We're not going to miss a rare opportunity to see Stalker (1979) by Andrei Tarkovsky (director of the original Solaris), screening tonight at the SF Art Institute (800 Chestnut St.) for free. This influential Russian film has many elements associated with Russian literature - epic length, existential ennui, depressing locales. A brief plot synopsis: Two disenchanted intellectuals wish to explore the Zone, a mysterious region at the center of which a room, said to offer......

Tonight October is SF Open Studios month, where art enthusiasts and wine and cheese chasers can traipse around the city and visit the studios of San Francisco artists and sign up on their mailing lists or buy their work. Tonight there are preview receptions featuring numerous artists at Belcher Studios and Gallery (69 Belcher, near Market, Church, 14th St.) and at Art Explosion Studios in two locations - 744 Alabama St. (between 19th &......

Two films about the Middle East involving food: "AnTEAcipation" screens at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St. @ 3rd) as part of the SF World Music Festival. This documentary takes a gradual, personal approach to the role of tea growing on the Laz people of Turkey. The 8pm screening is preceded by a lecture on the Laz that starts at 7pm. "Border Café (Café Transit)" is an Iranian film about a......