Mt. Lebanon native David Hollander will direct his first feature film in Vancouver. "Personal Effects," which has been in gestation for at least three years, will star Kathy Bates, Michelle Pfeiffer and Ashton Kutcher, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In 2004, Hollander said he hoped to film "Effects" in Pittsburgh, but in an e-mail this week he said even though it would be cheaper to make the movie locally due to currency fluctuations, the film's cast and financiers demanded it film on the West Coast.

Hollander said the movie's setting is "Pittsburgh-like. ... Pittsburgh inspired, if you will." Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, said no one from the production made inquiries about filming locally.

The script, written by Hollander, was inspired by the Rick Moody short story "The Mansion on the Hill."

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)

Gammage film showing

"Enough Is Enough," an hourlong documentary about the death of Jonny Gammage, will be shown Sunday as part of St. Paul's Race & Reconciliation Dialogue Group's fall film festival.

It will start at 1:30 p.m. in Synod Hall's Assembly Room, 125 N. Craig St. near Fifth Avenue. The film is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be available at 1 p.m.

Gammage died in October 1995, after struggling with five suburban police officers after a traffic stop on Route 51 in Overbrook. Gammage was black, the officers were white, and his death galvanized Pittsburghers and sparked a national debate over racial profiling and police violence.

Filmmaker Billy Jackson will be on hand for a discussion afterward, as will a member of the Citizen Police Review Board.

(Barbara Vancheri, PG Movie Editor)

Narrowing doc field

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this week announced the 15 films competing in the documentary feature category. That field (originally 70 strong) will be narrowed to five when nominations are announced Jan. 22.

The batch includes "Lake of Fire," which will open Nov. 30 at Pittsburgh Filmmakers' Melwood Screening Room. Directed by Tony Kaye, it examines the abortion issue from a range of perspectives.

Also in Oscar contention are: "No End in Sight," "The Rape of Europa" and "Sicko" (all of which played here), plus "Autism: The Musical," "Body of War," "For the Bible Tells Me So," "Nanking," "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience," "Please Vote for Me," "The Price of Sugar," "A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman." "Taxi to the Dark Side," "War/Dance" and "White Light/Black Rain."

The Academy's Documentary Branch will select the five nominees from this short list. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

(Vancheri)

In brief

• Turns out "Fred Claus" has a couple of Pittsburgh connections. Canonsburg native Mark Livolsi, son of former Pittsburgh Press illustrator Chuck Livolsi, edited the holiday film starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti as the competitive Claus brothers.

And readers e-mailed with word that screenwriter Dan Fogelman lived in Bethel Park as a boy and "was gifted as a child, so we are not surprised by his success." He also was one of the "Cars" screenwriters.

• British singer-songwriter Kate Bush will contribute an original song called "Lyra" to the end credits of "The Golden Compass," being released Dec. 7. It will be part of the soundtrack, out Dec. 11.

• Participating movie theaters are handing out "I'm Not There: The Official Guide to the Movie" to patrons seeing the movie in which a half-dozen actors play Bob Dylan. Inspired by Dylan's liner notes for his albums, the guide will be a cheat sheet about the man and his music.

Gary Faber, a marketing executive for The Weinstein Company, says, "Preview audiences have enjoyed 'I'm Not There' so much that they leave the film eager to learn more about Dylan's life and art. The articles selected for the notes will help audiences unlock some of the secrets in the film and enable them to enjoy it in a unique and special way."

And perhaps to understand just what the heck Richard Gere is doing in the movie, which opened here on Wednesday.

• Lionsgate will distribute Tyler Perry's next two films, "The Family That Preys Together" and "Madea Goes to Jail."

Perry, who is a box-office magnet, will direct "The Family..." from his original screenplay and play one of the major roles. He will direct and star in "Madea Goes to Jail." Both movies are scheduled to start production in the spring.

In the meantime, he will be back in theaters March 21 with "Meet the Browns," another adaptation of a stage play. It stars Angela Bassett as a struggling single mother of three living in Chicago who heads to Georgia for the funeral of the father she never met.

(Vancheri)