EARTH AND WATER
Greece - West Coast Premiere
112 mins. Studio Theater, 1:00 p.m., Aug. 5.

Nicolas is a lyre player in the Dionysiac rites, ceremonies where initiates walk on burning coals. He is young, unrefined, in love. Constantina's whole life lies ahead of her. She and Nicolas have nothing in common except for the whirlwind of ecstasy, or so she thinks. She dumps him and leaves. Nicolas sinks into the muddy waters of the river. He comes out on the surface, and goes out into the world, the city, the night. He meets Elena who comes from Russia. There is a tragic balance between Constantina, Nicolas and Elena. Nicolas and Constantina lose each other, but she will take him back, with her. There where everything becomes more simple, inevitable and true. Nothing less, nothing more than earth and water.

Director/Writer: Panos Karkanevatos
Cinematography: Yannis Valeras
Editor: Panos Karkanevatos
Cast: Giorgios Karamichos, Fotini Papadodima, Lena Kitsopoulou, Vassia Eleftheriadis, Katerina Karayianni, Michalis Mitroussis, Dimitris Siakaras, Nikos Georgakis, Alexandros Moukanos, Giorgos Constas, Eleni Dimopoulou, Effi Drossou, Thodoros Teknetzidis, Zafiris Katramadas, Yannis Angelakas, Dimitra Hatoupi, Thodoris Gonis, Giorgos Emirzas

FILM 1: PIRANHA BLUES
Belgium - U.S. Premiere
100 mins. Studio Theater, 7:00 p.m., Aug. 5.

Willem W. walks with his father to court on the first day of the Agusta trial, the biggest corruption scandal in Belgian history, where the defendants are the former NATO Secretary General, politicians and his father, who was responsible for the money laundering. Johannes Van Buren, the ambitious anchorman of the prime time television news, ridicules Willem, who overreacts. His friends inspire him to kidnap Van Buren and investigate his private life. He'll give the journalist the treatment his family got. He finds out more than he cares for, not exactly about the journalist but rather about himself. His search reads like a manual called "How to lose your ethics, ego, and friends in a few days."

Director/Writer/Producer: Willem Wallyn
Director of Photography: Lou Berghmans
Editor: Neil Skeet
Cast: Peter Van den Begin, Herbert Flack, Luc Wallyn, Frank Vander Linden, David Steegen, Dora van der Groen, Sylvia Kristel, Pascale Bal, Doris Van Caneghem, Tine Van den Brande, Carl Ridders, Daniël Van Avermaet

FLIGHT OF FANCY
United States - West Coast Premiere
100 mins. Paramount Theater, 5:00 p.m., Aug. 6.

Imagine a small, remote island peppered with mountains and surrounded by the deep blue sea, a tiny speck of land stuck in time with a population used to things as they are. Imagine a devil-may-care barnstorming pilot named Clay (Dean Cain), crash-landing his biplane into the midst of this tranquility, sending the inhabitants into a tailspin. Imagine Clay meeting Mercedes (Talisa Soto) and her son. Imagine adventure, excitement, and romance.

Director: Noel Quiñones
Writers: Tom Musca, Noel Quiñones, Mark Kemble
Producers: Morris Ruskin, Tom Musca
Director of Photography: Henner Hofman
Editor: Christopher Holmes
Cast: Dean Cain, Talisa Sota, Miguel Sandoval, Kristian de la Osa

IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS (I KINA SPISER DE HUNDE)
Denmark - U.S. Premiere
90 mins. Studio Theater, 3:00 p.m., Aug. 5.

An anarchic gangster-thriller written by Academy Award winner Anders Thomas Jensen, In China They Eat Dogs is a rip-roaring tall story packed with armed robbery, explosives and sudden death, all perpetrated with the best of intentions -- because the film is about all the disasters a guy unleashes when he is determined to help other people.