by SARAH ROWLAND

In most cases, commenting on the cinematography in a sexploitation film has about the same critical relevancy as pointing out continuity errors in a hardcore porn. But it really must be said that Norifumi Suzuki's School of the Holy Beast is beautifully photographed. You can see for yourself at Cinéma du Parc, which will screen a new 35-mm print of the 1974 Japanese cult classic about a young girl who goes undercover in a strict convent to find the truth behind her mother's untimely death. What she ends up finding, however, is a bunch of carpet-munching nuns. When these hypocrites aren't sneaking behind the chapel for a taste of some holy beef curtains, they're whipping and torturing those they deem immoral sinners.

Another critic's pic at the Parc is Egomania: Failed Celebrity Music Careers, a very roughly pieced together montage of various tone-deaf actors, artists and athletes destroying songs and their reps. If you've never seen William Shatner perform "Rocket Man" with a straight face, here's your chance.

Also playing this week is a back-to-back double-shot of Montreal's Ryan Larkin. He's the former NFB prodigy animator who now lives in a homeless shelter and spends his days drinking suds at the Copa. Ryan, Chris Landreth's Oscar-winning animated short about the rise and fall of Larkin, will screen along with Laurence Green's Alter Egos, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Ryan.

There are also still plenty of great offerings at the International Festival of Films on Art worth checking out, most notably Marina. This Japanese film documents the making of Siddik Balmak's Osama, a powerful story dedicated to the war-ravaged women living in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Balmak's masterpiece went on to win three awards at Cannes in 2003. Whereas his lead, Marina, a 13-year-old street kid with zero acting experience (whom many credit with carrying the film), still spends her days begging for food. Another noteworthy entry at IFFA is Thom Hoffman's Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments, which chronicles the hot-tempered actor's professional highs and lows, from counterculture filmmaking icon in the late '60s, to a brain-damaged drug-addled invalid in the early '80s, to the conservative, golfing Cigar Aficionado cover boy we know today. In Gerald Fox's Leaving Home, Coming Home: A Portrait of Robert Frank, we see the Cocksucker Blues director open up about his long and celebrated career as one of the great 20th-century American photographers. The cantankerous old man, who periodically screams at the film crew, also shares his many personal tragedies, including losing his daughter in a plane crash and his son's long battle with mental illness. For showtimes, visit www.artfifa.com.

In other film news, Cinémathèque québécoise is hosting a three-day (Friday, Mar. 18 - Sunday Mar. 20) showcase of multicultural cinema as part of anti-racism week. Six films will screen, including the North American premiere of My Friend, My Enemy. This documentary reunites a group of Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls who once participated in a juvie peace retreat together. The camera follows the unlikely friends as try to come to terms with the fact that one of their former Palestinian campmates (still a teenager) is sentenced to two years for protesting the Israeli occupation. For more info, visit www.cinematheque.qc.ca.

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