Scared of What You Represent [Special Screenings, Sept. 1-8]

Viva La Liberta. For Italian Movie Night, it's Roberto Ando's political dramedy about the leader of Italy's opposition party dropping out of sight—and being replaced by his bipolar identical twin, plucked from the loony bin. Regency San Juan Capistrano, 26762 Verdugo St., San Juan Capistrano, (949) 661-3456. Thurs., Sept. 1, 7 p.m. $11.

Long Beach International Film Festival. Held in concert with the Long Beach Indie Film, Media & Music Conference and Expo at Long Beach Convention Center, the festival continues through Sunday with workshops, panels, presentations, an awards gala, short film programs, feature-length entries, television pilots, web series, and music videos from across the globe. On Friday (7 p.m.), be sure to catch the documentary The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen on the writer, classical ballerina, legendary dance teacher, black lesbian feminist activist and Cal State Long Beach professor. “Her story reveals how the challenges of race, class, gender, age and sexuality influenced her decisions and strategies for survival,” says director Jennifer Abod. “In the film, Bowen urges us all and future generations to follow our dreams, but not for ourselves alone.” Other interesting fest titles include the documentary Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride (Thurs., Sept. 1, 9:15 p.m.); the animated Loren the Robot Butler: Teach Me How to Dougie (Sat., 7:15 p.m.); and narrative feature Why Can't I Be Sushi (Sun., 2:30 p.m.). Cinemark at the Pike Theaters, 99 S. Pine Ave., Long Beach, (800) 967-1932; www.longbeachindie.hollywoodpost.com. Daily through Sun.; check website for program, show times and tickets. Long Beach Indie Definition of Independence Awards Gala at Renaissance Long Beach Hotel, 111 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach; www.lbi-gala.eventbrite.com. Sat., 6 p.m. $100.

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. This week's Friday Night Freakout features teens trying to sort out their personal problems in a post-apocalyptic Japan where mankind has been overtaken by bizarre giant beings. This is the first of four films anime house Studio Khara made from director Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion series of 1995-96. The Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana; thefridacinema.org. Fri., 11 p.m. $8-$10.

Cambodia Town Film Festival. Parties; live music; and new and rereleased shorts, documentaries and narrative features are presented “at the center of Khmer culture”: No, not Cambodia, but Long Beach! An interesting-sounding entry is the documentary Not Easy Rock N' Roll, which is about an Australian musician hearing the extraordinary voice of a poor village girl in a Phnom Penh karaoke bar in 2009, falling in love with her (and vice versa) and with her launching the Cambodian Space Project, which honors the 1960s-'70s golden era of Cambodian rock (Sat., 6 p.m.). A narrative feature that could be worthy is The Gate, which has a French ethnologist trying to convince a young Khmer Rouge jungle prison camp leader that he is not a CIA spy (Sun., 1 p.m.). Art Theatre, 2025 E. Fourth St., Long Beach, (562) 438-5435; cambodiatownfilmfestival.com. Sat. Opening ceremony, noon; programming, 1-10 p.m.; Sun. Programming, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; closing ceremony, 8 p.m. $5-$8 per film; $10-$25 if paired with an event or party; weekend pass, $50-$250.

Klown and Klown Forever. To celebrate the stateside release of Mikkel Nørgaard's raucous Denmark comedy Klown Forever, the Frida is playing it back-to-back with its predecessor, Klown. That picture has wannabe father figure Frank bringing his debauched friend Casper and a wide-eyed 12-year-old on a hedonistic weekend canoeing trip. In Klown Forever, Frankie goes to Hollywood, with Casper by his side and real stars in cameos for what has been described as Curb Your Enthusiasm if directed by Lars von Trier. (Actually, Nørgaard directed both films.) The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Sat.-Sun. Klown, 3 & 7:30 p.m.; Klown Forever, 5 & 9:30 p.m. $8-$10.

Avengers: Age of Ultron. Try as I might, I can't find an Emma Peel in these Marvel flicks. But I can find a Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) and a Bruce Banner (Hulk) who, try as they might, do not look half as fetching as Ms. Peel in mini-skirts. Beachfront Cinema at Huntington State Beach, Beach Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach; beachfrontcinema.com. Sat., 5 p.m. $11.25-$49.

