A showcase for short documentaries about outdoor-sports thrill seekers, the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival returns to the Allen Theatre (1407 Euclid Ave., 216.241.6000, playhousesquare.com) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 9, and Saturday, April 10. Friday's highlights include Azazel, a film about four friends who try to conquer Pakistan's Trango Pulpit Tower; Take a Seat, about a tandem cyclist who attempts to log 19,000 miles on his bike, picking up random passengers along the way; and Rowing the Atlantic, about a woman who tries to row across the ocean. Saturday's schedule offers Finding Farley, about a family that travels 3,000 miles to get to a Nova Scotia home; Hunlen, about two guys who try to climb a frozen Canadian waterfall; and First Ascent: Alone on the Wall, about a free climber who tackles the northwest face of Yosemite's Half Dome. Tickets are $35, which includes admission to the pre-screening receptions at 6 each night.
The Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium (11150 East Blvd., 216.421.7350) recently underwent an extensive facelift, including new seats, a new projector, enhanced acoustics and a new sound system. As a result, the facility can now screen films in surround sound on the Gartner's 37-foot screen. To show off the newly rehabbed venue, there will be a screening of Steven Spielberg's classic adventure flick Raiders of the Lost Ark. The1981 film stars Harrison Ford as snake-hating archeologist Indiana Jones, who ends up battling Nazi creeps for control of the Ark of the Covenant. It shows at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 10. The screening is free, but tickets are required. Find more info at clemusart.com.
Last year, Matthew Wilkening moved from Boston to Akron with his fiancée, a psychologist with family in the area. To introduce himself to the music and arts community, he hosted a screening of Still Bill, a feature-length documentary about soul singer Bill Withers. Now, Wilkening, who runs a small record label called Stellah, is screening Defendor, a film about a superhero (Woody Harrelson) who tries to protect the city streets from the evil Captain Industry, at 7 p.m. Monday, April 12, at the Akron Public Library (60 S. High St., 330.643.9000, akronlibrary.org). The screening is free, but tickets are required, and organizers have asked that patrons bring canned or non-perishable food for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. E-mail reservation requests to [email protected].
