FRIDAY, MARCH 7 

“Art is Education” A two-day conference sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Emery Secondary School Atrium, 1100 47th St. Emeryville. Workshops on Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Malcoln X Elementary School in Berkeley. www.artiseducation.org 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Claudia Chaufan, M.D. on “A Comparison of the German Health Care System and the U.S. Health Care System” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“I Am Not Afraid” A documentary of Rufina Amaya’s testimony as the sole survivor of the 1981 El Mozote Massacre, at the height of El Salvador's civil war, hosted by John Savant, Professor Emeritus, Dominican University, at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker School, directly behind SJW Church, 2125 Jefferson St. Not wheelchair accessible. 482-1062. 

“Tillie Olsen-A Heart in Action” Ann Hershey's new documentary at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Part of the Conscientious Film Projector Series presented by BFUU Social Justice Committee. www.bfuu.org  

“Zen on the Street” A documentary portrait of Zen Master Roshi Bernhard Glassman and his work with the homeless and the sick, at 7 p.m. at Center for Urban Peace, 2584 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Free, donations welcome. 866-732-2320. www.newdharma.com 

UC Berkeley Energy Symposium on topics such as Bioenergy Research at Berkeley, Advances in Green Building and Development, The Future of Nuclear Power, Transportation Sector Solutions at more, rom 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, UC Campus. Cost is $75. berc. 

berkeley.edu/symposium.html 

“Weathering the Storm: Sacred Cycles of Rebirth” An all ages event celebrating International Women’s Day at 7 p.m. at the Mandela Art Center, next to the West Oakland BART at 1357 5th St. www.weekendwakeup.com 

Piedmont Yoga 21st Anniversary with sample classes throughout the weekend, at 3966 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $10. 652-3336. www.piedmontyoga.com 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 

Herstory of the Bay Hike Led by naturalist Bethany Facendini. Celebrate International Women’s Day by honoring women whose environmental and historical contributions have made a difference in our community. Walk five miles along the Bay from Point Isabel to Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park and back, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“Art is Education” Workshops sponsored by the Alameda County Office of Education from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Malcoln X Elementary School, 1731 Prince. St. www.artiseducation.org 

Berkeley Libraries Community Discussion on improving buildings and services at 2 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6195. 

“Paper Story Dress” workshop to commemorate women who have influenced our lives, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the North Berkeley Branch Library. 981-6250. 

”Iron-Jawed Angels” The HBO dramatization of the last decade of the suffragettes’ campaign to gain the right to vote, in celebration of Women’s History Month at 2 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. 

The East Bay Chapter of The Great War Society will hold its monthly meeting to discuss “George Patton: A Life” by Robert Rudolph at 10:30 p.m. at the home of Krehe Ritter, 403 Boyton, off the Arlington. 524-5762. 

Wetlands Restoration at Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Plant native seedlings, remove nonnative species and pick up trash, from 9 a.m. to noon. Sponsored by REI and Save the Bay. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a supervising adult. To register call 527-4140, ext. 216. 

National Nutrition Month, with cooking demonstrations, free samples and free recipes, at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Center St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Diabetes and hypertension screening from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Life on the Rancho” A family event to experience life in old California, with music, crafts and games, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., Oakland. Free. 532-9142. 

Educator Workshop: Groceries from the Garden Teach your students where their food comes from. Learn activities that illustrate the benefits of sustainable agriculture and locally grown food. From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at UCB Richmond Field Station, 1327 S 46th Street, Gate #2, Richmond. Cost is $29. Reservations required. 665-3430. www.thewatershedproject.org/default 

“What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire” A documentary that looks at the current global situation and asks the most important questions of all: How did we get here? Why do we keep destroying the planet? At 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, entrance on Dana. Free, donations welcome. 

Indoor Gardening with Succulents A workshop from 9 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. Cost is $45. For reservations call 643-2755, ext. 03. 

Strengthening Berkeley Through Organizing “Songs of Hope and Struggle” Benefit concert with Bruce Barthol and Francisco Herrera for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Prebyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $25. Reception at 5:30 p.m. 665-5821. 

BASIL Seed Library Organizing Meeting at 4 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 658-9178. 

Walden Center and School Benefit “Celebration of the Arts” at 7 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. Tickets are $45-$50. 841-7248. 

Burma Human Rights Day Benefit with a Burmese traditional dinner (vegetarian friendly), speakers, performers, film, Q&A, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar. Cost is $15-$30 sliding scale donation for BADA Children Education Fund. 220-1323. www.badasf.org  

Peet’s Coffee & Tea Tour of new roastery in Alameda to celebrate Alfred Peet’s birthday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2001 Harbor Way Parkway. 1-800-999-2132. www.peets.com 

The Future Leaders Institute Youth in Civic Leadership Symposium FLI students pitch their project ideas to the Bay Area community from noon to 3 p.m. at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St. www.thefutureleadersinstitute.org  

“Schools Funding Crisis: A Town Meeting” at the Alameda Public Affairs Forum, at 7 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, Conference Room A, 1550 Oak St. at Lincoln, Alameda. 814-9592. www.alamedaforum.org 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 

Daylight Saving Time Begins Move your clocks ahead one hour. http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html 

Little Farm Open House Stop by the Little Farm to meet and learn about the animals, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Do It Yourself People’s Park Anniversary Acoustic Blowout Jam and Potluck Planning Meeting at 4 p.m. at the People’s Park Stage. 658-9178. 

“Naturally Egg-Ceptional” Learn about chickens and make naturally dyed eggs, from noon to 2 p.m., or 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7. 1-888-EB-PARKS. 

Cool Schools Global Warming Campaign Meeting at 2 p.m. at Berkeley High School, 1980 Allston Way, College and Career Center. RSVP to 704-4030. chicory@earthteam.net  

Memorial Service for Dr. Stanley Splitter at 2 p.m., at the Epworth United Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. Reception follows.  

