FILM. This April, African cinema will take center stage at the Harvard Film Archive, beginning with African Film Festival 2000 (on April 12-16); the archive is hosting Boston screenings for the festival's New York-based organizers. And between April 28 and 30, Senegalese director Med Hondo, recipient of this year's McMillian Fellowship for Distinguished Filmmaking, will be at Harvard to attend screenings of his works.
The series Five Modern Directors, meanwhile, runs from March 6 through April 24; its roster of works includes Jean-Luc Godard's Hail Mary, Satyajit Ray's Devi, and Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker, as well as films by Robert Altman and Ingmar Bergman. For details about these and other HFA programs, call (617) 495-4700 or check the Archive website (harvardfilmarchive.org).
MUSIC. To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, the E. Power Biggs Memorial Organ Recitals (sponsored by the Harvard University Art Museums) will present the only three original compositions by Bach published during his lifetime: Clavierübung III, performed by Murray Forbes Somerville (March 5); The Art of the Fugue, performed by James David Christie (March 12); and The Eighteen Great Chorale Preludes, performed by Dame Gillian Weir (March 19). The works are performed on the Flentrop organ in Adolphus Busch Hall, at 27 Kirkland Street. All concerts are at 8. Seating is limited; for information on ticket availability, call 495-4544.
Members from the Boston chapter of the American Guild of Organists perform Bach's Das Orgelbüchlein in Busch Hall on March 26 at 3. Admission is free.
PROGRAMS. Sometime this spring, and probably in April, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics will host a Children's Night for youngsters between the ages of 6 and 12 that features a lecture followed by stargazing (if weather permits). Tickets are required and must be obtained in advance; for more information, call 495-7461; check the CFA website (cfa-www.harvard.edu/newtop/events.html); or send e-mail to pubaffairs@cfa.harvard.edu.
By the time you read this, it may be too late to sign up for Rediscovering Shakespeare, a weekend (March 4-5) of dialogue in Cambridge led by Marjorie Garber, Kenan professor of English and director of the Humanities Center at Harvard. But there will be another Alumni College in time; the program was started to offer alumni, spouses, and other members of the Harvard community an opportunity to extend their knowledge over a wide range of subjects. Spaces may be limited and are awarded on a first come, first served basis; the fee generally includes light meals as well as the cost of all sessions. (Tuition for Rediscovering Shakespeare is $175.) For more information about the Alumni College program, call 495-5342 or write to Harvard Alumni College, Wadsworth House, Cambridge 02138.
