• A screening of Sweet Dreams at the Fine Arts Theatre on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. benefits Asheville-based cross-cultural partnership Africa Healing Exchange. The documentary is about Kiki Katese, the pioneering Rwandan theater director who started Ingoma Nshya, the nation’s first and only women’s drumming troupe.
Treats will be provided by The Hop Ice Cream Cafe before the film, and special guest speakers will talk about the efforts of Africa Healing Exchange and the work of Resilience Training in Rwanda. Tickets are $10 at the Fine Arts Theatre box office or online. avl.mx/0vi
• The Old Fort Branch of the McDowell County Public Library will host free screenings of two films that deal with voice hearers on Saturday, May 2, at 1 p.m. Knowing You, Knowing You tells the story of Eleanor Longden, who began hearing voices as a college student and whose life was nearly ruined by misguided treatment. She is now an award-winning psychologist working for reform within the mental health system.
The Hearing Voices Network ‘25 Years On’ — Volume 2 : From Psychiatry to Society is a short history of the International Hearing Voices Network. The documentary shows the organization’s pioneering methods in assisting people to understand and cope with their experience, and how these approaches have developed over the last quarter century.
The two films will be shown at Pack Memorial Library on Friday, May 22, at noon. mcdowellpubliclibrary.org
• On Monday, May 4, at 7 p.m., the fifth annual Grateful Dead Meetup at the Movies will be presented in more than 400 select movie theaters around the country, including the Carolina Asheville. The 2015 meetup showcases the Grateful Dead’s previously unreleased July 19, 1989, concert at Alpine Valley. Recorded from the analog master multicamera video, this exclusive cinematic event captures Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Brent Mydland and Bob Weir in a peak period of onstage chemistry and energy. Among the numerous songs in the set are “Sugaree,” “Morning Dew,” “West L.A. Fadeaway,” “Box Of Rain” and “Terrapin Station,” plus a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row.”
The Grateful Dead Meetup at the Movies is an annual opportunity for longtime Deadheads to reconnect and for new fans to learn more about the scene and experience the thrill of seeing the band live. Tickets for the 160-minute film are $12.50 online or at the Carolina Asheville box office. avl.mx/0vj
• The Asheville Jewish Film Festival’s spring series begins Thursday, May 7, with Deli Man, a documentary about delicatessen owner Ziggy Gruber and iconic restaurants that serve savory, nostalgic foods. Festivities get underway with a 6 p.m. opening reception at Blue Spiral 1 art gallery catered by Dough Deli and Market with wine provided by Eric Scheffer, followed by a screening of the film at the Fine Arts Theatre. All tickets to this event are $22. The film will also be shown May 8 at 1 p.m. Admission is $8.50.
Other films in the festival’s series will receive similar 7 p.m. screenings with 1 p.m. shows the following day; all cost $8.50. Rounding out the schedule are World War II pilot documentary Above and Beyond (May 14 and 15), Once in a Lifetime (May 21 and 22) — a documentary about a teacher’s use of the Holocaust in her classroom — and the culture clash, bakery-set dramedy Dough (May 27 and 28). ashevillejewishfilmfestival.com
Send your local film news to ae@mountainx.com
That sandwich in the photo from the deli looks like it has more total calories than the average person from a developing country consumes in a year.
No argument there.