Top Five

Alternatives to Holiday Blockbusters

Sick of holiday blockbusters? Skip ’em in favor of a smart series.

By Logan Hill

1. Native American Film + Video Festival 2003 The twelfth annual festival presents 85 films, including Thunderbird Woman, a documentary about Winona LaDuke, and Rocks With Wings, a feature documentary about a Navajo girls’ basketball team. December 4 to December 7.
•Screening locations vary; for details call 212-684-1760 or check nyadff.org. $6-8.50.

2. Bollywood Shuffle BAM screens nine recent Indian films, including a trio of Bollywood’s most extravagant blockbusters: Lagaan (2001’s crossover hit), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and Devdas, which stars megawatt icon Aishwarya Rai (pictured). December 5 to December 21.
•BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn; 718-636-4100 or bam.org. $10.

3. 8th NY International Sephardic Film Festival An eclectic range of seventeen films about the Sephardic diaspora, including documentary Bombay Jews. December 2 to December 9.
•Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St.; 917-806-8200 or cjh.org. $7-9.

4. 11th Annual African Diaspora Film Festival The wide-ranging fest stretches from Jamaica’s One Love to Australia’s The Tracker, by Rabbit-Proof Fence’s David Gulpilil. Through December 14; most screenings take place at Anthology Film Archives.
•Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave.; for complete festival information, call 212-864-1760. $9.

5. The Extraordinary Mr. Barnet Eight films by Russian director Boris Barnet at BAM. December 2 to December 18.
•BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn; 718-636-4100 or bam.org. $10.