The Pittsburgh Film Office's Oscar gala is moving from the Loews at the Waterfront to the new SouthSide Works Cinema this year.

The Feb. 27 party will feature the same attractions -- red-carpet entrance, VIP reception, buffet, silent auction and a live telecast of the Academy Awards -- but in a new venue. The event will use the 10-screen multiplex, which opened in September at Sidney and 27th streets, along with a nearby office building that will be linked to the complex by a covered walkway.

Partygoers can bid on silent-auction items such as trips to Los Angeles and Disney World, All-Clad cookware teamed with a signed Emeril Lagasse book, restaurant certificates, a sweatshirt and script signed by the cast of the movie "10th & Wolf" shot here last year, along with an autographed hat from "The Guardian" and items from "Alias" and "The King of Queens."

Tickets for the party are: $500, which includes a Feb. 11 party at Jay Verno Studios on the South Side where patrons and sponsors record favorite movie lines, which then premiere at the gala, plus a 6 p.m. champagne reception and 7 p.m. gala on Oscar night; $250, which provides access to the VIP champagne reception and gala, along with valet parking; and $125, which guarantees admittance to the gala.

The event, launched five years ago, is a fund-raiser for the film office. Dress is black tie.

To purchase tickets, call 412-261-2744 or go to www.pghfilm.org and click on "Lights! Glamour! Action!" or the Events link, which also has a list of sponsors.

Producers honor 'Aviator'

In what could be a predictor of the Oscars, "The Aviator" took the top prize at the Producers Guild of America awards. Producers Michael Mann and Graham King received the Darryl F. Zanuck producer of the year award at a ceremony Saturday at Culver Studios in Los Angeles.

The Stanley Kramer award, named for the producer who often tackled social issues, went to two productions: "Hotel Rwanda" the real-life tale of an innkeeper sheltering refugees from genocide, and "Innocent Voices," a fictionalized version of one boy's experience during the Salvadoran civil war.

Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow, while the Directors Guild of America awards will be Saturday and the Screen Actors Guild honors, Feb. 5.

Playing catch up

So, you missed "Being Julia" with Annette Bening's award-winning turn? Not to worry. Pittsburgh Filmmakers has booked it at the Harris Theater as part of a "Here's Your Chance" series in February returning word-of-mouth favorites, movies that had limited releases or ones that bypassed Pittsburgh.

The series will include weekday screenings at 5:30 p.m. for $5. The Harris is at 809 Liberty Ave., Downtown. For updates, call 412-682-4111 or go to www.pghfilmmakers.org.

"Being Julia," a comedy of romance and revenge starring Bening as a 1930s London stage diva juggling an accommodating husband, a callow young lover and an admiring ingenue, will be shown Jan. 31-Feb. 3.

A new print of the Oscar-winning documentary "Hearts and Minds," scorching in its criticism of American involvement in Vietnam, will screen Feb. 4-6.

PG critic Barry Paris named "Donnie Darko: Director's Cut" his No. 1 movie of 2004, calling it a brilliantly original, stunningly beautiful soul-searcher of a film. It will play Feb. 7-10.

"What the Bleep Do We Know?" which combines quantum physics, multidimensional visual effects, fiction and fantasy, will screen Feb. 11-13.

"Before Sunset," sequel to "Before Sunrise" reuniting characters played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, will return Feb. 14-17.

"Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" never opened in Pittsburgh despite stellar reviews. This look at the life and times of the historian, activist and author of "A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present" will screen Feb. 18-20.

"Hero," a visually stunning film from director Zhang Yimou and stars Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi, will be shown Feb. 21-24.

"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" had been booked for October, shortly after Russ Meyer's death, but the print was lost in transit. Now, this rare major studio venture from the skin-flick auteur (and screenwriter Roger Ebert) gets another chance Feb. 25-27.

Pitt in Hollywood

PBS and WQED documentary maker Rick Sebak will be the guest speaker at a Tuesday "Pitt in Hollywood" event at the University of Pittsburgh. Screenwriter and visiting professor Carl Kurlander will moderate the event, free and open to the public. It starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room on the main floor of the William Pitt Union.

Pitt in Hollywood is an organization formed to encourage interaction between the entertainment industry and the university community.

A look at Lake Placid

Squirrel Hill native Marc Nathanson has made an hourlong documentary called "Lake Placid: An Olympic History" that will premiere at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts as part of the 25th anniversary of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. It will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11. The event is free to the public.

The project mixes old photographs with archival film, video and audio as it traces the history of the New York village from its 19th century origins through two Olympic Games to its status as a winter sports haven.

Writer-director Nathanson worked for the Lake Placid News in the late 1980s before joining WIRD/WLPW Radio as news director. Since 1996, he has served as a producer for NY1 News, Time Warner's 24-hour local news channel in New York City. He is the son of Esther and Harvey Nathanson of Squirrel Hill.