“The American-Israel Relationship in the Post-Bush Era” with Shmuel Rosner, chief U.S correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz at 7 p.m. at Congregational Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. Donation $10. 525-3582. 

“Slingshot” Local radical newspaper volunteer meeting and article brainstorming at 4 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

Party with Grandmothers for the Oaks at 2 p.m. at Memorial Oak Grove, Piedmont Ave., just north of Bancroft. Donations of food and water requested. www.saveoaks.com 

Prepare Least Tern Habitat at the Alameda Wildlife Refuge Volunteers needed to help prepare habitat for the California Least Tern nesting season. Meet at 9 a.m. at main refuge gate, northwest corner of former Alameda Naval Air Station, Alameda. Must be 12 or older. RSVP required. 522-0601. http://ggnrabigyear.org 

Cafe Night at the Long Haul Evening of conversation and food at 7:30 p.m. at 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

Mantras of Henry Marshall, led by Marcia Emery, PhD. at 2 p.m. at Peralta Community Garden, Hopkins and Peralta. If by chance it rains, we will postpone until the following month. 526-5510. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Free Classes on Meditation, Dreams and Self-Knowledge at Berkeley Gnostic Center, 2510 Channing Way. For details call 1-877-GNOSIS-1. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jared and Michelle Baird on “How to Go on a Retreat” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 10 

An Evening with Cindy Sheehan and the El Cerrito Green Party. Peace Vigil at 5 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. for $5-$10, talk at 7 p.m. at Sky Lounge, 10458 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito, just north of Stockton St. 526-0972. 

Crisis Intervention Training Task Force meeting at 3:30 p.m. at 1947 Center St., 3rd Flr., Deodar Cedar Room. Sponsored by the Mental Health Commission. 981-5217. 

Berkeley Lab Friends of Science “Saving Power at Peak Hours” with Mary Ann Piette, LBNL scientist at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Free. 486-7292. 

Free Kaplan SAT vs ACT Workshop for high school students and parents at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. Registration required at www.kaptest.com/college (event code SKBK8009). 

TUESDAY, MARCH 11 

National Nutrition Month, with cooking demonstrations at 2:30 p.m., free samples and free recipes, at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market from 2 to 6 p.m. at Derby St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“The Mountains and Waters Sutra” with Prof. Carl Bielefeld, Religious Studies, Stanford Univ., at 5 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. RSVP to 809-1444. www.shin-ibs.edu 

Magic Show by Alex for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 3 to 4 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

“Exploring Mount Diablo and Its Surrounding Parklands” with Seth Adams, Director of Land Programs at Save Mount Diablo, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Docent Training for Tilden Nature Area Learn to assist the naturalists in providing interpretive programs at the Little Farm and nature area gardens, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee is $35. Application required. For information call 544-3260. 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets at 4:15 p.m. in the Community Theater Lobby. 644-4803. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 

Healthy Living, Healthy Aging A free workshop series for older adults and family caregivers. Fall Prevention at 10 a.m., Transitioning Safely from Hospital to Home, at 1:30 p.m., Forgetfulness: Is It Normal Aging or Alzheimer’s? at 5 p.m. at JFCS/East Bay’s Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany. Free, lunch provided. RSVP required. 558-7800. www.jfcs-eastbay.org 

Berkeley Retired Teachers’ Association Annual General Meeting with Virginia Johnson, CalSTRS Program Integration Manager in Client Outreach and Guidance, at 12:30 p.m. at Northbrae Church, 941 The Alameda. 524-8899. 

“Israel-Palestine Peace Prospects” with Israeli Gershon Baskin and Palestinian Hanna Siniora, authors, activists and educators at 7 p.m. at Kehilla Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont. Donation of $10 requested. sf-bayarea@btvshalom.org  

Sudden Oak Death Preventative Treament Training Session Meet at 1 p.m. at the Tolman Hall portico, Heast Ave. and Arch/LeConte, UC Campus for a two-hour field session, rain or shine. Pre-registration required. SODtreatment@ 

nature.berkeley.edu 

“Lead-Safety for Remodeling, Repair & Painting of Older Homes” A HUD and EPA approved one-day course from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Main Office, 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. Free to owners, and their employed maintenance crews, of residential properties built before 1978 in Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville or Oakland. REgistration required. 567-8280. www.aclppp.org 

Green Home Improvement 101 at 6 p.m. at the Ecohome Improvement Design Studio, 2619 San Pablo Ave. RSVP to 644-3500. 

Cycling Lecture with George Mount, 1976 Olympian, at 7 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California St. RSVP to 849-0437. 

Radical Movie Night: “Salt of the Earth” A documentary about the struggles of striking mine workers in a small town in New Mexico at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

“The Top 25 Censored Stories” with Peter Phillips on the 2008 results at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way, under Sather Gate Parking Garage. 848-1196. 

“Asia’s New Institutional Architecture: Evolving Strategies for Managing Trade, Financial, and Security Relations” at 4 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor. 642-2809.  

Poetry Writing Workshop with Alison Seevak at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 13 

Collage de Cultures Africaines “The Journey Back is the Journey Forward” Dance and drum workshops Thurs.-Sun. at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. For details call 733-1077. www.DiamanoCoura.org 

“Historic Landscape Survey” with landscape architect Chris Pattillo at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218. info@oaklandheritage.org 

Oxford Elementary’s Fifth Grade Class is celebrating African American History Month with a play “Grandma’s Hands” at 8:45 a.m. at Oxford Elementary School, 1130 Oxford St. 644-6300. 

