What to watch in Portland this weekend: February 1-3

A roundup of film-related happenings in the Portland area this weekend

• 4th Annual PDX African American Film Festival @ Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan): On Saturday, from 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m., admission is free, and three films will be screened, including "Carbon for Water" (2011), a documentary which explores how one company is saving the ozone and changing the lives of people living in Kenya's Western Province, where most of the drinking water is contaminated. Later in the evening the festival continues at 7 p.m., admission is $5 and "Sing Your Song" (2011) and "Marley" (2012) will be screened.
• Oscar-nominated short films @ Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd): All of this year's Oscar-nominated short films will be screened, and they are separated into three different programs: Animated, Live Action, and Documentary. General admission is $7 per program; $5 for students. For tickets, and the complete list of films and showtimes, click here.
• The films of Czech animator Jan Švankmajer @ NW Film Center (Whitsell Auditorium is located at 1219 SW Park Ave): This surrealist filmmaker's career spans over 50 years, and his works have inspired countless other artists, including Tim Burton. A collection of Švankmajer's short films will be shown together, and then separate screenings for "Little Otik" (2001), "Lunacy" (2005), and "Surviving Life" (2010). For showtimes and tickets, click here.
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" @ Laurelhurst Theater (2735 E Burnside): Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay at this year's Oscars, Benh Zeitlin's debut feature film also has the youngest actress to ever be nominated for an Academy Award, 9-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis. Wallis is up for Best Actress for her role as Hush Puppy, a small girl living in a Delta bayou with her ailing father, Wink, who is trying to teach her to fend for herself before he passes. $4 general admission, click here for showtimes.
• "David Bowie and the Story of Ziggy Stardust" @ Clinton Street Theater (2522 SE Clinton): The unseen BBC documentary that explores how David Bowie managed to invent one of the most iconic creations in music history. Showtime is 9:30 pm, both Friday and Saturday. $6 general admission; $4 for students.
• "56 Up" @ Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd): In 1964, the documentary "Seven Up" featured a group of British school children, age 7, being interviewed about life, and their hopes and dreams. Every seven years since then, director Michael Apted has reconnected with this same group of children as they've grown up, to interview and film them for his on-going documentary series. "56 Up" is the latest installment. For showtimes and tickets, click here.
• "Barbara" @ Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Ave): 2012 German drama directed by Christian Petzold, in which Nina Hoss plays a doctor living in East Germany in the 1980s, who is banished to a rural village clinic when she expresses her desire to the leave the country. For tickets and showtimes, click here.
• "Lost Horizon" @ 5th Avenue Cinema (510 SW Hall): A 1937 fantasy-adventure directed by legendary filmmaker Frank Capra ("It Happened One Night"), starring Ronald Colman as a British Diplomat who survives a plane crash in the Himalayas with a group of civilians, and they are rescued by mysterious locals. Click here for showtimes.
• "Searching for Sugar Man" @ Laurelhurst Theater (2735 E Burnside): 2012 documentary that tells the story of how a 1970s Detroit folksinger known as Rodriguez, discovered decades later that he was a pop musician icon in South Africa and had been an inspiration for generations. Click here for showtimes.
• "Holy Motors" @ Living Room Theater (341 SW 10th Ave): A 2012 French fantasy drama directed by Leos Carax ("Boy Meets Girl), where the main character, Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant), is able to live many different lives within a few hours. Also stars Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue, and Edith Scob. Click here for showtimes.
• "Seven Psychopaths" @ Laurelhurst Theater (2735 E Burnside): A 2012 comedy directed by Martin McDonagh ("In Bruges"), starring Colin Farrell as a struggling screenwriter who finds himself the target of a Los Angeles gangster named Charlie (Woody Harrelson), after his friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) steal one of Charlie's prized possessions. Showing at 9:15 p.m., Friday-Sunday.