Shorts I 11:00 a.m. Tribeca Film Center

Fermina Medina, directed by Jarrad Paul, Curran Sympson, 17 min. All hell breaks loose when Fermina Medina, a poor and oblivious housekeeper, rear-ends the brand new car of Jackson Scott, a rich and spoiled prick.

Hubert’s Brain, directed by Phil Robinson,17 min, a story about an imaginative little boy who doesn't quite fit in, and a brain who is looking for a perfect fit.

My Femme Lady, directed by Terri Edda Miller, 22 min, an action/musical parody inspired by La Femme Nikita, My Fair Lady and Swimming with Sharks. When Doris runs down her mother with the family car, instead of a well-deserved death sentence by lethal injection, our heroine is acquired by an underground organization to be trained as an agent -- a Hollywood agent. Doris excels in pencil and ashtray throwing, learns the lingo in language lab, then sings and dances her way into becoming a lady, a schmoozer and a "killer" dealmaker.

P.E., directed by M. Stark, 12 min. Three strong-willed 7th grade girls take on their PE teacher. A Dark Comedy.

The Tower of Babble, directed by Jeff Wadlow, 21 min. Three stories. Six people. They're all saying something different... with exactly the same words. In "The Tower of Babble," the exact same dialogue is used in a gut wrenching drama, a heart warming comedy, and a tense police thriller.

Who Slew Simon Thaddeus Mulberry Pew?, directed by Brett Nemeroff, 23 min. Forced to play with their bratty neighbor Simon Thaddeus Mulberry Pew, twins Sammy and Tammy Fitzgivens think of a way to steal his toys. When an "accident"occurs, the Wizzit appears to help clean up the mess and dispose of the body. "Who Slew Simon Thaddeus Mulberry Pew?" is a twisted tale mixed with traces of Dr. Suess and Willy Wonka.

OT: Our Town (D) 11:45 a.m. The Screening Room

Thornton Wilder's classic, Our Town, is the most widely produced stage play in American history. Taking place in New England almost a century ago, "Our Town" at first seems like a strange selection for the students of Dominguez High School in Compton, CA (home of gangsta rap). But as the documentary unfolds, it becomes quite obvious why the play is still so popular after all these years - it's warmth and humor express the basic eternal innocence that live in each of us - no matter what side of the tracks you grew up on. Director Scott Hamilton Kennedy takes us behind the scenes of this very ambitious high school production and focuses the attention on the lives of the students, most of whom come from broken homes and hear gunshots on a daily basis. After many difficult rehearsals, we finally get to see the young actors perform and witness what an astounding success the production was in all respects. But the finest moment of the film comes after the curtain goes down and the students absorb their accomplishment and realize that they have finally found a loving family amongst their peers.

Food in Film Series Lunch 12:00 p.m. The Screening Room

"Sometimes spaghetti likes to be alone."—Secondo (Stanley Tucci) to a customer in "Big Night.'"
A luncheon and discussion about Food in Film. Sometimes it's a prop and sometimes it's a plot device. It can be its own character ("Like Water for Chocolate") or add depth to an existing one ("When Harry Met Sally"). Its presentation ("Gosford Park") or abundance ("Age of Innocence") helps moviegoers enter into the social and cultural world of the films characters. The luncheon and discussion will be hosted by Martin Scorsese and followed by a screening of "The Rise of Louis XIV." Moderator: Gael Greene.

The Rise of Louis XIV (La Prise de Pouvoir par Louis XIV) (S)

Made for French television in 1966, Roberto Rossellini's The Rise of Louis XIV (La Prise de Pouvoir par Louis XIV) finds the master of Italian neo-realism exploring an opulent, historical period and royal characters with the seemingly rigorous observation of a documentary. Using little-known actors and recreating episodes from the Sun King's life in many of the actual historical settings in which Louis XIV held court and ruled his kingdom, Rossellini's unobtrusive directorial presentation acquires rich emotionality as Louis XIV is increasingly revealed to be trapped by his royal destiny - an intelligent and sensitive man forced to live the role thrust upon him by birth. A masterpiece from a director nearing the end of his distinctive career, "The Rise of Louis XIV" achieves the status of a classic expression of Rossellini's passionate commitment to not only record history - whether it be Rome during World War II or The Sun King in the 17th Century - but to offer dignity and understanding to its participants. French with English subtitles

