It’s Oscars week, and so we can no doubt look forward to much foofaraw for a list of nominees “whiter than a Yeti in a snowstorm fighting Tilda Swinton,” but this also happens to be a good week in Halifax to build your awareness of black filmmakers and cultural history. This Thursday at Pier 21 you can catch local actor, activist, and filmmaker Cory Bowles presenting his short films, and joining a panel for a Q&A. As well, a couple of snowstorm-rescheduled screenings from two weeks ago are happening: the Radical Imagination Project is showing The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 at the Central Library on Monday, and the Dal Art Gallery concludes its Tuesday screenings of “First Films by Black Filmmakers” with Dear White People.

The gallery’s Wednesday evening noir series continues this week as well, with a representative of Jean Renoir’s “American exile” period, The Woman on the Beach, with Robert Ryan and Joan Bennett.

Carbon Arc has Friday screenings of the latest cinematic adaptation of Macbeth, which, as I’ve previously mentioned, notably features Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, and—appropriately for the Scottish Play—Scottish accents across the board, which have been variously described in the British media as “almost-perfect” and “mangled.”

Cycling nerds can rejoice that Marinoni: Fire in the Frame, which previously played Carbon Arc, is touring across Canada and hitting Nova Scotia this week, specifically Wolfville on Monday, Liverpool on Wednesday, and, indeed, Halifax on Thursday.

In other out-of-town screenings this week, the King’s Theatre film series in Annapolis Royal is back up and running, with Mavis! on Tuesday and Spotlight on Saturday. Fundy Cinema also has Spotlight on Sunday, but if I were to recommend one film road trip this week, it would be this Wednesday to Wolfville for Rams, which I saw at the most recent Atlantic Film Festival, and enjoyed immensely.

• In theatres, seen & recommended:
  • Hail, Caesar!, Joel & Ethan Coen, USA, 2016, 100 minutes  — Halifax screening times
  • Brooklyn, John Crowley, Ireland/UK/Canada, 2015, 112 minutes — Halifax screening times
  • 45 Years, Andrew Haigh, UK, 2015, 95 minutes — Halifax screening times
• In theatres, new & notable:
  • The Witch, Robert Eggers, USA/Canada, 2015, 93 minutes  — Halifax screening times
  • The Lady in the Van, Nicholas Hytner, UK, 2015, 104 minutes — Halifax screening times
• Halifax area screening picks for this week:
  • Monday (Feb 22) — The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, Halifax Central Library, 6:30pm, free. Göran Olsson, Sweden, 2011, 100 minutes.
    — The Time That Remains,  McCain Scotiabank Auditorium, 6135 University Ave, 7:30pm, free. Elia Suleiman, UK/Italy/Belgium/France, 2009, 109 minutes. Presented by Students Against Israeli Apartheid at Dalhousie University.
  • Tuesday (Feb 23) — Dear White People, Dalhousie Art Gallery, 5pm, free. Justin Simien, USA, 2014, 108 minutes.
  • Wednesday (Feb 24) — The Woman on the Beach, Dalhousie Art Gallery, 8pm, free. Jean Renoir, USA, 1947, 71 minutes.
  • Thursday (Feb 25) — Cory Bowles spotlight, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, 7pm, free.
    — Marinoni: The Fire in the Frame, The Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen St, 7pm, $12 advance/$15 door, filmmaker Q&A. Tony Girardin, Canada, 2014, 90 minutes.
  • Friday (Feb 26) — Macbeth, Carbon Arc Cinema @ the Museum of Natural History, 7pm & 9:30pm, $7. Justin Kurzel, UK/France/USA, 2015, 113 minutes.
• Annapolis Valley and South Shore screening picks for this week:
  • Monday (Feb 22) — Marinoni: The Fire in the Frame, Acadia Cinema’s Al Whittle Theatre (450 Main Street, Wolfville), 7pm, $12 advance/$15 door, filmmaker Q&A. Tony Girardin, Canada, 2014, 90 minutes.
  • Tuesday (Feb 23) — Mavis!, King’s Theatre (209 St. George St., Annapolis Royal),  7:30pm, $8. Jessica Edwards, USA, 2015, 80 minutes.
  • Wednesday (Feb 24) — Marinoni: The Fire in the Frame, Astor Theatre (59 Gorham Street, Liverpool), 7pm, $12 advance/$15 door, filmmaker Q&A. Tony Girardin, Canada, 2014, 90 minutes.
    — Rams, Acadia Cinema’s Al Whittle Theatre (450 Main Street, Wolfville), 7pm, $9. Grímur Hákonarson, Iceland/Denmark, 2015, 92 minutes.
  • Saturday (Feb 27) — Spotlight, King’s Theatre (209 St. George St., Annapolis Royal),  7pm, $8. Tom McCarthy, 2015, USA, 129 minutes.
  • Sunday (Feb 28) — Spotlight, Acadia Cinema’s Al Whittle Theatre (450 Main Street, Wolfville), 4pm & 7pm, $9. Tom McCarthy, 2015, USA, 129 minutes.