As is customary every year, the time has come to start playing catch-up with Oscar nominees so as to be fully prepped and ready for when it all goes down next week (to start up: read Alan's nominee report here)

Thankfully National Geographic and National Archives are on hand to help.

This weekend, NatGeo hosts their annual "Global Glimpses" where they screen the best foreign movie nominees in one swell swoop.

The schedule is as follows:
Screening for February 13
6 p.m. – Complimentary reception
7 p.m. – The Baader Meinhof Complex (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex) (Germany, 150 min) Not rated
In the 1970s, murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism, and the fear of the enemy within rock the foundations of Germany’s still-fragile democracy.

Screenings for February 14
5 p.m. – The Class (Entre les murs) (France, 128 min) Rated PG-13
A group of French teachers begins a new year at a high school in a tough neighborhood. Armed with the best intentions, they determine to not let discouragement stop them from giving their students the best possible education.

7 p.m. – Complimentary reception
8 p.m. – Departures (Okuribito) (Japan, 131 min) Not rated
An out-of-work cellist takes a job as an undertaker.

Screenings for February 15
2 p.m. – Revanche (Austria, 121 min) Not rated
Desperate to escape Vienna’s underworld, a couple plans a bank robbery with tragic consequences.

4:30 p.m. – Complimentary reception
6:30 p.m. – Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) (Israel, 90 min) Rated R
Israeli veterans recall their country’s 1982 war in Lebanon and the effect it has had on their lives.

Location:
National Geographic Headquarters
Grosvenor Auditorium
1600 M Street NW
Washington DC 20036

Details & Tickets (8 each, 35 for all):
click click

THEN

next week from the 18th to the 22nd the National Archives will screen (for free) the best documentary and short movie nominees (including "Man on Wire" and "Encounters at the End of The World"). Click here for of those details

Godspeed.