ONFILM FESTIVAL CONTINUES MONDAY WITH APPEARANCE BY IRVIN KERSHNER

Irvin Kershner, acclaimed director of "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back," will be on the Old Dominion campus at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 19, as part of the ONFilm Festival. Kershner will conduct and question-and-answer session prior to the screening of his film "The Luck of Ginger Coffey" (1964), a story that chronicles an Irish immigrant in search of fortune.

Hosted by Old Dominion University and the city of Norfolk, the ONFilm Festival is a collaboration to expand and enhance the university's nearly decade-old film festival into an international event. It runs March 18-24 at Old Dominion and several other venues in Norfolk. Under the theme "Colonial Encounters," the festival will explore colonialism and cultural interaction in the Americas and across the globe through a multitude of film screenings, discussion forums and seminars.

The festival will conclude with the presentation of the first ONFilm Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors excellence in acting, writing or producing, followed by a screening of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore." Closing ceremonies will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at the Attucks Theatre, 1010 Church St., Norfolk.

Director Susan Seidelman will introduce a screening of her 1985 hit "Desperately Seeking Susan" and follow with a question and answer session at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22 at the Naro Cinema.

The festival will also feature the American premier of "Congorama," a film that interweaves families, fathers and sons and the search for an identity from Europe to the Canadian landscape. Presented by the Naro Expanded Cinema and Quebec Cultural Services, the film will debut at the Naro at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21.

A panel of filmmakers and scholars will highlight the ways in which international films depict the intersection of colonialism and gender at 7 p.m. Friday, March 23, in the Godwin auditorium. The short films "Take Me Out Tonight," Liberty Kids," "Under the Willow Tree" and "Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night" will be screened, followed by a discussion.

All screenings on the ODU campus are free. Tickets for all other events are $8. Tickets for the closing event may be purchased in advance through Ticketmaster.

Joining ODU and the city of Norfolk as sponsors of the film festival are: Alliance Françoise; Filipino American Center; Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, Fund for the Arts; Belgian Consulate; Alessandra Benedicty, Quebec Cultural Services, New York; Naro Expanded Cinema; and Asian Indians of Hampton Roads.

More information can be found at http://www.odu.edu/ONfilmfest.

The complete schedule of events is as follows:

Sunday, March 18

7 p.m. Opening event featuring the Old Dominion University Symphony Orchestra and a screening of "Eagle's Wing" with screenwriter John Briley. Nauticus $

Monday, March 19

8 a.m. "The Patriot" (Roland Emmerich, 2000). Discussion led by Jeffrey Jones, ODU assistant professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

11 a.m. "The Works of Terrence Malick," director of "The New World." Discussion led by Robert Arnett, ODU associate professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

1 p.m. "Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian" and "The Red Man's View'" (D.W. Griffith, 1909). Discussion led by Jane Merritt, ODU associate professor of history. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

4 p.m. "Panoramic Visions of the Other: Reading a Long-lost Art Form Ethnographically." Lecture by Alison Griffiths, Department of Communication Studies, Baruch College, City University of New York. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

7:30 p.m. Question and answer with director Irvin Kershner, acclaimed director of "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back," moderated by David Self, ODU adjunct professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

8:15 p.m. "The Luck of Ginger Coffey" (Irvin Kershner, 1964). ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

Tuesday, March 20

8 a.m. "Prisoner of the Mountains" (Sergei Bodrov, 1996). Discussion led by Austin Jersild, ODU associate professor of history. ODU - 210 Education Building

9:30 a.m. Lecture "The Art of the Screenplay," featuring a special screening of a mystery film with screenwriter John Briley and Stephen Pullen, ODU assistant professor of communication and theatre arts. University Theatre

10 a.m. " Inch Allah Dimanche" (Yamima Benguigui, 2001). Discussion led by Fran Hassencahl, ODU assistant professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

11 a.m. "Bontoc Eulogy" (Marlon Fuentes and Bridget Yearian, 1995). Discussion led by Araceli Suzara, director of the ODU Filipino-American Center. ODU - 107 Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center

