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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Best Of The Fest Highlights Top-Quality International Films

Anne Windishar

Ever wish Spokane had a film festival of its own?

Well, it doesn’t. Probably never will. But we do have something close this year, if you’re an outdoors enthusiast.

Dubbed the Academy Awards of adventure films, The Banff Festival of Mountain Films draws 100 top-quality international entries to its annual fete in November. After the threeday event, some of the festival’s best films are selected for presentation in locations across Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan.

This is where Spokane comes in. The tour stops here at 7 tonight at The Met. At least four short films will be shown, including “I Really Want to Know,” a five-minute Canada film of the wild times on the Ottawa River (Special Jury Award) and “He Dances for His Cormorants,” a mystical French film about a fisherman on the Lijiang River” (Best Film on Mountain Culture and People’s Choice Award).

The Best of the Festival tour has something for experienced mountaineers and armchair adventurers alike. Advance tickets, at $9, are available at Mountain Gear, 2002 N. Division, 325-9000; at the door, tickets are $10.

Casual elegance

Don’t let the title of Gonzaga Prep’s alumni fund raiser, “Wine and Diamonds,” scare you away. The 10th Annual Wine Tasting Party” is really a casual affair.

Drop in at the Prep gymnasium any time between 7:30 and 10 p.m. Saturday for food, monogrammed glasses and samples of wine for a $15 admission price. The event features Northwest, California and imported wines.

Bottled wine is for sale at a discount and there is a brief wine seminar every 20 minutes. Tickets are available at local wine shops.

Time to remember

Two commemorative events this weekend are worth checking out.

Tonight, works by women composers from the 12th century to the present will be featured during the Fourth Annual Women in Music Concert at 8 p.m. in Bryan Hall on the Washington State University campus.

Among the composers whose works will be featured are Hildegard von Bingen, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Sister Isabella Leonarda.

The concert is free.

The First Annual FDR Commemoration is Saturday at the Grand Coulee Dam, an event that will celebrate Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s contributions during the Great Depression.

Roosevelt was instrumental in bringing visitors to experience the “Eighth Wonder of the World” as it was being built. He visited Aug. 4, 1934, and on Oct. 2, 1937.

A ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. at the FDR Park, just south of the west side of the dam on U.S. Highway 155. In case of bad weather, the event will be at the dam’s Visitor Arrival Center.

Mish-mash

There are two opportunities for unusual dining this weekend. Start Saturday, when the Methodist Byzantine Catholic Church holds its Byzantine Easter Bazaar.

The event, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., features Eastern European food, icons and religious gifts, more than 100 Ukranian Easter eggs and pysanky demonstrations and supplies.

The church is located at 4315 N. Evergreen, just north of Trent Avenue. Admission is free.

Spokane Buddhist Church will hold its annual Spring Food Bazaar and Bake Sale from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at 927 S. Perry. This annual event features traditional Japanese bento boxes, teriyaki chicken and udon noodles, as well as Japanese and American baked goods.

Prices range from $3 to $7 a meal.

The Spokane Art School is hosting an all-community potluck Loft Party, billed as “an antidote to Newt’s cultural revolution.”

There’s no agenda, just a chance to meet, hear music, mingle and eat. Bring some food, drink and ideas to share Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m.

The WSU Press continues its first Spring Cleaning Sale today, where hundreds of WSU Press books are available at savings of at least 70 percent off original prices.

Most of the books have minor flaws; dents, scuffs, etc. The sale will help make room for five new WSU Press books expected off the presses in the coming months.

Hours for the sale are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the front entrance of the Cooper Publications Building on Grimes Way in Pullman. Call 335-3518 for more information.

The music of Mozart will echo through the halls of Boswell Hall at 8 p.m. Saturday when the North Idaho College Concert Choir performs an evening of music by the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The 60-voice choir will begin the program with selections from “The Requiem Mass,” and finish with 14 selections from “The Magic Flute.”

Tickets are available at the door. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $1 for students.

Jacob Needleman, an author and professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University, will be the keynote speaker at a symposium titled “In Search of Wisdom in Everyday Life” from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

The conference, at the Jepson Center Auditorium at Gonzaga University, is $15, which includes lunch. the conference is sponsored by the communications arts and religious studies departments at GU.

Call Professor John Caputo at 328-4220, ext. 3262, for more information.

The Cutter Theatre in Metaline Falls is the location for a concert of selected Easter portions of Handel’s classic oratorio, The Messiah 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Led by Selkirk High School music director Donivan Johnson, a 20-member choral group of adults and teens from the area will perform.

Concert tickets are $5, available at the door. Or, call 446-4108 for ticket reservations.

Next week

Marilyn Tucker Quayle, wife of you-know-who, will discuss “National Affairs and Family Values” at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Martin Centre at GU. Admission is $3 to the Gonzaga Student Body Association event. It’s open to the public.

xxxx Getting out It’s a great time of year to get out, but if you don’t want to hike under your own horsepower, head for one of the area stables. Horses hit the trail on the hour between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at both The Indian Canyon Riding Stables (624-4646) and the Trail Town Stables (456-8249). There are guides at both places; it’ll cost you $12.50 per hour aboard a horse. Call ahead to reserve a mount.