Film

F ILMMAKER JASON OSDER says that every generation has a moment when it loses its innocence. For his parents, it was the day John F. Kennedy was shot. For his students at George Washington University, where he is an assistant professor, it's 9/11. For Osder, it was May 13, 1985, the day of the MOVE bombings. Osder, who grew up right outside of Philadelphia and graduated from Springfield High School, will premiere his documentary on the radical group MOVE, called "Let the Fire Burn," at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, where it will compete in the World Documentary Feature Competition.

Movies The ABCs of Death An anthology horror film, with 26 chapters. Barbara In 1980s East Germany, a doctor runs into trouble with Communist authorities. German with subtitles. Dead Man Down See Steven Rea's preview on this page. Emperor See Steven Rea's preview on this page. Greedy Lying Bastards The makers of this documentary place the blame for the planet's deteriorating condition on politicians and big business.   Oz: The Great and Powerful See Steven Rea's preview on this page.

Repertory Films Ambler Theater 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler; 215-345-7855. www.amblertheater.com . Grease (1978) $4. 3/2. 10:30 am. The Barnes Foundation - Philadelphia 2025 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.; 215-278-7000. www.barnesfoundation.org . ArtKids at the Movies: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007) 3/6. 4-6 pm. Bryn Mawr Film Institute 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr; 610-527-9898. www.brynmawrfilm.org . Going Gaga. $7. 3/6. Open Screen Night. 3/4. Colonial Theatre 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610-917-1228.

Alexei German, 74, a Russian film director best known for his works chronicling the Stalinist era in the Soviet Union, died in Moscow on Thursday. His son, Alexei German Jr., said in a blog post Thursday that the filmmaker died of heart failure at a hospital in St. Petersburg. Mr. German came to prominence internationally for his 1983 production My Friend Ivan Lapshin , about a police investigator battling a criminal gang. Authorities blocked the film's release for two years because of its realistic depiction of Soviet life in the wake of the Stalinist terror of the late 1930s.

Actor Lou Myers, 76, best known for his role as ornery restaurant owner Mr. Gaines on the television series A Different World , has died. Tonia McDonald of Mr. Myers' nonprofit, Global Business Incubation Inc., said the actor died Tuesday night at Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia. McDonald said Mr. Myers had been in and out of the hospital since before Christmas and collapsed recently. An autopsy was planned. His TV credits included NYPD Blue , E.R. , and The Cosby Show . He also appeared in a number of films, including Tin Cup , and How Stella Got Her Groove Back . A Different World ran from 1987-93 and originally starred Lisa Bonet of Cosby fame.

No stranger to Philadelphia, the British, Berlin-based artist/filmmaker Tacita Dean was given her first museum survey here, at Penn's Institute of Contemporary Art, in 1998. Now she has returned with concurrent exhibitions of two film projects. JG , a new film commissioned by and made for the Arcadia University Art Gallery (and funded by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage) is being shown at Arcadia through April 21. A 2008 work, Merce Cunningham performs STILLNESS. . .(six performances, six films)

By Steve Hallock This year's menu of Oscar-nominated short documentaries offers not only compelling viewing but also hope for those who despair over the decline of a robust, independent press that serves as investigative watchdog over government, business, and society. Not only are some newspapers going out of business, but those remaining - other than a few major city dailies - are eliminating investigative reporting teams and closing foreign and national bureaus. Broadcast television, meanwhile, long ago saw its special reports and foreign bureaus wither as the networks and the cable brethren exponentially increased sports and entertainment fare.

GLAD LOTS of you agree that we need to have a conversation about ex-cons. Last month I wrote about "Pull of Gravity," a documentary about three men in different stages of reentry. The film, created by Jon Kaufman and El Sawyer - a former inmate-turned-filmmaker featured in the film - was shot in North Philly over the course of a year. It was funded by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. I told you that it's a compelling film about the sometimes-insurmountable obstacles people leaving prison face - including lack of jobs, education, housing and support.

Bruce Willis remains a die-hard at the box office. Willis' action sequel A Good Day to Die Hard , the fifth film in the series, was the weekend's top draw with a $25 million debut from Friday to Sunday. The 20th Century Fox release raised its domestic total to $33.2 million since opening Thursday for Valentine's Day to get a jump on the long Presidents' Day weekend. The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Universal's comedy Identity Thief, ran a close second with $23.4 million to lift its haul to $70.7 million.