Kristin's List: A Guide to Cultivated Los Angeles

With a celebrated bossa-nova soundtrack by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfá, the 1959 film “Black Orpheus” re-imagines the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the slums of Rio de Janeiro during Carnivale. Winner of the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, this ancient love story is based on the musical “Orfeu da Conceição.”

BLACK ORPHEUS, 1959, Dispat Films, 100 min.

WHEN: 7pm
ADMISSION: Free, seating limited
WHERE: Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum
ADDRESS: 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
PHONE: (310) 443-7000
WEBSITE: www.hammer.ucla.edu

The exhibit “Sam Francis: Black + White” focuses on Francis’ rarely seen graphic works in black and white. Fueled by his study of Jung’s theories on dreams and memory, his fascination with Eastern religion and philosophy, and surrealism, Francis created iconic abstract works employing splatters, stains and grids.

While best known for his brightly colored works, the exhibition investigates what might be regarded as the purest aspect of Francis’ vision. This was his investigation of the energy created by the tension of opposites – the yin and yang of black ink splattered and painted across a negative space.

The Santa Monica-based Sam Francis (1923-1994) was a prolific printmaker and made major contributions to the American print renaissance of the 1960s.

WHEN: 10am-6pm Tues-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: Jack Rutberg Fine Arts
ADDRESS: 357 N. La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
PHONE: (323) 938-5222
WEBSITE: www.jackrutbergfinearts.com
ADDITIONAL INFO: The exhibit closes April 30

Former United Nations weapon inspector in Iraq, Scott Ritter candidly analyzes the anti-war movement in his book “Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement.” The Hayworth Theater is presenting a theatrical production by Ritter, which he created to stimulate dialogue about fighting for peace.

As an advocate for an aggressive stance on opposing the war in Iraq, Ritter has said, “The anti-war movement thinks that a strategy is holding a demonstration on a street corner, holding hands, lighting candles and singing Kumbia. That’s not a strategy. That may qualify as a tactic. But a tactic divorced from strategy is just the ‘noise before defeat.”

WHEN: 8pm April 22-23
ADMISSION: $15
TICKETS: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/32187
WHERE: The Hayworth Theatre
ADDRESS: 2511 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057
PHONE: (213) 389-9860
WEBSITE: www.thehayworth.com

The Public School presents a one-session class on why humans see unidentified flying objects in the sky. Using video clips, the course tracks the history of the phenomenon since 1947, exploring flying saucers and aliens in fact, fiction and popular imagination.

The Public School is a school with no curriculum, located underneath TELIC Arts Exchange. The classes are proposed by the public.

WHEN: 7pm-10pm
ADMISSION: $10
TICKETS: www.thepublicschool.org/21/all-about-ufos/
WHERE: TELIC Arts Exchange
ADDRESS: 975 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90012
PHONE: (213) 344-6137
WEBSITE: www.thepublicschool.org