Liberating Hollywood, UCLA's ambitious retrospective showcasing the work of female directors during the 1970s, continues with a double feature by filmmaker Jane Wagner. Moment by Moment is a delicately photographed, star-powered romance about a Malibu-dwelling woman (top-billed Lily Tomlin) approaching middle age who enters into a relationship with a hot-to-trot hustler (John Travolta, in an about-face from his Saturday Night Fever persona). The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, for which Wagner wrote the screenplay, is based on Lily Tomlin's one-woman show, which collected a Tony Award in 1977. It is, among other things, a precious record of a brilliant comic performance. UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Fri., Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m.; $10. (310) 206-8013, cinema.ucla.edu.

Testament; Credit: Paramount Pictures

Testament; Credit: Paramount Pictures

Lynne Littman will be the center of attention Saturday night at the Hammer Museum, where Liberating Hollywood continues. Number Our Days, which earned Littman an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject, is a compassionate study of a group of elderly Jewish refugees living in the beach community of Venice, California. The second film of the evening, Testament, details in naturalistic terms the effect of a nuclear holocaust on a California family. Jane Alexander garnered an Oscar nomination for her superb performance as a mother who administers comfort to her children as they grow sick. This devastating scenario is brought to full emotional life by Littman's sensitive direction. UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Sat., Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m.; $10. (310) 206-8013, cinema.ucla.edu.


Fatso is the final film of the weekend to salute the achievement of women directors in 1970s Hollywood, and it's the only feature film written and directed by Oscar-winning actress-singer Anne Bancroft. Dom DeLuise plays the titular character, a big man with a big heart who vows to curtail his food intake when he meets and falls in love with an antiques dealer (Candice Azzara). Bancroft, who also co-stars, loaded the crew with professional women, including cinematographer Brianne Murphy, the first female to shoot a major studio film. UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Sun., Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m.; $10. (310) 206-8013, cinema.ucla.edu.

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