1 p.m. "Nowhere in Africa" (Caroline Link, 2001). Discussion led by Susan Wansink, professor of foreign languages and literatures, Virginia Wesleyan College. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

4 p.m. "Bollywood: A People's History of India." Lecture by Priya Joshi, professor of English, Temple University. ODU - Richmond Room, Webb Center

5 p.m. "Gender Montage: 7 Films from 7 Countries." Discussion led by Dana Heller, ODU associate professor of English and director of the Humanities Institute. ODU - 210 Education Building

7 p.m. "Representing Gandhi, East and West." Featuring screenwriters Abhijat Joshi and John Briley, introduced by Priya Joshi, Temple University. ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

8 p.m. "Jage Raho Munna Bhai" (international film). ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

Wednesday, March 21

9 a.m. "A Man in the House" (Henry Barakat, 1961). Discussion led by Charles Burgess, ODU professor emeritus of literature. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

1 p.m. "Chocolat" (Claire Denis 1988). Discussion led by Lee Slater, ODU adjunct professor of foreign languages. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

3 p.m. "Le cinema Belge: Hier et aujourd'hui." Lecture by Arnaud Huftier, Universite de Valenciennes. Borjo's Coffee House, 4500 Monarch Way, Norfolk

4:15 p.m. "Filming the French Colonial Past." Lecture by Alison Murray Levine, Department of French Language and Literature, University of Virginia. ODU - 224 Kaufman Hall

7 p.m. American premier of "Congorama" (Philippe Falardeau, 2006). Introduced by ODU's Peter Schulman; discussion to follow, led by Arnaud Huftier, Universite de Valenciennes. Naro Cinema $

Thursday, March 22

8 a.m. "Cry Freedom" (Richard Attenborough, 1987). Discussion led by Patrick Mbajekwe, ODU assistant professor of history. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

11 a.m. "Cabeza de Vaca" (Nicolás Echevarría, 1991). Discussion led by Andrew Gordus, ODU lecturer of foreign languages and literatures. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center.

1:30 p.m. "Black Robe" (Bruce Beresford, 1991). Discussion led by Martha Daas, ODU assistant professor of professor of foreign languages and literatures. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

7 p.m. "Desperately Seeking Susan" (Susan Seidelman, 1985). Introduction by Seidelman, with Q&A following the film. Naro Cinema $

9:30 p.m. "1776" (Peter H. Hunt, 1972). Discussion led by Konrad Winters, ODU associate professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

Friday, March 23
10 a.m. "Crying Ladies" (Mark Meily, 2003). Discussion led by Luisa Igloria, ODU associate professor of English. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

1 p.m. "The Ground Truth" (Patricia Foulkrod, 2006). Discussion led by Jonathan Phillips, ODU assistant professor of history. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

3 p.m. "You've Got Mail" (Nora Ephron, 1998). Discussion sponsored by Friends of the ODU Library and led by Susie Weaver, owner of Broadstreet Books. ODU - Hampton/Newport News Room, Webb Center

7 p.m. "International Women in Film Forum." Featuring Emily Rosdeicher of NYU Film School, "Take Me Out Tonight"; Moira Tierney of Dublin, Ireland, "Liberty Kids and Matilda Tone"; Sen-I Yu, of Taiwan, "Under the Willow Tree"; Sonali Gulati of India, "Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night." ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

10 p.m. "Drums Along the Mohawk (John Ford, 1939). Discussion led by Konrad Winters, ODU associate professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

Saturday, March 24

1:30 p.m. ODU student film competition. Moderated by Konrad Winters, ODU associate professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

3:30 p.m. "Filmmaking in Hampton Roads." Forum featuring Jeffrey Frizzel, Hampton Roads Film Office, and moderated by Stephen Pullen, ODU assistant professor of communication and theatre arts. ODU - Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium

7 p.m. ONFilm Festival closing ceremony. Featuring the presentation of the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award followed by the screening of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore." Attucks Theatre $