Decisions, decisions

When this issue hits the stands, film fans already will be firmly ensconced in the Tower Theatre’s seats for the opening night of the Sacramento International Film Festival. They’ll be munching buttered popcorn and peering into the first round of original shorts by the festival’s Norcal All Stars. The second half of the All Star program closes the festival on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency’s Grand Ballroom, located at 1209 L Street. But in between now and then, there are dozens of short and feature films to be consumed—along with more buttered popcorn.

$80 buys entrance to all the movies and after-parties. Attendees also are welcome to buy tickets for individual events, but then how does one decide what to see?

Thursday night’s Urban Life program looks interesting—six shorts about the African American experience hosted by local slam poet Terry Moore. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Tower Theatre, located at 2508 Land Park Drive. Then there’s Friday’s April Fool’s Day comedy party at the T Street Theatre, located at 4623 T Street. Hosted by Cinema Insomnia’s Mr. Lobo, the evening begins at 7 p.m. with the Yettis Attack! comedy-shorts program and wraps up with Four Dead Batteries, the feature that won best picture at the Brooklyn Digifest and the Coney Island Film Festival.

Saturday offers a day-long program at the Crest Theatre, located at 1013 K Street, including the grafitti-art documentary Piece by Piece. That film plays at 11 p.m., accompanied by live music from Crazy Ballhead. Saturday’s highlight is An Evening with John Daly, which begins at 6 p.m. The producer of such Academy Award-winning films as The Last Emperor and Platoon will show his newest film, The Aryan Couple.

To kick off the film festival’s final day, Daly also will host a conversation at 10 a.m. on Sunday at the Hyatt Regency. Clearly, the weekend’s cinematic choices are more complicated than the usual “Junior Mints or Whoppers” candy-counter debate. Visit www.sacramentofilmfestival.com for a full schedule.