Jean Luc Godard’s Contempt is this month’s selection for The Screening Room. The group meets each month to watch and discuss a film that one of its members is passionate about. It’s free and public so go join them!

It’s on May 20th at 7:30 PM at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (4120 Cleveland Ave N.W., Canton).

The Sandy Valley Branch library offers us another set of shorts tonight (Wednesday, May 7th) at 6:30. Here are synopses via the series’ organizer, Kim Ann Pfau:

“City ~ Just how differently can two people experience and interpret the same event? An Iraqi cabdriver in New York has a candid conversation with a Wall Street passenger about Muslims and the post-9/11 world.
Seven Miles Alone ~ Are you willing to sacrifice who you are for what you could become? In the confines of a small fishing town and in the borders of a boxing ring, two brothers must decide whose dream will become reality.
Traumalogía ~ At the wedding of Antonio, the eldest of a five-sibling family, his father has a heart-attack. The wedding is interrupted and the whole family goes to the hospital, where all the traumas and miseries appear during a tense night wait.
* Local Filmmaker
Reunion ~ A man pins all his hopes for love on a class reunion.
* Local Filmmakers
Marvelette vs. the Rubber City Madman ~ This film was an entry in the 48-hour Film Project for the 2008 Akron Independent Film Festival. Can Akron’s protector save the city from yet another devious villain? Starring Sharon Purvis, Jeff Pixler, and John Leonard, with music by Ian Kline.”

Here’s the library’s site.

This Thursday night, May 8th, at 6:00 PM, meet the Little Hollywood group and talk about film events happening in Ohio. It is held at Akron Institute. More info.

Another film option on Thursday, May 1st is the free 6:30 PM screening of Manufactured Landscapes at the Akron Art Museum. Here’s the trailer. As a warmup, check out the photography of the film’s subject, Edward Burtynsky.

Thursday, May 1st’s “art film” at the Canton Palace Theatre is the Cannes winning Romanian drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. It starts at 7:30 PM. Here’s the trailer. After the film there will be a discussion at Muggzwigz, a coffee shop that is down the street from the theatre.

The Palace is also starting to show classic films — at 10:00 AM, also on May 1st, you can see From Here to Eternity on the big screen. Admission is $1!

The new episode of The Artists Reality, the podcast from Todd V and J Edwards of Red Light Galleries, is a great cap to the fest… thanks guys!

This Thursday, May 1st, Tri-C West will host Private Screening 2008. It’s the sixth annual “student exhibition that showcases the latest work from Visual Communication & Design students at Tri-C.” There will be live musical performances in addition to the displays of video, photography, and design.

The site features dozens of videos from previous events - there are some gems!

Heavenly Claws (see previous post) is the kickoff for this weekend’s 2380 Project Film Festival, which will continue all day Saturday at the UA Student Union Theater with shorts and features mostly created by UA students. Here’s their MySpace profile, which has the full schedule.

Friday, April 25th at 7:30, at the University of Akron Student Union, Nicholas Scott will premiere his film Heavenly Claws. It will be followed by a Q&A with cast and crew. Admission is $3. Here’s the synopsis:

“Rob is your everyday ordinary run of the mill college graduate going through his mid twenties crisis. Just when his roommate Jack has finally motivated him off of the couch and into the job market Rob’s new girlfriend Lisa manages to throw her issues in the way. Come experience their darkly comic story as it is seen through the eyes of Rev. Bartholomew, the local televangelist preacher.”

On Friday, April 18th, at 9 PM, the seventh annual Open Frame Student Film Festival will take place at Malone College. Eight shorts by Malone students will be screened, and will be followed by an award ceremony.

Not unlike AIFF, the goal of the fest is to allow people “to work together developing their vision, craft, and voice.” The event is free and open to the public. More info, including the list of jurors for the fest, is here, and the festival’s blog also has the details.