“Biofuels: Energy, Food People” A panel discussion to explore the questions: What are biofuels? Will they really replace gasoline? Are they really “green”? With Tad Patzek, Professor of Geoengineering at UC Berkeley, Miguel Altieri, Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley, Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Judith Mayer, Project Coordinator of the Borneo Project, at 7 p.m. at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Suggested donation $20. 888-ECO-NOW2. www.econowusa.org 

“Climate Change and Our Water: Thinking Globally & Acting Locally to Protect Our Watersheds” with Bruce Riorden, at 7 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley. Suggested donation $25. Benefits the Codornices Creek Watershed Council. RSVP to Josh Brandt at 540-6669. www.codornicescreekwatershed.org 

Help Save Patagonia’s Wild Rivers A multi-media presentation with International Rivers on two rivers threatened by dam construction, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 848-1155. www.internationalrivers.org 

“Fish Forever: Creating Sustainable FIsheries” with Paul Johnson at 7 p.m. at College Preparatory School, 6100 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15. http://livetalk-johnson.eventbrite.com 

Eat Bay Science Cafe with Debbie Viess, president, Bay Area Mycological Society at 7 p.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. 643-7265. 

“Focus on Contra Costa” Authors Adam Nilsen, Dean McLeod and Caroll Jensen discuss thier books about Pleasant Hill, Port Chicago and the Delta at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

“The Truth about Cholesterol - Separating Fact from Fiction” at 7 p.m. at Acupuncture & Integrated Medicine College, 2550 Shattuck Ave., at Blake. 666-8248, ext. 106. 

Healthy Living for Seniors: Understanding and Coping with Parkinson’s Disease at 10 a.m., Understanding Long-Term Care and Medi-Cal and Avoiding Financial Abuse at 1 p.m., Financial Strategies for Older Adults at 3 p.m., Charitable Giving for Older Adults, 4:45 p.m. and Estate Planning and Power of Attorney, at 6 p.m. at JFCS/East Bay’s Suse Moyal Center for Older Adult Services, 828 San Pablo Ave., Suite 104, Albany. Free, lunch provided. RSVP required 558-7800. www.jfcs-eastbay.org 

“Focus on Contra Costa” with author Adam Nilsen on the history of Pleasant Hill at 1 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022.  

Annual Toastmasters International Speech Competition at 7:30 p.m. at The El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane, at San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 799-9557.  

East Bay Mac. Users Group presents SuperSync at 7 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound Street, Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss Sherlock Holmes at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Youth Commission meets Mon., Mar. 10, at 6:30 p.m., at City Council Chambers, Old City Hall. 981-6670.  

City Council meets Tues., Mar. 11, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. 

Commission on Disability meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6346. 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5426.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Mar. 12, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 981-4950.  

ONGOING 

E-Waste Recycling St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County accepts electronic waste including computers, dvd players, cell phones, fax machines and many other ewaste products for disposal free of charge at many of its locations throughout Alameda County. Free bulk pick-up available. 638-7600.  

Free Tax Help If your 2007 household income was less than $42,000, you are eligible for free tax preparation from United Way's Earn it! Keep It! Save It! Sites are open now through April 15 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To find a site near you, call 800-358-8832. www.EarnItKeepItSaveIt.org 

Donate the Excess Fruit from Your Fruit Trees I’ll gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in Berkeley and organic (no pesticides). This is a free volunteer/grassroots thing so join in!! To scehdule and appointment call or email 812-3369. northberkeley 

harvest@gmail.com

FRIDAY, MARCH 7 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Chicago” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 12. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep ”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Central Works “Wakefield; or Hello Sophia” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 23.Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. 

The Imagination Players “Once on This Island“ A musical for the whole family Fri. at 7:30 p.m., Sat. at 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $8-$15. 665-5565. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org 

Impact Theatre “Jukebox Stories: The Case of the Creamy Foam” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. http://impacttheatre.com 

UC Dept. of Theater “The Bacchae” at Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through March 9 at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. theater.berkeley.edu 

Virago Theatre Company “Candide” the comic opera at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda, through Mar. 9. Tickets are $15-$25. 865-6237. www.viragotheatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Pods” Paintings by Kim Thoman Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Oakopolis, 447 25th St., Oakland. Runs through March 22. 663-6920. 

Women’s History Month Works by James Gayles and Nedra T. Williams Reception at 6 p.m. at NoneSuch Space, 2865 Broadway, 2nd flr., Oakland.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jane Ganahl describes “Naked on the Page: The Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500.  

Mark Wilson on “Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Friday Noon Concert Chamber music at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

La Colectiva, cumbia Colombiana, salsa, son y mas, at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Dance IS Festival at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 at the door.  

First Fridays After Five with Purirak, the Shahrzad Dance Company, Navarrete x Kajiyama Dance Theater and more at 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Fortune Smiles Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Trio Garufa at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Tango dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $20. 525-5054. 

Laurie Antonioli Group at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373.  

Nearly Beloved, folk and country, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Ditty Bops, Jesca Hoop at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Justin Ancheta at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Josh Workman Trio, jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Amanda West, Lalin St. Juste at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Deja Bryson, Ke-Shay, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 839-6169. 

Imani Uzuri at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $7-$10. 548-1159.  

Machina Sol at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Lizz Wright at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sat. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Abby and The Pipsqueaks at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Thomas Lynch reads from the children’s classics, Kenneth Grahame’s “Wind in the Willows” and Roald Dahl’s “Boy” at 1 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Ostracismos” Paintings and poetry by the Torres Brothers Opening reception at 6:30 p.m. at La Peña. 849-2568.  

“Capturing Landscapes through Changing Technology” Photographs by Alasdair McCondochie. Opening reception at 3 p.m. at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. www.lightroom.com 

“Metals in Motion” Artists from the Monterey Bay Metals Arts Guild discuss their works at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

FILM 

”Iron-Jawed Angels” The HBO dramatization of the last decade of the suffragettes’ campaign to gain the right to vote, in celebration of Women’s History Month at 2 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. 