Washington Heights (FC) 12:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

The first feature from Mexican-born director Alfredo de Villa, "Washington Heights tells the bittersweet story of frustrated and realized dreams that color a father-son relationship in the Dominican-American community of Washington Heights. Carlos (Manny Perez) has devoted his life to creating comic books but must take over his father Eddie's (Tomas Milian) bodega after he is shot during a robbery and paralyzed. Stuck until he can pay back Eddie's $25,000 debt, Carlos' anger at having to divert his dreams corrodes his relationship with his girlfriend. His best friend Mickey (Danny Hoch), a building superintendent, also has dreams - to get married in Las Vegas where he might win big money in a bowling tournament, but he needs money to get there. When Mickey steals a drug dealers $40,000 bankroll, hoping for a quick fix for him and Carlos - and a way out of Washington Heights - wheels are set in motion for potential tragedy. English and Spanish with English subtitles.

Shorts III 2:00 p.m. The Screening Room

Life On A String, directed by Steven Lippman, 8 min. A meditation on New York City as inspired by five songs by Laurie Anderson. The suite mixes impressionistic, absurdist and ghost-like images of the city and its people, as Anderson herself looks within and on. Shot and completed in the late summer of 2001, Life on a String has unexpectedly become a window into the old world, on the verge of a new one.

All Water Has a Perfect Memory, directed by Natalia Almada, 19 min. English and Spanish with English subtitles An experimental documentary about a family's loss of a child and the struggle between remembrance and forgetting. The film explores the cultural differences between a North American mother and a Mexican father in the face of death.

At Low Resolution, directed by Jake Davis, 9 min. Trey is a loner, searching for love in the big city. After spotting Sally one day, he becomes fascinated by her, and finds himself following her. Trey's curiosity drives him to a daily routine of videotaping her. When the two finally meet, Trey's charming ways entice Sally. As the couple gets closer, Trey's intrigue turns into obsession, and his voyeuristic desires take over their lives.

Talking Richard Wilson Blues, directed by Nicholas Twemlow, 9 min. "You might as well take a razor to your pecker as let a woman in your heart." Based on a poem by Denis Johnson, "Talking Richard Wilson Blues" portrays a heartbroken, alcoholic father imprisoned for murder who listens to the radio transmission of his life broadcasting endlessly from the Max Security Laundry above the world on the seventh level. He will recall idyllic visions of lost love, his infant son, the sad people from space. He's a hard-drinking Sisyphus, lyric when he speaks, nasty when he acts.

The Long Walk, directed by R. LaPorta, Jr., 8 min. A long walk on a long day helps one little man to understand the hope hidden in all tragedy.

Then a Year, directed by Kelly Reichardt, 14 min. A true crime cinematic drive-by that explores passion, betrayal and intimate homicide.

Tranquillite Musique, directed by Dustin Lynn, 9 min. A 16mm documentary short on New York City DJ, Coleman, his music, and the beauty in everyday images that we take for granted.

Panel:
Launching the New York Film Industry: How 12 People Created a Billion Dollar Business 2:00 p.m. Pace Univ. Performing Arts Center

It was the original indie dream - and the one that made all the others possible. In the 1950s, a handful of determined moviemakers decided to create a feature film industry in New York - a decision that would change the movies, and the city, forever. How did it happen? Join James Sanders, author of "Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies," and his special guest, legendary director Sidney Lumet, along with other noted veterans of the city's film community, to explore how New York first put itself on the screen.

PI (S) 2:15 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Premiering at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, Pi won writer/director Darren Aronofsky the Directing Award for Dramatic Competition. Declaring "Outer space is dead. Inner space is the next journey," Aronofsky has created a science-fiction thriller about a mathematical genius attempting to unlock the numerical essence of the stock market, symbolic of the "ordered chaos" animating the universe. As his protagonist states, "One: Mathematics is the language of nature. Two: Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers. Three: If you graph the numbers of any system, patterns emerge. Therefore, there are patterns everywhere in nature."

Shorts V 2:30 p.m. Tribeca Grand

I Was a Teenage Prostitute, directed by Juliana Piccillo, 23 min. Explores the filmmaker’s coming of age as a seventeen year-old massage parlor employee, her subsequent shame, and her ultimate rejection of societal stigma. A feminist, cutting-edge re-take on conventional assumptions around not only prostitution, but also sexual oppression of women.