Barcode. Iranian comedy has two Tehran tricksters, who get their kicks messing with people, meeting their match when they pick on drug dealers. Star Bahram Radan, considered “Iran's Brad Pitt,” is scheduled to attend this red-carpet premiere. Starlight Cinema City, 5635 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim, (714) 970-6700; starlightcinemas.com. Sat., 7:30 p.m. $12. Movie screens twice daily here and at Starlight Triangle Square Cinemas in Costa Mesa. Through Sept. 15.

Big Trouble In Little China. First Friday Cult Classics, the monthly screening brought to you by the Midnight Insanity group that shadow casts the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Art Theatre, presents the first of two consecutive John Carpenter cult classics (the other being The Thing on Oct. 7). Here, Kurt Russell is hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton, who gets caught in a bizarre conflict in (and below) San Francisco's Chinatown involving an ancient Chinese prince, a crime lord and a beautiful green-eyed woman who grew up to be a Sex and the City MILF. Art Theatre, (562) 438-5435. Sat., 11 p.m. $8-$11.

Hook. Calle Cuatro Sunday Matinee is Steven Spielberg's big-budget film that tried to answer the question “What if Peter Pan grew up?” Robin Williams stars as a businessman who is forced to go to Neverland after his children are abducted, and what he finds there is his old self (Pan) and his old nemesis (Captain Hook, played with great gusto by Dustin Hoffman). The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Sun., 11 a.m., $1-$5.

The Wizard of Oz. A treat of my childhood was the yearly screenings of Victor Fleming's family classic about Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog Toto winding up in the wonderful world of Oz after a tornado picks up her aunt and uncle's house on a Kansas farm. But I dare say I never saw this on a big screen, as you kids today can twice this week. Bonus: no commercial cutting short the scene in which the Cowardly Lion dives out of a window in the Great and Powerful Oz's Emerald City fortress. Beachfront Cinema at Huntington Beach State Beach; beachfrontcinema.com. Sun., 5 p.m. $11.25-$49; also at Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Laguna Niguel, 32401 Golden Lantern St., Laguna Niguel, (949) 373-7900; and Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Rancho Santa Margarita, 30632 Santa Margarita Pkwy., Rancho Santa Margarita, (949) 835-1888. Tues., 7 p.m. $14-$16.

Vertigo. In this 1958 Alfred Hitchcock classic, Jimmy Stewart is John “Scottie” Ferguson, a retired San Francisco police detective who suffers from acrophobia and a mean case of the hots for his old college pal's wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who may be nuts, suicidal and trying to lead Scottie to high places. Directors Cut Cinema at Regency Rancho Niguel, 25471 Rancho Niguel Rd., Laguna Niguel, (949) 831-0446. Tues. Call for show time. $8.

Easy Rider. I want to say that the last time I saw the late, great Dennis Hopper's 1969 road picture that is credited with sparking the indie wave, it was showing its age. But I still love the soundtrack. Two young hippie bikers, played by Peter Fonda and Hopper (who co-wrote together with Terry Southern), sell some dope in SoCal, stash their money in their gas tank and set off for a trip across America to find themselves, maaan. Somehow, Jack Nicholson winds up on the back of one bike, but I can't remember how, as the Purple Microdot had kicked in by then. Regency South Coast Village, 1561 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 557-5701. Wed., 7:30 p.m. $9.

Made In Venice. Forty-plus years of skateboarding in Venice—from the formation of the iconinc Z-Boys to the creation of the iconic Venice Skatepark—are captured in Jonathan Penson's new documentary. Krikorian Buena Park Metroplex 18, 8290 La Palma Ave., Buena Park, (714) 826-7469; also at Krikorian San Clemente Cinema 6, 641 B Camino de los Mares, San Clemente, (949) 661-SHOW. Thurs., Sept. 8. Call for show times and tickets.

One More Time With Feeling. Originally intended to be a performance-based movie, this evolved into a different kind of project when director Andrew Dominik (Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford, Killing Them Softly) delved into the tragic backdrop of the writing and recording of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' 16th studio album, Skeleton Tree. Interwoven between footage of the band's album performance are interviews, Cave's narration and improvised rumination, all shot in color and black and white. The Frida Cinema; thefridacinema.org. Thurs., Sept. 8, 8 p.m. $8-$10.