Offbeat, from Japan

The American Cinematheque’s programming early next week couldn’t be more diverse: Tuesday features a pair of offbeat Japanese films, while Wednesday will focus on recent short films with female protagonists and themes.

Gonzo Japanese Cinema Night will present Takashi Miike’s “Andromedia” (1998) and Minoru Kawasaki’s “The Calamari Wrestler” (2004). Although “Andromedia” has its bizarre aspects, it stands in vivid contrast to Miike’s best-known film, the notorious “Audition,” which would be hard to match for being at once so horrific yet compelling. Miike is nothing if not venturesome, and this film represents a venture into science fiction that is more technically imaginative than entertaining.

It features the all-girl band Speed, with Hiroko Shimabukuro cast as the film’s star, Mai, and the other band members as her friends. Mai is in the midst of her first onslaught of teen romantic angst when she is fatally struck by a car. Her distraught widowed father (Tsunehiko Watase) is a scientist-computer whiz who has figured out a way to load Mai’s memory into a computer, which enables him to create an artificially intelligent replica of Mai. (Appropriately, she calls herself Ai.) Her father is comforted greatly by being able to summon Ai on his computer screen but realizes that he must keep secret his technological breakthrough.

There is a leak, however, with corporate goons quickly zeroing in on Mai’s father, who barely has time to upload Ai onto her boyfriend Yu’s laptop. This in turn targets Ai and Yu (Kenji Harada), and now the adventure really kicks in. Despite its imaginative premise, “Andromedia” is actually a surprisingly conventional film for Miike.

“The Calamari Wrestler” is hilarious kitsch. Just as Koji Taguchi (Akira) is being handed his championship belt, a huge squid -- a wrestler in an obvious costume -- materializes in the ring to challenge the understandably surprised Taguchi, with delirious plot developments swiftly ensuing.

On Wednesday, the Cinematheque shifts gears for its sixth annual Women in Shorts program. Among the offerings is English filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s 23-minute “Wasp,” which is so taut, economical and expressive that it’s no wonder Lars von Trier has given her the opportunity to develop her first feature.

“Wasp” is a swiftly compelling portrait of a feisty yet vulnerable young woman (Nathalie Press) living in a drab suburban housing project. She catches the eye of a hunky former beau (Danny Dyer) who asks her out; in her desperation, she is intent on hiding that she is now a single mother who struggles to take care of four children. Arnold allows the viewer to look upon her carelessness in childbearing with disdain, even contempt, only to catch him or her with the woman’s conflicting emotions and yearnings as she becomes torn between longing for lust and looking after her kids properly. It’s a stunner in the Ken Loach realist tradition.

Trip into Tibet

There have been many impressive documentaries on Tibet and the plight of its people, but none like Francois Prevost and Hugo Latulippe’s “What Remains of Us,” which screens Wednesday at the Museum of Tolerance. Kalsang Dolma -- a Tibetan born in exile in India who immigrated to Canada -- visited her ancestral land for the first time in 1996, accompanied by Prevost and Latulippe. She carried with her a portable video player carrying a five-minute message from the Dalai Lama, who has been unable to speak directly to his people for more than half a century. There’s a cruel irony here: His voice, strong and distinctive, whether he is speaking in English or his native language, is familiar the world over -- except in his own land.

At great risk, Dolma and the filmmakers visited the homes of numerous Tibetans, some deep in the region’s interior. The Dalai Lama offers a message of hope in the face of hardships and the specter of genocide under long-oppressive Chinese rule, which has cost the lives of an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans, with 200,000 more forced into exile. Within Tibet, thousands of ancient monasteries and sacred places have been destroyed, and the land has been exploited and polluted. “This is the biggest prison in the world,” observes Dolma (who will appear at the screening).

The Dalai Lama explains that Tibetan spirituality and compassion, deeply rooted in Buddhism, have become an inspiration for the world, that these values must be cherished and passed along, and that any resistance must be nonviolent. Behind the closed doors of their homes, the Dalai Lama’s audiences are moved to tears and speak openly of their virtually total lack of freedom. Yet as one nun, no longer allowed to wear her habit, says, “We live on faith and hope. That’s all we have.”

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Screenings

American Cinematheque

* Gonzo Japanese Cinema Night: “Andromedia” and “The Calamari Wrestler,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

* Women in Shorts program, featuring “Wasp,” 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

Info: (323) 466-FILM or www.americancinematheque.com

Museum of Tolerance

* “What Remains of Us,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: 9786 W. Pico Blvd., L.A.

Info: (310) 553-8403 or www.museumoftolerance.com