As We Sleep, directed by Elizabeth McDonald, 11 min. In 2000, 72% of assisted living homes in America reported incidents of sexual abuse. As We Sleep shatters the belief of the perceived safety inside one of these homes as it follows the journey of Marcie, the unspeakable offense she suffered at the hands of a trusted caregiver, and the family left to deal with the aftermath.

Baptism of Solitude: A Tribute to Paul Bowles, directed by Tonya Hurley, 4 min. Animated. Offers a rare glimpse into the intimate relationship between the expatriate literary icon and the Sahara. It includes Bowles’s own reading of his legendary travel essay, which was recorded for a spoken word album of the same name not long before the elderly writer passed away in Tangier in 1999. The film is accompanied by ambient music by Bill Laswell and Vince Clarke.

Family Values, directed by Eva Saks, 24 min. Meet Becky and Donna, a nice lesbian couple with a home in the suburbs, who run a family business cleaning up murder scenes.

Maria Sevastaki, directed by Konstantia Kontaxis, 8 min. Greek with English subtitles. Born in Sydney, Australia, Maria Sevastaki has lived in Greece for most of her life. National and international art committees have recognized her work as a painter and art activist. In this brief portrait, Maria talks about painting, her technique and the politics of art.

Nine, directed by Jennifer Campbell, 6 min. On October 22, 2000, nine breast cancer survivors came together from all parts of the United States to row in The Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts. In this film, they share their stories of inspiration and strength.

Journeys With George (IFS) 2:30 p.m. Tribeca Film Center

"Journeys with George" is network television producer Alexandra Pelosi's revealing diary of her year-long roadtrip on the campaign trail with George W. Bush, as the candidate struggles to evolve from a cowboy into a statesman. This is W. "unplugged," the baloney and cheetos-eating matchmaker you didn't see on TV. From the nasty primary battles to the chaos of the recount, Journeys with George gives an all-access pass to the closest and most controversial presidential election in history. Shot in digital video in almost every state in the U.S., this "home movie" documents the drama behind the scenes of a political campaign, exposes the unholy alliance between the reporters and the candidate and deconstructs how we elect our Presidents. No matter what your political bent, this film will make you look at "Dubya" in a completely different light.

American Standoff (IFS) 2:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

"American Standoff," directed by Kristi Jacobson and produced by two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, vividly captures the role of unions in modern times. This film explores the still-unfolding Teamsters Union strike against Overnite Transportation, the largest non-union trucking company in the United States. In 1999, the Teamsters Union, headed by James P. Hoffa, son of legendary union organizer Jimmy Hoffa, was already engaged in the campaign. The Teamsters had been trying, without much success, to persuade the company to enter into a contract with its workers. Overnite refused to negotiate with the Teamsters, calling their values obsolete. As the drivers have held out against Overnite, the company's economic strength has fueled their strategy to bust the union and exhaust their funds. Caught in the middle - and featured in this documentary - are Joe, a loyal driver of Overnite for 26 years, who faces the reality of a future without the company that has employed his family for three generations; Long Island dockworker Mike, forced between his family and the union he so desperately wants to be a part of; and Hope, a driver and single mother of five, who sacrifices her paycheck and home to walk the picket line in protest. Dramatic archival footage of Jimmy Hoffa in his prime emphasizes his ongoing influence, as well as the pain his son has lived with since his father's disappearance. This is a heartbreaking story about people forced to walk the line between ideals and necessity, and the toll it takes on all their lives.

1995: An artist, his pencil, and a piece of paper. Six years and four thousand drawings later, writer/animator/director/composer Luis Eduardo Aute has crafted a masterfully complex film employing the simplest resources of cinema. The title of the film borrows its name from the dog owned by the late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo who is featured in one of seven portraits in the film. Through each portrait, we are exposed to Aute's reconsideration of the relations of such painters as Goya, Duchamp, Picasso, and DalÌ with their models, their environments, and their times. In addition, homage is made in the film to such cinematic greats as Eisenstein, BuÒuel, and Woody Allen. One of the great triumphs of A Dog Called Pain is the sheer beauty of Aute's projected images. Intimately paced, viewing the film is like a cinematic walk through a museum. At times, long-held images will have subtle movements such as a blink of an eye that creates the effect of the movie screen as a canvas. Nominated for a 2001 Goya (Spain's Oscar) for Best Animated Film, A Dog Called Pain is a unique work of art. Spanish with English subtitles

From the Ashes: 10 artists (S) 2:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

From the Ashes, directed by Deborah Shaffer, profiles 10 artists as they relate their experiences of September 11, pick up the shattered pieces of their lives, and struggle to redefine the meaning of their art. These stories and others are interwoven with scenes of Lower Manhattan in the days following the attack, as the artists clean up their homes, share housing with friends, and begin to get back to work. From the Ashes is screening as part of the special 9/11 film program.

