In its seventh year, the Auteur Film Series features the immigrant character and his or her life on the road.

The 2008-09 series is titled “The Compleat Stranger: At Home Away From Home With the Immigrant Figure in Film.”

A majority of the films will be screened at the Spring Creek Campus Conference Center with two screenings at the Angelika Film Center in Plano.

The series will aim to provoke thought and dialogue with post-screening panel discussions led by Collin College faculty and staff.

All screenings are free and open to the public. Some material may not be suitable for all audiences.

This year’s line-up:

Under the Same Moon
7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008
(PG-13, 2007, dir. Patricia Riggen, 106 minutes)
In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for 9-year-old Carlitos back in Mexico. Unexpected circumstances drive both Rosario and Carlitos to embark on their own journeys in a desperate attempt to reunite.
Presented in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month.

“Shorts!”
7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
Come enjoy a number of excellent short films dealing with immigration, acculturation, and identity. Presented in conjunction with the Student Animators Workshop.

In America
7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008
Angelika Film Center
(PG-13, 2002, dir. Jim Sheridan, 105 minutes)
An aspiring Irish actor who dreams of breaking into the New York City theatrical scene illegally immigrates with his family to the United States. Once they arrive in the big city, they move into a flop house and try to make it their home. While struggling to adapt to their new country, the family finds new friends like the reclusive neighbor, Mateo, who provides help in the most unexpected ways. (imdb) Presented in conjunction with the Book-in-Common program.

The Kite Runner
7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
(PG-13, 2007, dir. Marc Forster, 128 minutes)
In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn apart forever. It's a glorious afternoon in Kabul, and the skies are bursting with the exhilarating joy of a kite-fighting tournament. But in the aftermath of the day's victory, one boy's fearful act of betrayal will mark their lives forever and set in motion an epic quest for redemption. (yahoo.com)

Dirty Pretty Things
7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 9, 2009
(R, 2002, dir. Stephen Frears, 97 minutes)
Okwe, a kind-hearted Nigerian doctor, and Senay, a Turkish chambermaid, work at the same West London hotel. The hotel is run by an unethical man and is host to a number of minor criminal activities. However, when Okwe finds a human heart in one of the toilets, he uncovers something far more sinister than common crime. (imdb)

Sweet Land
7 p.m., Tuesday, March 3, 2009
(PG, 2006, dir. Ali Selim, 110 minutes)
Inge arrives in Minnesota in 1920 to marry a young Norwegian farmer named Olaf, but her German heritage makes her an object of suspicion in the small town, and she and Olaf are forbidden to marry. Inge goes to live with Olaf's neighbors where she learns the English language, American ways, and a hard-won independence. Inge and Olaf slowly come to fall in love, but it takes a crisis for the town to accept the young couple as one of their own.

The Visitor
7 p.m., Wednesday, April 1, 2009
(PG-13, 2007, dir. Thomas McCarthy, 108 minutes)
Walter Vale is an unassuming economics professor who is completely fed up with his boring life. While mostly living in Connecticut, Walter also maintains an apartment in New York City that he rarely visits. But on one of his trips to the city, he finds a couple, Tarek and Zainab, squatting in his space. Striking up an unusual friendship with the couple, Walter helps them out, especially when Tarek is thrown into a detention center after being caught living in the country illegally. (movies.com) Presented in conjunction with African American History Month.

Persepolis
7 p.m., Thursday, April 23, 2009
Angelika Film Center
(PG-13, 2007, dir. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 95 minutes)
In 1979, when Marjane is 10 years old, her life in Iran changes overnight. Girls and boys have to use different doors to enter the school. She has to cover herself with a long dark robe. Grownups around her begin to disappear, and she has several close encounters with the country's morality police. As she becomes a young woman, Marjane tries living both abroad and in Iran, struggling to find a home that offers freedom, safety and love.

The Angelika Film Center is located at The Shops at Legacy, 7205 Bishop Road, Plano.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the film begins at 7 p.m.

For more information about the film series, contact Dr. Carolyn Perry at cperry@ccccd.edu or visit www.ccccd.edu/auteurfilms.