Peter Riegert is coming to town, and he's bringing the movie "King of the Corner," which he wrote and directed.

Riegert, whose acting credits range from "Animal House" and "Crossing Delancey" to "The Sopranos," will show his movie at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 and speak at the University of Pittsburgh's Alumni Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

The trade paper Variety called "King of the Corner" a mid-life crisis tale about an aging corporate product-tester. In addition to Riegert, it stars Isabella Rossellini, Eli Wallach, Ashley Johnson and Beverly D'Angelo.

Presenting his appearance are the University of Pittsburgh Film Studies and Jewish Studies programs and Pitt in Hollywood, an organization formed to encourage interaction between the entertainment industry and the university community.

Opening nighters

Pittsburgh Filmmakers has announced the opening-night movies for the Three Rivers Film Festival. Screening on Nov. 5 are "Moolaade," with a post-screening discussion led by professor Brenda Berrian from the University of Pittsburgh; "Speak," with producer Matt Myers; and "Cowards Bend the Knee," with director Guy Maddin. Each movie will be screened twice at the SouthSide Works Cinema, with the speakers appearing after the first shows only.

"Moolaade," from Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene, is set in a small African village where four girls ask a local woman for protection from ritual purification, or female circumcision. Screenings are at 7:30 and 10 p.m.

"Speak," starring Kristen Stewart, Elizabeth Perkins and Steve Zahn, is based on the young adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. After a traumatic event at a party, a high school freshman stops speaking and her art teacher reaches out to help her express herself. Screenings are at 7:45 and 10 p.m.

"Cowards," from Canadian director Maddin ("The Saddest Music in the World"), is about a tough hockey player coincidentally named Guy Maddin (Darcy Fehr) who is made lily-livered by mother and daughter femme fatales and who resurrects his father as the team's radio broadcaster. Screenings are at 8 and 10 p.m.

The opening night of the festival is a fund-raiser. The $30 cost includes a ticket for any of the first shows that night, along with a party near the theater. The 10 p.m. shows are $7 each.

Hollywood hooray

The short "Automation," by Pittsburgh native Todd Albright, was honored at the 8th annual Hollywood Film Festival. That same awards ceremony, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, honored John Travolta, Leonardo DiCaprio, Annette Bening, director Michael Mann, producer Mel Gibson and many other A-listers.

Albright received one of the fest's Hollywood Awards for his short subject film about a garage attendant frustrated by an automated, impersonal world when he tries to contact someone after a power outage.

CCAC screenings

Director-producer Michael DiLauro, a former Pittsburgher and onetime cameraman for KDKA, will show his movie, "Prisoners Among Us: Italian-American Identity and World War II," at two Community College of Allegheny County locations.

The film chronicles the assimilation of Italians into American culture, beginning with their 19th-century immigration and continuing through World War II, when non-naturalized Italians were branded as potential enemy aliens. The documentary tells the story through interviews, diaries, letters and poetry.

The movie will be shown at 11 a.m. Friday in the CCAC South Campus auditorium, 1750 Clairton Road, West Mifflin, and at 3 p.m. next Saturday at the Student Services Center on the North Side. DiLauro will hold a question-and-answer session after the screenings. Both are free and open to the public.