One Man Up (L’uomo in Piu) (FC) 2:45 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Paolo Sorrentino's intelligent, bitter debut demonstrates the strength and the originality of the "new Neapolitan school". Loosely based on the real stories of the soccer team Roma's player Agostino Di Bartolomei, and singer Franco Califano, "L'uomo in piu'" follows two characters with the same name, whose lives fall apart after a moment of brief, illusory glory. The film sets the peak of the careers of the two Antonio Pisapia in the early eighties. Sorrentino uses the evident differences in the two characters (the shy, introverted, sportsman and the obnoxious, vulgar singer) to narrate an identical fate of defeat, and to mirror a peculiar historical moment, defined in Italy by hedonism, arrogance and superficiality. This young writer-director manages to give the pulse and the pain of his hometown through his characters, relying on disorientingly rainy and melancholic Neapolitan locations, brilliant dialogue and excellent performances. Particularly Toni Servillo, a veteran of Neapolitan stage and cinema, delivers an unforgettable portrait of a local, self-destructive low class pop king. Italian with English subtitles.

12 Hours (12 Horas) (FC) 3:00 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Drama unfolds in 12 short hours of nightlife in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Lives intersect and run parallel under the cover of fateful darkness in this feature from filmmaker Raul Marchand-Sanchez. Three divorced ladies - one serious, one wild, one repressed - go out on the town and meet trouble and fun while they bond over their varied sad experiences. A teenage daughter reluctantly sets out to lose her virginity at her peers' coaxing. A handsome gigolo turns a $500 trick he'd rather forget and spends his night dodging fears with a friendly transvestite lounge singer who puts on a great show. A grandfatherly taxi driver works the overnight shift to supplement insurance that won't cover his beloved wife's Parkinson's medication, and winds up a hero in some regards. Capturing the mayhem is a frustrated entertainment reporter who gets her big break when she buys cigarettes at a convenience store and stops a robbery, while getting it all on tape. Buoying the action is the original soundtrack featuring a wide range of musical styles by Puerto Rican artists. Spanish with English subtitles

Stone Reader (D) 3:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

In 1972, 18-year-old Mark Moskowitz bought a novel called The Stones of Summer by first-time author Dow Mossman, because an enthusiastic New York Times review described it as the book of a generation. He couldn't get past the first 20 pages. Twenty-five years later, Moskowitz tried again, and this time couldn't put it down. Enthralled with its story and wonderful originality, he tried to buy copies for friends and to look for other works by the author. He couldn't find the book or any record of MossmanÖnor find anyone who knew the name, let alone had read the book Stone Reader chronicles filmmaker Mark Moskowitz's search for Dow Mossman. He crisscrosses the country in pursuit of this literary mystery, and comes across writers, editors, and readers, who attempt to help him solve it. But while the search is the hook, it's hardly the whole journey in this enthralling and ultimately tremendously moving film. A personal doc with a L'Avventura-like structure in which the missing person's absence infuses the present but becomes almost irrelevant for awhile, Stone Reader is in part a musing on the enriching importance of literature, the almost fetishistic power of books, and ultimately the great mystery of artistic talent. And yes, one mystery is solved but another continues.

The proliferation of cable networks and digital technology has put documentaries in high demand, but where are the guidelines and who sets them? What, really, is the difference between documentary and docudrama. Is one more truthful to the real story in the end? A discussion about that ill-defined art form, the documentary. Moderator: Sheila Nevins. Panelists: Barbara Kopple, Albert Maysles, Nick Broomfield.

Chiefs (D) 5:00 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

A chronicle of two seasons of Wyoming Indian High School basketball. For seven years, The Chiefs have fought to win another state championship. Will the 2000 be the year they finally reclaim victory? First-time director and Wyoming native Daniel Junge combines the inherent tensions of the sports documentary with an look into life on the reservation for today's Native American youth. With team jerseys that read SoundingSides, Spoonhunter, and C'Bearing, one immediately gets the sense that these boys aren't your average high school jocks. While they struggle with math quizzes and listen to rap music, they also must contend with discrimination, racial stereotypes, and the near-poverty conditions of their surroundings. With basketball their potential ticket "off the rez," the game becomes more than just a sport: it's a form of empowerment, survival and a sense of dignity that has been stripped from their families, along with their land.

