TAMIU's Roadside Cinema: 2002 Spring Film Festival to Show "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo García" March 21

"Roadside Cinema," Texas A&M International University's Spring Film Festival's trip through road movies, continues with "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo García." The film will be shown Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. in Bullock Hall 101. The showing is free and open to the public.

"Bring Me the Head of Alfredo García," (1974) is directed by Sam Peckinpah, known as "Bloody Sam," for his tradition of gory, violent and dark westerns. The journey in Bring Me the Head takes place in Mexico and involves an American piano-player, two nasty bounty hunters and of course, a head.

Peckinpah's world is a grim and gritty one, where even the most honorable action can lead to bloody doom. His ideas of Westerns broke with Hollywood tradition and brought a drop of realism to the story format. When asked if he would ever make a ''pure Peckinpah'' he replied, ''I did 'Alfredo Garcia' and I did it exactly the way I wanted to. Good or bad, like it or not, that was my film.''

The film is rated R.

After the show, there will be 15 to 30 minutes of commentary and questions and answers, led by Dr. Sean M. Chadwell and Dr. William J. Nichols II, both assistant professors in the College of Arts and Humanities, and series creators.

The next film, "El Norte," will be shown on Thursday, March 28. The quest to find a better life leads two Guatemalans to El Norte. Leonard Maltin calls this "a compassionate, heart-rending, unforgettable film." Rated R and shown in English and Spanish.

For more information on the "Roadside Cinema," 2002 Spring Film Festival, contact either Drs. Chadwell or Nichols by phone, 326.2471, 326.2610, visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 418C, room 421B or visit the festival's website: http://www.tamiu.edu/~wnichols/road.htm.

University office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu