Things just get better and better here!

Your incredible generosity has resulted in the Challenge Match hitting the halfway mark! We're now at $15,500! Make sure you stop by the Challenge Match table if you haven't already, because word is that the buttons are being snapped up.

We're coming up on our noon round of films! I'm actually going to give information about the noon, 2:00 and 4:00 rounds in this post because I have to go to classes for a few hours. This is a time of day that is generally pretty sedate, so it's a great time to come in and see a movie without being squished by a huge mob.

In the noon round, we're kicking off at 11:30 with Vanaja and Pleasant Moments, followed at 11:45 with Invisible Waves and The World's Best Commercials. The final film in the round is the inspiring Runners High, at 12:00.

The 2:00 Round starts off with the hysterical Big Dreams Little Tokyo and the lyrical A Year in My Life at 2:00. This will be followed at 2:15 by The Gymnast and The Melon Route, and then 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep will begin at 2:30.

The 4:00 Round kicks off with Have You Heard From Johannesburg? This is our Film Forum movie today, so stay afterwards for a very stimulating discussion with Joe Cistone of the International Partners in Mission, Henry Young from the Journalism and Mass Communication program at Cuyahoga Community College, and Gesus Zaire of The Call & Post. The Forum topic is: Margaret Mead observed that a small group of committed citizens can change the world, and indeed that was how the movement to end Apartheid in South Africa began. Can the strategies used then be applied today to bring about worldwide efforts of social change?

Then, at 4:30, the extraordinary Beauty in Trouble and riveting documentary The Shutka Book of Records. We'll round things out with the Independent Shorts Program #7 and Kontakt.

I really wish I didn't have to go away for a few hours, because I love the energy and the people here, and I wake up every morning dying to get back in here and do it all again. This is the best film festival in the world!