Manito (FC) 5:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Native New Yorker Eric Eason makes an auspicious debut with Manito, an electrifying story set in Manhattan's Washington Heights that charts the differences between two brothers over 24 hours leading up to a night that could derail both their lives. Washington Heights is a neighborhood rarely seen on screen and still in transition from a crack trade infestation that nearly wiped it from the map to the city's most visible up-and-coming middle class Hispanic community. Manito's two brothers straddle that divide. Manny (Leo Minaya) is about to graduate high school at the head of his class and head for college and his family is throwing a blowout party in his honor. Older brother Junior (Frankie G.) is a former drug dealer and ex-con who now runs a thriving house painting business. Both would like to forget their father, a bodega owner whose shadowy criminal past is ominously suggested without being explained. As gritty as the city streets it's shot on, Manito is a not-to-be-missed story about coming of age in the city that's also a cinema-verite style portrait of a richly detailed community.

Roger Dodger (FC) 6:00 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Dylan Kidd’s black comedy stars 18-year-old newcomer Jesse Eisenberg as a suburban teen on the loose in Manhattan seeking tips on women from his cynical playboy uncle Roger, played by Campbell Scott. When these two team up for a wild night on the town, it's a buddy movie of a whole new kind as they navigate an obstacle course of wrong moves punctuated with vivid appearances by co-stars Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Beals, and Elizabeth Berkley. Shot entirely on location, and one of the first films in production on the city's streets after 9/11, Roger Dodger is as much about finally growing up in your thirties as it is about the first hesitant steps of adolescence. It's also a dissection of the way some men think about women and one man's philosophy of the pursuit of amour, with equal time for frank talkback from women.

Black Chicks Talking (D) 6:30 p.m. Tribeca Grand

Black Chicks Talking is a film that gives hope to all minorities struggling to turn their historical oppression into something positive and hopeful. The documentary begins with an intimate dinner party involving 5 Aborigine women sharing their life experiences. They could not be from more different backgrounds yet, through their individual stories, they come to realize they all grew up with the same sense of self. Directors Leah Purcell & Brandan Fletcher have done a great job of exploring the lives of these 5 dynamic women. They take the audience from the dinner party into each woman's home and into the beautiful Outback of Australia. We come to find that the Aborigines plight is very similar to that of the Native American and African American - they are trying to preserve their heritage and recover rights lost to their people since the "white man" first appeared in their homeland.

Maryam (FL) 6:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

It's 1979 in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Bright and pretty, Iranian-American Mary Armin is a typical suburban teenager, concerned only with her grades and how to attract Jamie, the cute boy in her journalism class. Then Mary's fundamentalist Iranian cousin Ali arrives for an extended visit at the same time as Americans are taken hostage in Iran, and Mary's life is thrown into turmoil. Mary must confront her family's turbulent personal history while contending with rising anti-Iranian prejudice. First-time writer/director Ramin Serry is a keen observer of the nuances of human behavior, who creates complex, believable characters and accurately depicts a culture within a culture. Maryam stands apart from other independent films in its ambitious scope. Many coming-of-age films address teenage identity crises, but stop short of deeper issues. Maryam tackles questions of family loyalty, politics and prejudice head on. As Roger Ebert put it, "In a time when most movie teenagers are bubble-headed pawns in sex comedies, here is a teenager with brains and courage, who doesn't simply rebel against her parents but wants to understand them, and who doesn't collapse into weeping victimhood but depends on her mind and values. Maryam is powerful, important and very moving." All this is true, and even so, when Serry made Maryam, he had no idea just how relevant the film would become. Surely there are many Arab-American teenagers facing now, in the sad aftermath of September 11th, what the fictional character Mary faces in the film: hatred and hazing based on ignorance. One of art's greatest powers is its ability to help us understand other points of view, other cultures. At a time when we need to understand and embrace the strength's of America's multi-culturalism, Maryam helps us to do just that.

