This year’s Time-Based Art (TBA) programs, co-presented by the Film Center and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), feature intriguing new work by artists who come to film from backgrounds in the visual and performing arts. For the complete TBA performance schedule, go to www.pica.org.

While cinema provides entertainment and escape, for many committed filmmakers and viewers it is a vital medium of engagement and a powerful tool for social action. Tackling wide-ranging, thought-provoking issues, activist filmmakers help deepen our awareness of injustice and the values of dignity and equality as they tell universal stories of struggle and triumph. We hope that the ten informative and inspirational films presented in this year’s series will broaden understanding and stimulate involvement as they reveal the commitment and courage of individuals whose hearts and minds are focused on the many challenges confronting humanity.

Sponsored by KBOO Community Radio.

Our third presentation of the annual Festival of New Spanish Cinema offers a rich, ten-film showcase confirming that diverse new talents are continuing a cinematic legacy that extends from the classic work of Luis Buñuel to contemporary directorial greats such as Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenábar.

Featuring many of the most internationally acclaimed films of the last year, the series opens with Dunia Ayaso and Félix Sabroso’s THE ISLAND INSIDE, a witty melodrama about three siblings on the run from themselves, and closes with Daniel Monzón’s powerful prison drama CELL 211, a brilliant twist on the prison genre that won Best Film and Best Director accolades at Spain’s Goya Awards and was this year’s Spanish submission for Best Foreign Language Film.

Organized by Pragda, Barcelona, and the Film Center, the program is made possible through the support of the Tourist Office of Spain and Embassy of Spain, Washington, D.C., with additional support from the Spanish Ministry of Culture-ICAA, Iberia Airlines of Spain, and Freixenet. Special thanks to the Foreign Language Departments of Portland State University, Reed College’s Division of Literature and Languages, and El Hispanic News for supporting the series. www.pragda.com