Christo’s Valley Curtain dir. The Maysles Bros. & Ellen Hovde, USA, 1974, 16mm, 28 mins, color

The first collaboration between the Maysles Brothers and the Christos and recipient of an Academy Award nomination, Christo’s Valley Curtain celebrates the dramatic hanging of a huge orange curtain between two Colorado mountains and the powerful effect it has on a community.

Followed by Running Fence dir. The Maysles Bros. & Charlotte Zwerin, USA, 1978, 16mm, 58 mins, color

An engrossing document of Christo and Jean-Claude’s efforts to build a 24 ½-mile-long, 18-foot-high fence of white fabric across the hills of northern California. The artists’ struggle with local ranchers, environmentalists and state bureaucrats ends when the fence is unfurled, reuniting the community in a celebration of beauty (top, the “Running Fence”).

Saturday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m.

Director Albert Maysles in Person Islands dir. The Maysles Bros. & Charlotte Zwerin, USA, 1986, 16mm, 57 mins, color

Christo and Jean-Claude fight for permission to surround eleven islands in Miami’s Biscayne Bay with 6.5 million square feet of bright pink fabric, interwoven with their struggle to wrap the Pont-Neuf in Paris and the Reichstag in Berlin.

Followed by Christo in Paris dir. The Maysles Bros., Deborah Dickson & Susan Froemke, USA/France, 1990, 16mm, 58 mins, color, French w/ English subtitles

Winner of the Grand Prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival and Best Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival, Christo in Paris explores Christo’s escape from Bulgaria, his early years as a struggling artist, his romance with Jean-Claude and the fulfillment of a ten-year obsession: the wrapping of the Pont-Neuf in Paris.

Sunday, Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. Umbrellas dir. Albert Maysles, Henry Corra & Grahame Weinbren, USA, 1995, 16mm, 81 mins, color

East and West are brought together in the Christo’s most ambitious projects to date: 1,340 blue umbrellas are opened in a rice-farming valley in the Japanese province of Ibaraki, and 1,760 yellow umbrellas across a cluster of cattle ranches in the rolling hills of southern California. A beautiful journey filled with both triumph and tragedy.

Friday’s screening is followed by the White Dog Cafe’s Eighteenth Annual Caribbean Street Party. The White Dog is located at 3420 Sansom Street, Philadelphia. Must be 21 to attend the Block Party. ID will be checked at the White Dog. Film tickets are $6.00 for general admission, $5.00 for I House members, students and seniors. Film and Street Party tickets are $9.00 for general admission, $8.00 for I House members, students and seniors. Available one hour before showtime at the International House box office at 37th and Chestnut.