Interview With the Assassin (IFS) 6:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Sometimes it only takes one man to make a conspiracy. Ron Kobeleski, an out-of-work TV news cameraman, may have just stumbled onto the story of a lifetime. His shadowy older neighbor, Walter Ohlinger, has summoned over Ron and his camera, saying he's got a secret to reveal. What's the big secret? Walter claims he was the "grassy knoll gunman" - the second assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Is he telling the truth? As Ron and Walter search for the only witness who can back up the story, the pressure mounts and their lives begin to unravel. First-time writer/director Neil Burger has meticulously crafted Interview with the Assassin to feel like a veritédocumentary, masterfully creating a chilling realness and accumulation of detail, but making it seem offhanded and spontaneous. The actors are mesmerizing, especially character-actor Raymond J. Barry in an unbelievable performance as the inscrutable Walter. Interview with the Assassin will challenge your assumptions - while making your heart race.

Viva Zapata! (R) 7:00 p.m. Stuyvesant High School

In 1952, one year after their grand success with the film version of "A Streetcar Named Desire," director Elia Kazan and actor Marlon Brando teamed again on "Viva Zapata!," a romanticized biography of Mexican rebel, Emiliano Zapata. With a script by John Steinbeck and set in the early 1900's, the tale charts the transformation of Zapata from a poor peasant attempting to help his friends and family reclaim their stolen land from a corrupt government to an outlaw who becomes a general in the revolutionary forces to his eventual role as President of Mexico. Nominated for five Academy Awards (including nominations for Brando and Steinbeck), the film garnered Anthony Quinn, who had succeeded Brando as Stanley Kowalski on Broadway, his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Emiliano's brother, Eufemio. Joe MacDonald's gloriously brooding cinematography and Lyle Wheeler's evocative production design are testament to their status as some of 20th Century Fox's supreme studio technical artists.

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (S) 7:00 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Based on Rebecca Wells' best-selling novels, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood"and Little Altars Everywhere, Oscar-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri's directorial debut, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," is a hilarious, emotionally wide-ranging and almost sinfully-entertaining film about the complex connections and confluences of the human heart in relationships over a lifetime between mothers and daughters, between best friends, and between lovers and spouses. With an unmatchable cast composed of Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Ashley Judd, James Garner, Shirley Knight, Fionnula Flanagan, Angus MacFayden and Maggie Smith, Divine Secrets immediately establishes Khouri as a world-class filmmaker whose embrace of and delight in unconventional characters impart a dignity and a compassion to all she observes.

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (S) 7:10 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

The Specimen (IFS) 7:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Under the simple rules of no biting and no eye-gouging, "No Holds Barred" (NHB) fighting has delighted and shocked audiences around the world. NHB fighting emerged in the U. S. in 1993, initially drawing huge pay-per-view success, until the graphic nature of the fights and political opposition resulted in its being dropped from all cable networks and banned in forty-six states. Mark "The Specimen" Kerr made his way through the ranks of amateur wrestling before becoming an overnight sensation claiming NHB fighting championships in Brazil, Japan and the U.S. This film, directed by John Hyams, chronicles Kerr's struggles as he battles demons both inside and outside the ring, including a confrontation with his former friend and mentor, Mark "The Hammer" Coleman. The Specimen presents an impartial look at an outlaw sport where the stakes are high and the occupational hazards run rampant, and allows the viewer to step in the ring and stand face-to-face with two of the most dangerous men in the world.

Manhattan (NY) 8:00 p.m. Pace Univ. Performing Arts Center

Scorsese: "Manhattan" is Woody Allen's beloved visual valentine to New York City, accompanied by the familiar strains of Gershwin, and shot with stunning beauty. It is the story of a neurotic comedy writer and his intellectual circle of friends as they struggle to find happiness in everyday living. I love Woody Allen's work because it represents a completely different side of New York from the one I'm familiar with. He's absolutely peerless at what he does. I also really admire his dedication, his passion for filmmaking, the way he never stops working. He comes from a rich tradition in American culture that I can relate to myself - the urban ethnic tradition, the borscht belt school of stand-up comedy. But from that background he has developed a unique style and a real vision. That's rare for a contemporary comic filmmaker.