“In Vanda’s Room” with filmmaker Perdo Costa in person at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

James Scully and Peter Everwine read their poems at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Free. 981-6100. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Songs of Hope and Struggle” Strengthening Berkeley Through Organizing Benefit concert with Bruce Barthol and Francisco Herrera for Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Prebyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $25. Reception at 5:30 p.m. 665-5821. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Dance IS Festival at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

Opera Piccola “Mirrors of Mumbai” at 7:30 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourde Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 658-0967. www.opera-piccola.org 

Chora Nova “Aphrodite’s Muse” Works by women composers in honor of International Womens's Day at 8 p.m., lecture at 7:15 p.m. at ;First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant. Tickets are $10-$18. www.choranova.org 

Lichi Fuentes in an International Women’s Day concert at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568.  

Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baba Ken & West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Jeff Rolka, Robert Heiskell at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

John Gorka with Amilia K Spicer at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Beep with Michael Coleman at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Gateswingers Jazz Band, for dancing and listening at 8 p.m. at Central Perk, 10086 San Pablo Ave., at Central, El Cerrito. 558-7375.  

Montclair Women’s Big Band celebrating International Women’s Day at 8 and 10 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Babashad Jazz at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

CV Dub at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Dave G and Andy Mason in a Tirbute to the Violent Femmes at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Lizz Wright at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

“Down to Earth” with filmmaker Pedro Costa in person at 5 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Contemporary Art in Cuba” with Terry McClain at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

“Still Lives: The Films of Pedro Costa” Lecture by the filmmaker at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Theater. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Quartet San Francisco “Whirled Chamber Music” at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children 18 and under. 559-2941.  

David Tanenbaumn, classical guitarist at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Pre-concert talk at 2:30 p.m. Free. 415-248-1640.  

Sounds New Tenth Anniversary Concert at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $15. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$60. 642-9988.  

Presidio String Quartet will perform music of Bartok, Pårt, Dan Cantrell at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$12. 644-6893.  

Soli Deo Gloria U.S. premiere of Allan Bevan’s “Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode” at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Basilica, 1109 Chestnut St. at Encinal, Alameda. Tickets are $20-$25. www.sdgloria.org 

Dream Kitchen in a family concert at 3 p.m. at Black Pine Circle School, 2027 7th St. Cost is $10, children free.  

Mucho Axé and TerroRitmo, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Jazz It Up” Berkeley High Fundraiser at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Sarah Haili & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Code Name: Jonah at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Khalil Shaheed, Gary Brown, Glen Pearson in a benefit for Babtunde Lea’s Educultural Foundation at 7 and 9 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15-$25. 238-9200.  

MONDAY, MARCH 10 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Art, Technology and Culture Colloquium “Looking at Looking at Looking” with Golan Levin, artist, Carnegie Mellon Univ., at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-9565. http://atc.berkeley.edu 

Brian Fagan describes “The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

OmniDawn Press Night with Justin Courter, Mary Mackay and Laura Moriarty at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Karen Hogan at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kurt Ribak, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Parlor Tango at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Skyline High School Jazz Band at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 11 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ethan Rarick describes “Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Chamber Performances with the Wolford-Rosenblum Duo, saxophone and piano, at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20. 525-5211. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Midnite, roots reggae from St. Croix at 8:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $25-$30. 548-1159.  

Brian Woods Ensemble, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

John Worley & WorlView at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Protest in Paris 1968” Photographs by Serge Hambourg. Exhibition opens at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Late Spring” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Connery discusses “Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Roberta Maisel discusses “All Grown Up: Living Happily Ever After With Your Adult Children” at 6 p.m. at the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library. 981-6250. 

Poetry en Español with Gladys Basagoitia and Carmen Abad at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Gina Daggett and Kathy Belge discuss their new book, “Lipstick and Dipstick’s Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships” at 7 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean on harpsichord at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with University Chamber Chorus at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Dan Stanton Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Bernard Anderson & The Old School Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West coast swing danec lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $7. 525-5054.  

Saoco at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Kids and Hearts at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Cara at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Hollister at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 13 

CHILDREN 

“Grandma’s Hands” An African American History Month celebration with a performance by Oxford Elementary’s Fifth Grade Class at 8:45 a.m. at Oxford Elementary School, 1130 Oxford St. 644-6300. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 12:15 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Lecture by landscape architect Chris Pattillo on the Historic Landscape Survey, a new program that recognizes and documents our nation’s historic and cultural landscapes at 7:30 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 763-9218.  

“Focus on Contra Costa” Authors Adam Nilsen, Dean McLeod and Caroll Jensen discuss their books about Pleasant Hill, Port Chicago and the Delta at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. 238-2022.  

Jeffrey Harrison and Cathleen Micheaels read their poetry at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Kyu Hyun Kim on “The Age of Visions and Arguments: Parliamentarianism and the National Public Sphere in Early Meiji Japan” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Symphony, Guillermo Figueroa, conductor, at 8 p.m. Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$60. 841-2800.  

23rd Jewish Music Festival “Mayn Yiddishe Velt: Heather Lauren Klein sings Yiddish Art Songs” at 2 p.m. at The JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237, ext. 139. 

Narada Michael Walden in a benefit for Music in the Schools at 6 p.m. at Ex'pression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound, Emeryville. Tickets are $50-$250. eventinfo@emeryed.org 

Moving Violations, Queer Contra Dance, at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Diana Jones at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Jenny Farris Quartet in a Frank Loesser Tribute Show, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Euphonia, ballads, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

John Seabury at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Gonzalo Rubacaba at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

How big is big? At the 58th annual Berlin Film Festival, or Berlinale, in February, 387 movies were shown in 11 days on 38 screens in 15 theaters operating from 9 a.m. to past midnight. 

Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light opened; by the end, every Luis Bunuel film had been screened. In between came a “Talent Campus” for young filmmakers with panel discussions and workshops, and a parallel European Film Market of more than 700 films (some overlap), showing more than 100 a day. Even if you like movies, that’s a lot. Many of them may never see the dark of a commercial theater, not because they’re lousy but because no distributor is willing to bet that there’s an audience for them. But in Berlin, with perfect screens and perfect prints, even bad films have their moments. 

