GLOBAL RE-VISIONS: AROUND THE WORLD WITH BARBARA HAMMER, Director Barbara Hammer in Person for all screenings

The pioneering work of experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer has long been recognized for its probing and innovative examination of women's sexuality. While still deeply immersed in questions of lesbian identity, her more recent work has taken this and related concerns around the world in settings as diverse as Japan, Ukraine, and the French Riviera. This program features four recent works from the veteran filmmaker that chart a unique relationship between the personal and the global. Saturday night's program is presented as part of the 15th Annual Boston Jewish Film Festival. For advance tickets please visit www.bjff.org.

DEVOTION screens November 14th, RESISTING PARADISE screens November 15th, both films are at 7 pm. MY BABUSHKA: SEARCHING UKRAINIAN IDENTITIES screens with OUR GRIEF IS NOT A CRY FOR WAR November 15 at 9:30 pm

From China with Love: The Films of Ning Ying

Director Ning Ying in person for the screening of RAILROAD OF HOPE (Xi wang zhi lü) November 21 at 7 pm.

The most prominent female director to emerge from the Beijing Film Academy, Ning Ying has gained acclaim worldwide for her humorous, realist portraits of life in contemporary China, most notably in her Beijing trilogy (FOR FUN, OFF THE BEAT, I LOVE BEIJING). In her most recent work, she continues her exploration of humanist themes but in a nonfiction context. The compelling results solidify her place among the masters of the New Chinese Cinema. This series presents three notable feature films and a new documentary.

The (Silent) Lubitsch Touch

One of the few filmmakers to achieve international acclaim in both the silent and sound eras, Ernst Lubitsch (1892-1947) was the son of a Berlin tailor who began his career as an actor in Max Reinhardt's legendary theater company and on the side appeared in early German comic one-reelers. While his transition to film directing came in this arena of ethnic comedy shorts, Lubitsch would emerge as one of the most talented creators of large-scale costume dramas, initiated by a series of historical films starring screen diva Pola Negri. Despite a genuine facility for mounting mega-productions such as CARMEN and MADAME DUBARRY, what set Lubitsch apart was his celebrated "touch"- a scrupulous eye for telling detail matched by a sophisticated handling of affairs of the heart. His assured command of the medium remained undiminished during his shift from Germany to Hollywood, from the silent cinema to the talkies, and from the "Roaring 20s" to the more restrained world of the Depression.

This program is co-presented with the Goethe Institut, Boston, the Boston Jewish Film Festival, and the Brattle Theatre.