Devil's Playground (IFS) 8:30 p.m. Tribeca Grand

When Amish children turn 16, they are allowed to sample the indulgences of American teen life. They are suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar world of cars, parties, drugs and sex. This period in their lives is known in Pennsylvania Dutch as rumspringa (literally "running around"). The Amish don't baptize their babies at birth; instead they allow this contact with the "devil's playground" to inform the children's decision about committing to the religion. Do they join the church and choose being Amish for the rest of their lives, or do they turn their backs on their families and religion, and live on their own in modern society? Lucy Walker’s film follows a group of Amish teenagers through their rumspringa. The freedom of the outside world is intoxicating, but striking out is no mean feat for a people whose one-room-schoolhouse education stopped at eighth grade. There is a great deal of love, support, certainty and direction to gain by submitting to the Amish rulebook, and many question the wisdom of turning eighteenth-century kids loose in twenty-first century America. What follows goes beyond jeans and trendy haircuts—these teens end up facing addiction, depression, and jail. "Devil's Playground" revolutionizes our understanding of this extraordinary community, and sheds light on how the rest of us come of age.

Revolution #9 (IFS) 8:45 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Writer/director Tim McCann's Revolution #9 is an unflinching and luminously compassionate examination of a young man's descent into schizophrenia as he struggles to obliterate his demons even as his fiancee fights to save him in the face of damningly dismissive legal and healthcare systems. Inspired by the life and death of his girlfriend's schizophrenic brother, McCann's second feature film - following his acclaimed Desolation Angels (1996) - is a bracing antidote to the simplistic, sentimentalized depictions of mental illness that have typified so many films through the years. Distinguished by superb performances from his two leads, Michael Risley (who also co-produced) and Adrienne Shelly (an Associate Producer) and a supporting cast that includes Spalding Gray, Callie Thorne and Sakina Jaffrey, McCann's Revolution #9 is likely to remain as unforgettably haunting to the viewer as the young man who served as its inspiration has been to McCann.

Double Whammy (S) 9:00 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Skewing the cop/crime genre through the lens of comic satire, Tom DiCillo’s "Double Whammy" follows the travails of NYC Homicide Detective Ray Pluto (Denis Leary), a good cop with a bad back. Upon the advice of his partner, Jerry Cubbins (Steve Buscemi), Pluto reluctantly goes to a chiropractor as a last resort. Dr. Ann Beamer (Elizabeth Hurley) does quite a bit more than cure his back problems. Much of the story unfolds in the apartment building where Pluto lives. Maribel (Melanie Diaz), the 16-year-old daughter of Pluto's superintendent, fights with her father, Juan (Luis Guzman) over his refusal to let her get a tattoo. Her frustration and bitterness finally force her to take desperate measures. Across the hall from Pluto live two aspiring screenwriters, Duke (Keith Knobbs) and Cletis (Donald Faison), whose circuitous squabbling gives them the comic absurdity of Heckyll and Jeckyll. On the surface an adult comic fable, the film revolves upon a powerful act of human forgiveness. It is an ode to the vibrant diversity of New York City, where the film was shot in its entirety.

Vojko Anzeljc's stunning debut takes you on a raucous journey with Tincek and Hugo, escapees from a mental institution. With the personalities of twelve year-olds and a stolen camcorder from the institution, the two "madmen" embark on making a movie. Through the point of view of Hugo as cameraman, we follow Tincek, played by Matja Java nik, try to be the hero and save a girl so he can get a kiss from her for the ending their movie. Naive Tincek gets slapped instead of kissed — that is, until he meets Magdalena. Finally, a girl that he can save and get the kiss he needs for the movie. He surprisingly gets more than a kiss—pleasure like none other—by a suicidal junky prostitute. The three make a pact and develop a heartwarming relationship as they escape Magadalena's abusive boyfriend/pimp and go to her granny's house to say a final farewell. This black comedy was the most successful domestic film in Slovenia of 2001. Slovenian with English subtitles

Lawless Heart (IFS) 9:30 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Everyone's gathered together for the funeral of Stuart, who died unexpectedly in a boating accident. Brother-in-law Dan, long lost friend Tim, and Stuart's lover Nick, are all facing crossroads in their own lives and Stuart's passing has intensified their feelings of anxiety. Structuring their film as one event told from these three points-of-view, writer/directors Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger infuse their inter-related tales with the hilarity, unpredictability and wild emotional swings of everyday life. Seen from three angles, each perspective informs and reveals new aspects of each character. Lawless Heart is a sharp, modern love story in which lust, loyalty and courage prove to be very complex qualities indeed.

