The city wide celebration "Shakespeare in Washington" continues, as AFI Silver presents four more of the best film treatments of Sir William's work.

For more on SHAKESPEARE IN WASHINGTON, click here.

Films include CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, RICHARD III, SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS, THRONE OF BLOOD and RAN.

Special Guest Keith Baxter with
CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT [aka FALSTAFF]

Orson Welles's unique and inventive take on Shakespeare's Falstaff cribs from the handful of plays the beloved character appears in to create a single work with Falstaff as the star, played by Welles with great comic brio and perhaps autobiographical pathos. The outstanding cast includes French icon Jeanne Moreau as Doll Tearsheet, Sir John Gielgud as the vexed King Henry IV, and Shakespeare Theatre regular Keith Baxter as Prince Hal. Baxter will appear at this special screening and share his remembrances of working with two creative giantsÑShakespeare and Welles.

DIR/SCR Orson Welles, after the plays by William Shakespeare; PROD çngel Escolano, Emiliano Piedra and Harry Saltzman. France/Spain/Switzerland, 1965, b&w, 115 min. NOT RATED

Wednesday, March 7, 8:30; Saturday, March 10, 3:00; Sunday, March 11, 5:00

RICHARD III

"Now is the winter of our discontent." Shakespeare's chronicle of the murderous, grasping rise of Richard of York to England's throne is given a visionary transposition from the late-1400s War of the Roses to an alternative-history 1930s Great Britain, swept by fascist tides. Full of dazzling visuals, impressive set design and clever costuming, the film is dominated by Sir Ian McKellen's acclaimed performance as Richard, but the top-notch cast also boasts Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith.

DIR/SCR Richard Loncraine; SCR Ian McKellen, based on the play by William Shakespeare; PROD Stephen Bayly and Lisa Katselas Paré. UK/US, 1995, color, 104 min. RATED R

Saturday March 17, 3:00; Wednesday, March 21, 8:45; Thursday, March 22, 9:00

THRONE OF BLOOD

Akira Kurosawa's adaptation of Macbeth finds Toshiro Mifune in feudal Japan as a victorious warlord who becomes obsessed and ultimately enslaved by his quest for power. When he becomes lost in a labyrinthine forest, Mifune encounters an old woman who prophesises that he will ascend to the throne, but his calculating wife cajoles him into taking the throne by force, and a series of bloody events ensues.

DIR/SCR/PROD Akira Kurosawa; SCR Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryuzo Kikushima and Hideo Oguni, based on the play by William Shakespeare; PROD Sojiro Motoki. Japan, 1957, b&w, 105 min. NOT RATED

Friday, April 13, 9:30; Saturday, April 14, 8:45; Sunday April 15, 4:00 & 9:30; Tuesday, April 17, 9:00; Thursday, April 19, 7:00

RAN

This universally acclaimed adaptation (KurosawaÕs favorite of him own films) of King Lear is an epic tragedy of an aging warlord who decides to cede his kingdom to his oldest son while bestowing his two younger sons with smaller territories and castles. Quickly banishing the youngest son for remarking that his father had come to power by treachery, the king eventually descends into madness as his remaining sons begin a blood feud fueled by desire for absolute power.

DIR/SCR Akira Kurosawa; SCR Hideo Oguni and Masato Ide, based on the play by William Shakespeare; PROD Masato Hara and Serge Silberman. Japan/France, 1985, color, 160 min. RATED R

Saturday, April 21, 7:45; Sunday, April 22, 3:45; Thursday, April 26, 8:30

SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS

This film festival favorite takes us into the heart of Kentucky's Luther Luckett Correctional Center for a documentary look at the Shakespeare Behind Bars theater troupe as they prepare to perform The Tempest. Under the direction of volunteer director Curt Tofteland, the inmates cast themselves in roles they believe reflect their own troubled history. As the inmates begin to understand their Shakespearean characters we see glimpses of their past, how they come to grips with it and their hopes for the future.

DIR/SCR/PROD Hank Rogerson; PROD Jilann Spitzmiller. US, 2005, color, 93 min. NOT RATED

Saturday, April 28, 1:00; Sunday, April 29, 1:00