by SARAH ROWLAND

The war of the major fests may be over (with Nouveau Cinéma coming out the undisputed champs). But if you thought the film festival season was winding down, think again. This week alone, there are several smaller-scaled cinematic events worth checking out.

La Cinémathèque québécoise kicks off its retrospective of Pier Paolo Pasolini with a special conference, hosted by Italy’s answer to Roger Ebert, Serafino Murri. In an event that can only be described as a Criterion Collection wet dream, over 35 films by and about the Marxist poet/filmmaking legend, will be screened between Wednesday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 17—including 1962’s Mamma Roma, which is one of his more accessible efforts about a prostitute who tries going legit in order to give her teenage son a better life. Also on the menu is a plethora of Pasolini’s controversial interpretations of bible folklore, such as 1964’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew. And then there’s 1975’s Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, a title that pretty much sums up the plot. Since renting out this film is illegal in several cities, including Vancouver, this is definitely worth the price of admission. (For more info, visit www.cinematheque.qc.ca)

Over at the Imperial, the Best Animated Films of the Year will screen 32 shorts, two features from 14 different countries all day Saturday, Oct. 29, and Sunday, Oct 30. Highlights include Australia’s The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello—a 26-minute glimpse into a bleak and gothic future, where a mad scientist sacrifices his expedition crew to a man-eating plant that happens to possess medicinal oils. In the family section, Peter Lepeniotis’s Surly Squirrel is a cute tale of dumpster-diving greed. Here, an all-out war breaks out between rodents and pigeons when an abandoned box of pizza is found in the trash. It’s not all good, though. There will also be a special screening of “The Worst Cartoons Ever,” a collection of short animations gone wrong. (For more info, visit www.awn.com/ottawa/OIAF05/montreal).

If you’re more into the outdoors than you are into toons, the fourth edition of the Festival International du film d’aventure (at UQAM, Oct. 27-30) has more than 35 docs dedicated to people who take on nature… and don’t always win. For example, in Women of K2, director Jeff Rhoads looks back on the first five chicks to climb the second highest mountain peak without the aid of bottled oxygen, including mother-of-two Alison Hargreaves, who never made it back alive. (For more info, visit www.espaces.qc.ca).

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