One Man's Ceiling (FC) 10:00 p.m. Tribeca Film Center

Decisions, decisions. The nameless hero of One Man's Ceiling is at a crossroad ñ he's a would-be artist and practicing architect creatively hamstrung by the boss, has a wife who's ready for a family, a car on its last wheels and no parking space in sight, a first big solo design job due ñ and today the never-seen upstairs neighbor is playing his music REALLY loud. What does it take to make a change in life? It's not always that earth-shattering. Sometimes a long slow burn can result in an epiphany. A plot summation does not adequately suggest the great virtue of Richard LaPorta's film ñ a very particular, wry comic sensibility that is perfectly supported by a controlled visual style. With subtle hints of influences as disparate as Keaton, Tati, and Jarmusch, One Man's Ceiling is a beautiful and rare thing ñ minimalism with heart.

Emmett's Mark (FC) 10:00 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Emmett Young may not be getting any older: after a hospital test, the fresh-faced Philadelphia homicide detective (Party of Five's Scott Wolf) discovers that he has a terminal illness that will hospitalize him in just a week. When he meets a mysterious ex-cop by the name of Jack Marlow (Gabriel Byrne), Emmett decides to die on his own terms: for the right price, Jack will hire an assassin to kill him. With the clock ticking and a hitman (Tim Roth) on his tail, Emmett finds himself embroiled in one last case, a serial rapist who kills young women. Even if Emmett solves the murders, will he survive the end of the week? Like a finely honed episode of Law & Order mixed with a dose of neo-noir fatalism, writer-director Keith Snyder's edge-of-your-seat thriller pushes all the right buttons. With a suspenseful, intricately woven plot and sharp performances (especially Roth's sympathetic portrayal of a failed private-eye-turned-contract killer, who asks, "If I do this, does it make me a bad person?"), "Emmett's Mark" marks a strong debut effort.

The Naked City (NY) 10:00 p.m. Stuyvesant High School

Based on a real-life murder and the investigation that follows, The Naked City follows the crime trail of an unsolved murder of a young model and provides the impetus and pretext for Jules Dassin's kaleidoscopic portrait of the grim realities of New York City street-life. The topography of the streets and the personality of the city evidenced through its varied energies and ethnicities is captured by veteran cameraman William Daniels, who garnered an Academy Award for his justly-celebrated on-location shooting. Shot on more than 100 New York locations, including the city morgue, the Roxy Theatre, the Whitehall Building, the Universal Building, and a climactic capture atop the Williamsburg Bridge.

Too Pure (FC) 10:15 p.m. UA Battery Park Cinemas

Nina is a first-generation Mexican immigrant who has struggled to attain the American dream after the death of her parents. A history major at a Southern California university, she struggles to support her grandmother, a cleaning woman, and two younger siblings. Determined to have it all, Nina balances school and work with a blossoming romance. Her life is shattered when a group of menacing home invaders kidnaps Nina and her boyfriend after a botched robbery attempt and whisks them off to a squalid lair where Nina is raped repeatedly and forced to commit a devastating act in order to save her own life. Bound and gagged, Nina attempts to rehabilitate in her dank basement prison while her skittish captors rob the homes of wealthy Los Angelenos in order to support their methamphetamine addictions. Led by brooding ex-con Jared, these savages run the gamut from cartoonishly lunkheaded to seriously sadistic. But the group's deranged behavior is no match for Nina's quiet dignity. Her will to survive, her determination to transcend her humble origins, and her fierce intelligence each provide Nina with the necessary strength to endure her grueling ordeal. Inspired by true events, Sunmin Park's debut feature casts an unflinching, often unsettling gaze upon the haves and have-nots in an unforgiving Southern California landscape where economic desperation wears many different faces.

Beatboxing is making percussive music and sound sequences with the human mouth; you might not know the term but if you listen to hip-hop you've heard plenty of it. Joey Garfield' and Jacob Craycroft’s "Breath Control" is a wild ride of interviews, archival footage and colorful animation all employed to explore beatboxing and the integral role it has played in the development of hip-hop. The film is also shot through with performance clips guaranteed to get you moving in your seat. Artists appearing include Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie, The Fatboys, Zap Mama and Rahzel (aka The Godfather of Noyze). One of the most unusual documentaries you're likely to see this year, Breath Control is required viewing for hip-hop fans and anyone interested in how ancient musical forms are incorporated in today's cutting edge sounds. Like Scratch, the documentary released earlier this year about hip-hop DJs who use their turntables to create sound mixes beyond what's on the vinyl playing on them, "Breath Control" illuminates the music and provides a compelling look behind the scene.