The Berlin festival is not as old as Venice, nor as big as Cannes but, uniquely, it is the only one of the Big Three that is as much for the public as for the industry. Nearly a quarter of a million tickets were sold. Unlike Cannes and Venice, Berlin is held in the worst weather, although this winter stayed above freezing much of the time. Still it is better to be indoors.  

Representing the Daily Planet, I saw 19 films, attended a dozen press conferences where one could see up close and personal Scorsese and the Stones, Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, Scarlet Johansson and Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Madonna (she’s funny) and Errol Morris, the one-time Berkeley graduate student who changed the documentary genre. I interviewed the festival’s head of jury, the great political film maker Costa Gavras (Z, Missing, The Music Box).  

I marveled at the efficiency and good humor of a huge staff that kept the thing going. And at a city that really works (even if one bus was three minutes late). This is a place where beer is pure, restaurants exude atmosphere, the museums and galleries are world-class, and the revitalized neighborhoods of East Berlin retain a certain mystique. After 60 years of Nazi and Stasi, Berlin seems at home with itself. The center of the festival is Potsdamer Platz, a former no man’s land, now representing the best and worst of modern architecture. The Berlin Wall once ran through it.  

After screenings, L’Oreal gave mascara—to everyone. Vanity Fair had wonderful gold gift packages, of chewing gum. A movie named Bananaz provided bananas. Volkswagen poured champagne, and uncovered its new car at a party at the Berlin Academy of Art, Seal performing. There were more galas than even Leah Garchik could handle. 

After the photo shoots—herds of cameramen baying—the director and stars of films would answer standard questions: How did you happen to begin this project? What was it like working with …? (Wonderful.) A child actor was asked whether violence in his film had scared him: No. “It’s a movie.”  

Every day, Berlin papers published several pages on the festival. Three trade publications—Hollywood Reporter, Screen and Variety—put out daily glossy magazines of reviews and gossip. Forty-two hundred journalists (4,200) were said to be in attendance, but of the general interest American papers, apparently only the New York Times and the Daily Planet published.  

The Elephant  

Getting a handle on the Berlinale is like the blind man trying to describe an elephant. Journalists and filmmakers and civilians, looking for one great film and not finding it, asked each other: What have you liked? What do you expect to like? Conventional wisdom said that the competition section was weak this year and that more interesting things were to be found among the smaller films, or the first films, or unusual documentaries, or the “Culinary Cinema” section, or the German section, or the Rossi or Bunuel retrospectives, or the Vietnam War films. 

For those looking for a handle, festival director Dieter Kosslick suggested music. In addition to the Stones, there was a Patti Smith bio (she attended and sang). Heavy Metal in Baghdad showed a band truly on the run. CSNY Déjà Vu was directed by Bernard Shakey (who looked and sounded a lot like Neil Young). Madona made her directing debut with “Filth and Wisdom.” The late Willy Sommerfeld, last surviving silent film pianist from the 1920s, was honored.  

Some actresses gave astounding performances: Tilda Swinton in Julia, a film that, like its main character, careened out of control; Kristin Scott Thomas in “Il y a longtemps que je t’aime…” (I’ve Loved You So Long) about the readjustment to society of a child murderer; and Israeli Arab Hiam Abbass. In Lemon Tree, Abbass walks into an all-male café on the West Bank. The looks she gets are so chilling that one might suppose that the greatest divide in the Middle East is gender.  

Several films dealt with the abuse of children. Kids were forced into war, kidnapped, murdered, molested, or just bullied. Apparently, every dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way.  

Among its suggestions for 10 movies to see, the German weekly Die Zeit picked RR, directed by the American James Benning. He said he wanted the title to be pronounced “railroad” rather than “ahr, ahr” (lest his film be confused with a sequel to “Treasure Island”). In 120 minutes, RR shows 43 trains. They enter a frame and they leave it—first slow trains, then fast ones. Enjoyable? One viewer said, “It depends on what the definition of enjoyable is.”  

The Stones were enjoyable, by any definition. Some critics were disappointed that there was no story line. Also no analysis, no probing. But Scorsese used 17 cameras with frequent cuts to capture the band’s incredible energy. You feel as if you are in the third row. Good choice of clips. In one, we see Jagger, young and innocent, thrilled that the group has lasted for two years and hopeful that it can last another year. Meeting former President Clinton on stage before a concert at the Beacon Theater in New York City in 2006, Keith Richards says, “Hello Clinton, I’m Bushed.” In person, the Stones were an extension of the film, poised and funny. They had their personas down pat, and reveled in their status as “co-producers” and as the “actors.” Jagger, the preeminent Alpha, was definitely in charge. 

The Stones were in the competition section but not in the competition. The Golden Bear, the top prize, was awarded to the Brazil’s The Elite Squad about the brutal police war against drug lords. Some called it a fascist film or Death Wish in Rio. Errol Morris won the Silver Bear for his Abu Ghraib story Standard Operating Procedure, the first documentary ever entered in Berlin competition. Paul Anderson was chosen best director for There Will Be Blood, which got the best notices—although some found it bombastic and over the top. Sally Hawkins won best actress for the comedy Happy-Go-Lucky, a Mike Leigh film for people who don’t like Mike Leigh films. And an Iranian, Reza Najie, not Day-Lewis, won best actor. There were audience awards, a queer award, and young filmmaker awards; it’s an endless list.  

My Berlinale  

Ultimately, everyone there had his or her own Berlinale.  

I liked the intimate look of Citizen Havel. A cameraman follows the then-president of the Czech Republic for years. His staff pushes and pulls, checking him for dandruff and political positions. Vaclav Havel expresses annoyance with his jacket (too tight), with American soup, and with his rival, the uptight Vaclav Klaus. Clinton plays “Summertime” on a Czech saxophone (Havel’s gift),” Yeltsin needs a beer, and Ronnie Wood wants to know whether a restaurant named Provence would be a good choice in Prague. Provence will be fine, Havel reassures him. 

