And I share their frustration with my very imprecise answer, more and more. Movies, movies and more movies; that is what I love. So I delight in the fact that the independent film world gets bigger and better every year. But it doesn’t make the job of selecting films any easier. Every year there are more movies that deserve screen time. Even though we show about 75 movies a year, I could rattle off a list of a dozen titles or so, movies that I had hoped we would find time for last year, but just didn’t have the funds and the time to include.

There are the very visible success stories of the independent film biz, movies like The Piano or The Full Monty, that find a big audience, make a lot of money and win some awards. But for every movie like Boys Don’t Cry, a movie that gets the praise, audience and awards it deserves, there are several excellent films that don’t get the screen time they need to find an audience.

This season at Cinema Center we are committing some of our screen time to movies that would get overlooked, if we didn’t carve out some room for them. Thanks to a grant from the Salinger Family Fund, a fund administrated by the Fort Wayne Community Foundation, Cinema Center will present the “Second Screen” Film Series.

No, we haven’t suddenly added a second screen. But if we had a second

screen, these are the kinds of films that would light it up. They are a slightly more adventurous and eccentric mix of what we do all the time; bring the best in independent, foreign, documentary and classic films to northeast Indiana.

The schedule of films below cover the first half of the series. In December, the schedule for January through May will be published. Each of these films will play for several shows over the week beginning with the date listed for each. Exact show times for each film will be set a week before each title opens. For all our films, but for these films especially, we offer discount and free tickets for any community organization. For more information about this series, call Cinema Center at 426-3456. Enjoy!

Our Song, opening September 21, is about the friendship of three girls in Brooklyn is a very realistic view of the problems teenage girls face, but it doesn’t treat the problems of life in predominantly Latina and African American projects in a stereotypical way. Our Song demonstrates beautifully the importance of friends and family in making the best life choices, but Our Song is a don’t-miss for the wonderful scenes of the real-life marching band, the Jackie Robinson Steppers. If you’ve ever been in a marching band, you don’t want to miss this.

Bread and Roses opens September 28 and tells the story of the struggle of janitorial workers who work in the big office buildings in Los Angeles to form a union. This may sound a bit dry, but Bread and Roses is a lively, inspirational film filled with great performances and humor.

The most unique quality of Bread and Roses is the way it treats language. The movie is in both Spanish and English and is subtitled in both languages. If the characters are speaking English, there are Spanish subtitles, and vice-versa.

Songcatcher, opening October 12, is a beautifully photographed story about American folk music set in the 1930s. Aidan Quinn and Academy Award nominee Janet McTeer star in the story of a musicologist who travels to North Carolina and makes some of the first recordings of this music of the people.

Jump Tomorrow, rated PG and opening November 2, is a sweet, screwball comedy about a Nigerian gentleman who is on his way to a marriage arranged by his parents when he was just a boy. On the way, he meets an adventurous Latina woman with whom he is immediately smitten and a romantic Frenchman determined to bring the two of them together.

And now for something completely different: the rerelease of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which opens on October 26 and will be our Halloween film. This classic comedy is the Python boys own goofy telling of King Arthur and his knights.

Down from the Mountain opens November 9. If you loved O Brother Where Art Thou, the Coen brothers song of the South and its soundtrack, you won’t want to miss this documentary of the making of the soundtrack for that film and a concert of the artists who performed those songs.

Lumumba opens November 30 and tells the devastating story of the short and heroic life of African freedom fighter Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba became Zaire’s first prime minister when the country was granted

independence in 1960. Lumumba is a heartbreaking film, a tale of courage and betrayal.

The first half of our series concludes with Nico and Dani, which opens on December 7, a coming-of-age tale set in Barcelona. Two boys take steps from adolescence to manhood and learn lessons about love and jealousy.