MARCH 11 (Wed.)

Decalogue: No Other Gods

6:30-8:30 pm (dinner, movie & discussion)

Hosted by Laura Nelson, Johanna Thompson & Laura Truax  |

1331 W. Elmdale, 3rd Floor, Chicago

The Decalogue is a series of ten short films created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by critically acclaimed film maker, Krzysztof Kieslowski. Each film deals with a specific commandment, exploring the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict.

MARCH 14 (Sat.)

Paper Clips

6:00 pm

Hosted by Jim & Cheryl Wilkes  | 174 N. Scoville, Oak Park

Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the setting for this documentary about an extraordinary experiment in Holocaust education. Struggling to grasp the concept of six-million Holocaust victims, the students decide to collect six-million paper clips to better understand the extent of this crime against humanity. The film details how the students met Holocaust survivors from around the world and how the experience transformed them and their community. (Summary from The Internet Movie Database.)

MARCH 16 (Mon.)

Grand Canyon

7:30 pm

Hosted by Gary & Lenora Rand  | 635 S. Wenonah , Oak Park

Grand Canyon tells the story of six residents from different backgrounds whose lives intertwine in modern-day Los Angeles. At the center of the film is the unlikely friendship of two men from different races and classes brought together when one finds himself in jeopardy in the other's rough neighborhood.

MARCH 17 (Tues.)

Crash

7:30 pm

Hosted by Gary & Lenora Rand  | 635 S. Wenonah , Oak Park

In Crash there are: a.) a police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, b.) two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, c.) a white district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, d.) a racist white veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic partner, e.) a successful Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the racist cop, f.) a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, g.) a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more. Whew . . . You have to see this.

MARCH 18 (Wed.)

Decalogue:Do Not Murder

6:30-8:30 pm (dinner, movie & discussion)

Hosted by Laura Nelson, Johanna Thompson & Laura Truax  |

1331 W. Elmdale, 3rd Floor, Chicago

The Decalogue is a series of ten short films created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by critically acclaimed film maker, Krzysztof Kieslowski. Each film deals with a specific commandment, exploring the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict.

MARCH 19 (Thurs.)

Promises

6:30 pm

Hosted by Devin and Emily Goulding  |

1532 W. 19th St. Apt 1F, Chicago

(come in the gate to the right of building and go to the back door.)

In the documentary, Promises, several Jewish and Palestinian children are followed between 1995 and 1998 and put in touch with each other. This is not the story of the Middle East that is shown on TV. In the lives of these children, the depth and seriousness of the struggles of this region take on a new perspective.

MARCH 21 (Sat.)

In The Heat of the Night

5:00 pm

Hosted by Lois Scott & Oreon Trickey  |  7147 N. Mankato, Chicago

Gritty realism and a strong performance by Rod Steiger highlight this taut drama about a visiting Philadelphia detective named Virgil Tibbs, played by Sidney Poitier who gets nailed as a suspect, foolishly, in the murder of a local VIP in a small town in Mississippi. Eventually, the town's White police chief, played by Steiger, accepts Tibbs' innocence, and the two of them work together, reluctantly, to solve the case.

MARCH 22 (Sun.)

The Trip to Bountiful

6:30 pm

Hosted by Brett and Anne Nelson  |  5914 W. Midway Park, Chicago

In The Trip to Bountiful, Carrie Watts is living the twilight of her life trapped in an apartment in 1940's Houston, Texas with a controlling daughter-in-law and a hen-pecked son. Her fondest wish -- just once before she dies -- is to revisit Bountiful, the small Texas town of her youth which she still refers to as "home." The trouble is her son, Ludie, is too concerned for her health to allow her to travel alone and her petty daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae, insists they don't have money to squander on bus tickets. This prompts "escape" attempts each month which coincide with the arrival of Mrs. Watts' Social Security check.

MARCH 25 (Wed.)

Decalogue:Do Not Commit Adultery

6:30-8:30 pm (dinner, movie & discussion)

Hosted by Laura Nelson, Johanna Thompson & Laura Truax  |

1331 W. Elmdale, 3rd Floor, Chicago

The Decalogue is a series of ten short films created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by critically acclaimed film maker, Krzysztof Kieslowski. Each film deals with a specific commandment, exploring the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict.

MARCH 27 (Fri.)

Lars and the Real Girl

7:00 pm

Hosted by CORNERSTONE CINEMA   |

Cornerstone Center, Room 100; 1111 N. Wells, Chicago

In the comedy, Lars and the Real Girl, Lars Lindstrom is an awkwardly shy young man in a small northern town who finally brings home the girl of his dreams to his brother and sister-in-law's home. The only problem is that she's not real - she's a latex doll Lars ordered off the Internet. His sister-in-law is worried for him, his brother thinks he's nuts, and the church council discusses their response.

MARCH 28 (Sat.)

The World According to Sesame Street

3:00 pm

Hosted by Casey Thornburgh  |

1125 A East Hyde Park Blvd., Hyde Park

This is a moving documentary about people trying to get something on television that stresses the importance of literacy, tolerance, love, and the joy of learning, but having to overcome political, ethnic, and religious obstacles as they cross cultures, working in South Africa, Palestine, Kosovo, Bangladesh. It is a story of art bringing people together.

MARCH 29 (Sun.)

Ordet

1:00 pm

Hosted by CORNERSTONE CINEMA   |

Cornerstone Center, Room 100; 1111 N. Wells, Chicago

Ordet is a film about faith. It has been called the most breathtaking exploration of religious experience ever filmed. It is the story of a fundamentalist and an agnostic, a humanist and a crazy person (or is he crazy?). It is a story of love and family and community and a film full of wonder and beauty.

MARCH 31 (Tues.)

Do The Right Thing

6:30 pm

Hosted by Devin and Emily Goulding  |

1532 W. 19th St. Apt 1F, Chicago

(come in the gate to the right of building and go to the back door.)

In all likelihood Do The Right Thing is Spike Lee's most important achievement - as director, writer and actor and also one of the strongest films ever made about race relations. It takes place in a primarily African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, and follows the various personalities who live there throughout the day. At the center of the story is Sal's Famous Pizzeria and its owners, some of the few white people living in the neighborhood. What starts out as a light, entertaining movie with some amusing characters and light humor, gradually builds to a powerful climax.

APRIL 3(Fri.)

The Mission

6:30 pm

Hosted by Sue and Rich Hammer  |

212 W. Washington, # 1604, Chicago

In The Mission, Jeremy Irons plays a Spanish Jesuit who goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region. Robert DeNiro plays a slave hunter who is converted and joins Irons in his mission. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against the Portuguese aggressors.

April 5 (Sun.)

The Eighth Day

6:30 pm

Hosted by Brett and Anne Nelson  |  5914 W. Midway Park, Chicago

The Eighth Day is an example of the French and Belgians doing what they do best. It's quirky, visually inventive, exhilarating and emotionally challenging storytelling. Director Jaco van Dormael takes us into the world of Georges, a Down's Syndrome sufferer and his quest for a meaningful relationship with someone, just anyone. This is not done in a patronising way but with a great sense of fun and also honesty. Georges' interplay with corporate management guru, Harry is dazzlingly handled - shifting from comedy to tragedy back to comedy again with breathtaking ease. The Eighth Day puts similar Hollywood fare like Barry Levinson's Oscar winning Rain Man or Robert Zemeckis's Forrest Gump truly in the shade.