Katyn, by the legendary Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, shows the genocide within the genocide—the massacre of 20,000 Polish officers (including Wajda’s father) by the Soviet Union. The objective was to wipe out the Polish intelligentsia in order to prevent a sustainable independent Poland from re-emerging. That project turned out to be quite successful. For nearly 50 years, the Soviet Union blamed this mass murder on the Nazis, a group you’d expect to be impossible to libel—and Poles were forbidden to speak the truth. Now they can. It would be inaccurate to report that this is a perfect film as well as an important film. Still, the ending produces nightmares. 

Like I’ve Loved You So Long, the French film with Scott Thomas, Boy A, originally shown on British television, concerns a child’s killer re-entering society, but with a different result. And like the French film, Boy A is worth the pain one feels in watching. 

Johnnie To has made an homage to old Hong Kong—and to a team of pickpockets, which To says is a vanishing breed in HK. To’s film Sparrow is light and airy. It’s like dance. 

An Italian film, Quiet Chaos, was my favorite. Nanni Moretti plays an executive who comes to terms with the death of his wife, in his own time and in his own way, waiting each day in a park for his daughter’s school to let out. Each day, he plays a game with a boy who has Down syndrome and watches a beautiful woman walk her Saint Bernard. Colleagues come to discuss the problems of the office and an impending merger. And eventually, something shakes him out of his pattern and back into real life. The film is unpredictable and charming. It doesn’t hit you over the head.  

Of course, Standard Operating Procedure, Morris’ film on Abu Ghraib, does hit you over the head—with dramatic music and graphics, an almost pornographic fixation on those infamous photographs, and the kind of revealing interviews that are an Errol Morris trademark. People tell him things that they shouldn’t. All the low-level perpetrators play the victim but hang themselves with rationalizations. Lynndie Englund gives an account in which the brutalities of Abu Ghraib are less important than the fact that she got pregnant and now has a child. So if she had a chance for a do-over, she wouldn’t.  

In the press conferences after the films, there was rarely confrontation. With Morris, there was. Because many of the journalists were impressed by SOP (which Morris calls “nonfiction horror”) and grateful for what it showed, they wondered why all the bells and whistles and re-enactments. Why couldn’t the interviews have spoken for themselves? Why not “concentrate on the pure truth?” 

Morris was miffed (“With all due respect, I think this is nonsense”) but eventually gave a series of responses. You can see the whole thing on the Berlinale website www.Berlinale.de. “The human brain is not a reality recorder,” Morris said. "Reality isn’t in there somewhere and I can just recover it by thinking about it. We put the world together from bits and pieces … Consciousness is a re-enactment of the world inside our skulls. It’s all a re-enactment except the world out there. What we do is an attempt to recover that reality by thinking, by exploring, by investigating.”  

It was a good answer. It was also a valid question. 

Freelance journalist Lewis Dolinsky was a longtime editor and foreign affairs columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The myth of Orson Welles has outlived its usefulness. The man has long since passed on, as have those who sought to undermine his achievements. He was jealously branded by Hollywood as the wunderkind-turned-enfant terrible of the cinema, the man who took on a media titan, and Hollywood itself, in Citizen Kane and then squandered his own career with his proclivity for self-destruction and artistic excess. The standard line on Welles was that he created just that single masterpiece before embarking on a long downward slide.  

However, reports of the artist’s slow-motion death have been greatly exaggerated. Though there’s an element of truth in the criticism of Welles—he was, by most accounts brash, difficult and at times self-destructive, yet immeasurably charming—the decline was not in his work but in his relations with those who controlled the purse strings and the means of production; artistically he remained vital until his death in 1985. 

Pacific Film Archive will present a retrospective covering all of the director’s major cinematic work, in roughly chronological order, through April 13. Citizen Kane shows tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m.; his follow-up, The Magnificent Ambersons, screens Saturday at 5 p.m. 

Much of the criticism of Welles, now as well as then, stems from a profound misunderstanding of the man and of his art. While it is true that Welles was a restless innovator, his innovations were, for the most part, at the service of a classicist’s art. He was far more conservative in his sentiments and affections than the image of the bold, relentless, iconoclastic youth of Kane would indicate.  

To begin to understand the trajectory of Welles’ career, one must keep in mind the polarities of his influences: traditional theater and magic.  

Welles was an accomplished magician, often performing tricks for cast and crew. And during World War II he traveled the country performing for the troops and sawing Marlene Dietrich in half before their very eyes. He was a consummate showman who took great pleasure in startling and dazzling an audience.  

But he was also a serious actor, writer and director, trained in the classics of literature and theater from a very young age. As the creative force behind the Mercury Theater in New York in the 1930s, he forged his reputation, at the age of 20, by reviving classic works with a bold, modernist aesthetic. And on radio, with the Mercury Theater on the Air, he focused on the same sort of material, adapting the classics to one-hour and half-hour dramas. (His groundbreaking theater career may survive only in photographs and second-hand accounts, but virtually all of Welles’ surviving radio work can be found on the Internet, cheap if not free, in MP3 format.)  

But Welles’ traditionalism was often overshadowed in the public mind by his showmanship, by his attention-getting forays into more melodramatic projects. While he established his presence on radio as the original voice of The Shadow and presented his share of thrillers on stage and on radio, the bulk of Welles’ oeuvre, in every medium in which he worked, was far more serious in intent and execution. 

It was his radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds that really launched the myth. The controversial broadcast relocated the Martian invasion from England to New Jersey and presented the drama as a series of breaking news announcements interrupting “our regularly scheduled program.” The show set off a nationwide panic that might have destroyed any other director’s career; instead it earned the Mercury a sponsor (the program would soon be renamed the Campbell Playhouse) and earned him the chance to make a movie.  

