundance-winning "Slam," the Department of Multicultural Programs has established a tradition of combining film with live performance.

In our Bollywood Extravaganza slated for Wednesday, April 4, 2001, a special evening of live Indian music and dance will showcase Five College student performances, and music & dance excerpts from recent Bollywood films. Professor Anne Ciecko and Ranjanaa Devi, Director of the Center's Asian Dance & Music Program, will introduce the films and performers.

The festival opens on February 14, 2001 with Lumiere & Co. (France, 1997), a cinematic valentine in which thirty nine world-renowned international directors use a 19th century Lumiere movie camera to create their own 50-second films. The Festival will also include: the comedic-thriller Karma Local (USA, 1999); Dark Days (USA, 1999, winner of three major Sundance Film Festival awards including the Audience Award), a gripping film documenting the lives of New York City's subway denizens; Divorcing Jack (Ireland, 1998), an outrageous dark comedy set in Belfast and starring the incomparable David Thewlis; a night of contemporary international animation; Abbas Kiaorostami's latest and characteristically haunting feature film, The Wind Will Carry Us (Iran, 1999); and several documentaries crafted by teen producers from around the globe. The Festival will close with a screening of the spectacular Orfeu (Brazil, 1999), a passionate tale of Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.

All events of the Eighth Annual Multicultural Film Festival are free and open to the public. For updated information on Festival events, call the Interdepartmental Program in Film Studies at 413.545.3659 for a brochure, or visit their website www.umass.edu/film.

Photo: Rachel Griffith in Divorcing Jack.