Honorees share in a positive image

Women in Film & Video/New England to present awards during film festival

Susi Walsh of the Center for Independent Documentary is one of four recipients.

Newcomers to Boston might wonder what kind of film community there is here. One answer is that this a city of cliques.

There are casting agents and production staff who work on major motion pictures. There are documentarians laboring for years on projects they're passionate about, filling the teaching ranks of the city's schools and universities to make ends meet. There are fans who go in for the high art of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Harvard Film Archive, and others who seek out weird or edgy events. And of course there are the many, many people and organizations that put on more than 30 annual festivals year in and year out.

These worlds operate in concentric circles. They're autonomous, but they do overlap. And the overlap comes, of course, from two things: the movies themselves and the people.

One of the folks helping with the overlaps is Susi Walsh, who since 1983 has been executive director of the Center for Independent Documentary. The focus of the Sharon nonprofit is to support filmmakers who explore contemporary social and cultural issues - helping them raise money, find mentors, network locally, and get distribution. It has been midwife to more than 150 movies as varied as Henry Ferrini's "Lowell Blues: The Words of Jack Kerouac," now playing daily at the Lowell National Historic Park Visitor Center, and Marlo Poras's "Run Granny Run," a feature about 90-year-old New Hampshire resident Doris Haddock and her quest for a US Senate seat.

Walsh will be celebrated Saturday as one of this year's Women In Film & Video/New England recognition recipients at the Image Awards Film Festival 2008, taking place from noon to midnight at the Brattle Theatre.

Three others will be honored as well: Jocelyn Glatzer, producer of the Academy Award-nominated "My Country, My Country," about a doctor in Baghdad who ran for office in the 2005 Iraqi elections; Joyce Kulhawik, arts and entertainment anchor for WBZ-TV; and, posthumously, Natatcha Estebanez, a longtime producer at WGBH and director of "The Blue Diner." Estebanez died in March 2007.

In 1980, Walsh did post-production work for "Frank: A Vietnam Veteran," a documentary on post-traumatic stress disorder. It was broadcast nationally on public television the following year. Walsh and filmmaker Fred Simon were at WGBH the night of the broadcast as calls poured in from vets looking for local resources. That night, Walsh has written, "I found an inspiration that has lasted me 27 years. That experience showed me the power and potential of film and television to make a real contribution to effect positive social change."

Walsh will be at the Brattle at noon and will introduce the 52-minute "Frank." At 3 p.m., there will be a celebration of Estebanez with a showing of "The Blue Diner" and a tribute film compiled by her husband, composer Claudio Ragazzi.

At 7 p.m., Kulhawik will receive the first WIFVNE Honorary Image Award for Arts Advocacy. At 7:30 p.m., Glazer will introduce a screening of "My Country, My Country." The evening will conclude with a 10 p.m. party at Noir at the Charles Hotel. For more information, visit wifvne.org or brattlefilm.org

AWARD FOR KEN BURNS: On Thursday, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns will be honored by Old Sturbridge Village at a dinner at 6 p.m. Burns - best known for such influential PBS series as "The War," "Jazz," "Baseball," and "The Civil War" - actually got his start at Old Sturbridge.

He was a college intern at the village, and shot his first film there in 1975 while working on his undergrad degree at Hampshire College. The 28-minute short is called "Working in Rural New England" and was his senior project.

Burns and his production company, Florentine Films, are based in Walpole, N.H. He is currently working on a 12-hour series about the history of America's National Parks.

For information and reservations, call 508-347-0207 or visit osv.org.

JAMES IVORY AT HARVARD: Director James Ivory, whose work with longtime partner Ismail Merchant became known to fans simply by its brand name, "Merchant Ivory," will be at the Harvard Film Archive Friday and Saturday for a celebration of his India-based movies.

The program is called "The Wandering Company: Merchant Ivory Productions in India." Ivory will be present Friday at 7 p.m. for a double feature of "The Householder" and "Autobiography of a Princess," and Saturday at 7 p.m. for a screening of "Heat and Dust." On both evenings, Ivory will discuss his work and take questions.

Three additional films will play on Sunday, without Ivory in attendance: "Shakespeare Wallah" at 3 p.m., "In Custody" at 7 p.m., and "Bombay Talkie" at 9:30 p.m. Call 617-495-4700 or go to hcl.harvard.edu/hfa for details.

NEW PRINT OF "BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ": A restored 35 mm print of the 15-hour "Berlin Alexanderplatz" - one of only two copies in the world - comes to the Institute of Contemporary Art this week. Episodes 1-3 will play Thursday at 7 p.m. and Friday at 2 p.m., and will be introduced both times by Laurence Kardish, senior curator of film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Episodes 4-7 will play Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. Roy Grundmann, film studies program director for Boston University, will introduce the Friday screening.

Episodes 8-11 will play Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and next Sunday at noon. Jane Shattuc, author of "Television, Tabloids, and Tears: Fassbinder and Popular Culture," will introduce the Saturday screening. Episodes 12-14 will play Sunday at 6 p.m., with Eric Rentschler, professor of Germanic Language and Literatures at Harvard University, introducing.

For more details, call 617-478-3103 or go to icaboston.org.

SCREENINGS OF NOTE: "The Last Emperor" will play tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre as part of its celebration of the films of producer Jeremy Thomas, who will be honored as the Coolidge Award Recipient in April. As part of the same celebration, "Sexy Beast" will play on April 7 and "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" on April 14, both at 7 p.m. (617-734-2500 and coolidge.org).

"The Edge of Heaven," by Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, opens the Boston Turkish Film Festival Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the MFA (617-369-3907, mfa.org).

Leslie Brokaw can be reached at lbrokaw@globe.com.