The result was Citizen Kane, a brash, bold film that featured Welles’ trademark blend of commercial entertainment, high art and sleight-of-hand chicanery. Its effrontery to everything Hollywood was evident in every shot; Welles ostentatiously brandished his mastery of the medium: unusual camera angles; dramatic visual and thematic contrasts; complex tapestries of sound; long takes followed by startling cuts and transitions; and of course Greg Toland’s deep-focus photography. For better and for worse, the film made Welles’ reputation: a showman with pretensions to Art. 

He would go on to complete just 11 more films, several of them truly great, most of them groundbreaking, and at least one or two fascinating failures. Many of them were taken away from him and re-edited without his input or consent; some were hampered from the start by low budgets and a lack of resources as a result of Welles’ self-imposed exile in Europe as an independent filmmaker. But if one fact stands out above all in PFA's restrospective, it is that Welles never stood still stylistically. Though every film is stamped with his peculiar visual style, his body of work ranges from expressionist to classical, from period pieces to modern-day noir, from Shakespeare to documentary and personal essay. 

The film that might have been his true masterpiece came immediately after Kane. The story of the making and unmaking of The Magnificent Ambersons is nearly as tragic as the film itself. Welles rather faithfully adapted Booth Tarkington’s novel, using a style much more restrained and fluid than the genre-busting flash and disjointed narrative pyrotechnics of Kane. The result, as Francois Truffaut put it, is a film “made in violent contrast to Citizen Kane, almost as if by another filmmaker who detested the first and wanted to give him a lesson in modesty.” 

Ambersons is a nostalgic dream dissolving into a jaded, weary reality check, a portrait of a vanishing epoch, of the passing of time and the coming of change. To modern eyes, it may seem like an old-fashioned Hollywood film; it is stately and somber and lavish in design. Even a film as showy as Kane may, in these times, require an educated eye to fully appreciate its innovation and audacity, but Ambersons can be even more vexing to the modern viewer, for the workings of its innovations are carefully concealed. Welles wasn’t aiming for shock and awe with this film, as he was with his War of the Worlds radio broadcast and, to some extent, with Kane; he was instead offering a beautifully crafted and seamless film, rich in novelistic detail, which employed its innovations purely in the service of the tale.  

Welles borrowed many techniques from his predecessors, including the iris—a common device from the silent era—and images burnished at the edges, like the more sentimental works of D.W. Griffith. He also incorporated much of his radio experience, narrating the film himself as he did in his Mercury broadcasts and using radio’s bridging musical cues to provide fluid transitions between scenes. Also evident are elements of classic theater, such as the gossiping townsfolk who act as a sort of Greek chorus.  

Ambersons employed Welles’ much-vaunted long takes, his camera dancing along with the guests in the ballroom scene or gazing patiently as the delicate psyche of Agnes Moorehead’s Aunt Fanny finally collapses in the kitchen scene. And Welles’ editing talents came to the fore once again, most evidently in the opening montage that establishes the setting with humor and delicate irony. As in all of Welles’ best work, he brought together a wide range of styles and influences and melded them into a personal vision of great depth and complexity, but this time the seams and stagecraft were more carefully hidden from view. 

RKO previewed the film for an audience, and though the comment cards contained many remarks that were ecstatic, many more were severely critical. It was war time, and the average moviegoer wanted escapism, not gloom. The studio panicked and, while Welles was shooting another film in Brazil, began to carve away at his most personal film. Nearly an hour’s worth of footage was scrapped; several scenes were re-shot, re-written or re-edited; and an attempt at a happy ending was tacked on. In the words of critic David Thomson, it is a film “so dark and mournful that it would not be shown properly to the American public.” It’s a testament to the power of Welles’ vision that the butchered 88-minute film is still widely considered a masterpiece.  

Shooting scripts, memos, photographs and first-hand accounts provide a fairly complete picture of what is missing from the film as it exists today. In addition to the original ending, the loss of one particular scene is especially galling: As the family’s fortunes decline, young George takes one last walk through the decaying mansion as the camera follows in one long, unbroken take. The scene goes on for several minutes, allowing the character time to mourn the passing of an era as he moves through each room, past pieces of furniture shrouded in sheets like the ghosts of ballroom dances past. It was a technical tour de force, with crew members frantically pulling apart sets and doorways and sliding others into place and laying dolly tracks just beyond the view of the camera as it traveled through the house. It is the essence of the art of Orson Welles: the magician’s hand, deft and graceful and invisible in the creation of a seamless and elegant illusion.

“For Romeo & Juliet we're playing with no language, so we call it 'according to Shakespeare,’” said Jim Cave of his show with Deborah Gwinn, Romeo & Juliet and Other Duets, which just opened at The Marsh in San Francisco. “For The Chairs, it’s ‘after Ionesco.’ There are maybe a couple pages of text; the rest went out the window. We tell both of these stories in our own peculiar way. And as the run develops, we may add other little pieces.” 

Cave, an Oakland resident, and Gwinn, who now lives in Vermont, have been working together on and off for decades, since they “connected” during what Cave called “kind of the second generation of the Blake Street Hawkeyes, post-Bob Ernst, David Shine, John O’Keefe ...” referring to the seminal Berkeley theater group of the ‘70s and ‘80s. 

Cave has gone on to become an ubiquitous presence in Bay Area theater (including opera), a masterful jack-of-all-trades, whether as tech director, performing, or in the director’s chair. Actors, on being asked about the show they’re in, will often just describe it as “a Jim Cave thing.” 

“We connected at the Hawkeyes in the early ‘80s when Deb was artistic director,” Cave recalled, “She’d been in the Iowa Theater Workshop, which was influenced by Jerzy Grotowski’s experiments, so very movement-oriented. She came out here with others who founded the Hawkeyes. I was technical director, then directed the last piece Bob Ernst, Cynthia Moore and Whoopi [Goldberg] did, Tantrum. Then I was given a project, The Whole Hog, something different groups around the Bay Area have duplicated ... 

“Debbie’s a wonderful playwright,” Cave went on, “always fascinated with classical stories, like Alcestis, Phaedra, Medea—but they’re turned into comedies. She also worked with Merle Kessler and Duck’s Breath, and was in O’Keefe’s DISGRACE at the SF Playwrights Festival and Theatre Artaud. Then she moved back to Vermont, where every summer she puts on her Shakespeare festival in a barn. I go back for it. She and I anchor a piece, then get local people to help. There are kids in that town who’ve grown up with our idea of Shakespeare.” 

Cave endeavored to describe the style they’ve developed for their duets.  

“We both find it very difficult to talk about it,” he said. “You have to see it. This particular style pares language back. And it’s not the characters speaking. We have developed ways to deliver the language—as voice-over, or with a megaphone, or, a specialty of Deb’s, through dolls. It makes you listen in a different way. We tend to use the same music over and over in different contexts. Since we’re doing duets, we use duets for two pianos. For The Chairs, Poulenc, Gershwin, Turelli; for R & J Gershwin, Milhaud, Nina Rota and Prokofieff. An odd thing, but the Milhaud sometimes sounds exactly like Gershwin! 

“It all started in Berkeley and around Berkeley,” Cave continued. “Debbie got an old dance studio in Rockridge, where an old woman had taught ballet classes, which she called the Temple. We worked with whoever was around, with different approaches—Macbeth, but all in Lady Macbeth’s voice-over; Midsummer Night’s Dream, speaking for dolls. Then we began working with Greg Goodman, aka Woody Woodman, a pianist whose mentor was Cecil Taylor, and who collaborated with high-level improvisers like Rova, Derek Bailey ... he had musicians from all over the world in his place, really for 30 years in his Berkeley living room. We founded Woody Woodman’s Finger Palace together. He and I put on a version of Don Quixote with no language, to Richard Strauss’ ‘Sketches for Don Quixote,’ later taking it to The Marsh. All the duet work was born from that; Don Quixote inspired it.” 

So Cave and Gwinn’s show at The Marsh is something “coming full circle. Stephanie [Weissman] has been very supportive. And another full circle—Deb performed [and brilliantly] in Stephanie’s opera., Aphrodisia, the piece she founded The Marsh because of, finally played at The Marsh-Berkeley in 2006.” 

Their gestural, collaborative theater continues, an ongoing project “now at Roham’s place. [Roham Shaikani, Oakland actor, known for his work with Darvag, Shotgun and George Charback’s TheatreInSearch.] It’s the Kingdom of Mahor: Roham, backwards. We all have positions in the Ministry. We do magical stuff with very little, curtains sometimes, lights—we cram for a couple of days, invite friends and put on a show.” 

ROMEO & JULIET and OTHER DUETS 

Through March 29 

Thurs-Sat. at 8 p.m.  

The Marsh 

1062 Valencia St., San Francisco 

www.themarsh.org 

(415) 641-0235 

Jukebox Tales: The Case of the Creamy Foam puts the team of Prince Gomovilas and Brandon Patten back together, alternating story and song on a messy set in the basement of La Val's Pizza, a bedroom strewn with the domestic wreckage of young bachelorhood. Sometimes Brandon, after capping off a tune, slips under the sheets and asks Prince for a bedtime story—a funny request before a roomful of spectators. 

This time the "stage” is taped off as a crime scene, with a lonely pint of stout sitting forlorn and foamy, like the subtitle. The hook, in fact, is slight, more an unhook. It’s not so much a plotless detective story (an oxymoron if there ever was one) as another, running pretext to engage the audience in interactivity, a contest to see if they’re paying attention. 

And the audience, many hovering over pizza on paper plates, wiping away their own beery foam from their lips, is rapt. In an age of distraction and oversaturated entertainment, Brandon and Prince have struck on an updated version of a few old chestnuts out of vaudeville. Next they should try their act on the apron of a movie theater stage, another dying institution. This time the live acts might save moving pictures, not the other way around as of yore. 

For those familiar with the original edition, Jukebox Tales: The Case of the Creamy Foam is an extention of what they already know and love. With the help of audience members choosing titles, often at random (though there are requests for recent old favorites), the dynamic duo maintain their usual division of labor: Prince tells his funny, acid tales, sometimes off the page, exhorting the audience’s sympathy with furrowed brow and open-handed gestures, while Brandon alternates with clever, perceptive ditties, accompanying himself on guitar.  

The stories run a familiar gamut, between frenzied episodes of Asian customs (gambling, Buddhist folk beliefs, social flaunting and inter-generational woes) distended by the uncouth sprawl of American consumerism—and Prince’s accounts of his career forays into the wilds of entertainment and The Media. Brandon’s songs are upbeat, tinged with satire, and occasionally pretty salty. One X-rated encore was requested by a woman who said she’d brought her parents to hear it—a new kind of family entertainment? 

After a string of stories like one about Prince’s refusal “to take part in the cult” of Tiger Balm, or the tempest in a styrofoam cup over what he wrote for the AOL Queer Site about High School Musical II, intercut with songs like “Ketchup & Mayo” (while Prince makes the eponymous sandwich—though the song’s not about that kind of eating) and “Ride The Green Tortoise/You’ll Have a Good Time” (“a campy counterculture horror story with a little gay bashing South of the Border”), a reenactment of a scene from The Goonies (with selected audience participation) and a movie trivia game, “the Birthday Girl on a roll” shouts “J’Accuse!” and names the murderer to wrap up Jukebox Tales: The Case of the Creamy Foam after winning two other prizes and playing a Goony ... proving Lana Turner was no anomaly—in La Val’s Subterranean, every spectator’s ripe for her/his 15 seconds of fame, eulogized on the spot by Prince and Brandon. 

JUKEBOX TALES: THE CASE OF THE CREAMY FOAM 

Impact Theatre 

La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. 

Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m. 

Through March 22 

Tickets $10-$15 

464-4468, impacttheatre.com