Los Angeles - California Science Center's IMAX Theater is launching a Film Festival that brings you the opportunity to experience films that are awe-inspiring and breathtaking from August 31, 2002 through October 24, 2002. If you haven't already experienced an IMAX film this is your chance. The following past favorite films will be available for your enjoyment: Africa: The Serengeti, Mysteries of Egypt, The Living Sea, Alaska: Spirit of the Wild, Super Speedway, and the 3D adventure Space Station.

The Film Festival allows you to travel across the Serengeti and migrate with animals to see firsthand how to overcome drought in the dry lands of Africa. Unravel mysteries of Egypt through this docu-drama of how the ancient kingdoms of Nefretiti and Tutankhamen have impacted civilization today. Dive into the beauty of the ocean and celebrate the power and importance of the ocean, witness it's strength and weakness. Capture the wonder and mystery of Alaska as you witness the brilliant aurora light up the dark skies, go fishing with brown bears, and soar with bald eagles. Buckle up in the cockpit of an Indy car and race in speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour in pursuit of the art, science and risk of high-speed competition. Travel 220 miles above the Earth to witness the greatest engineering feat since landing a person on the moon while visiting the International Space Station.

The California Science Center's IMAX Theater is one of the most inexpensive IMAX theaters in Southern California. Ticket prices are reasonable and less than a regular Hollywood film, they range from $4.50 to $7.50 each, and we are offering additional discounts for multi shows or an all day pass, call for more details at (213) 744-7400. You can have an exciting experience for less than the price of a regular film by enjoying this wonderful Film Festival that will take you from the hottest regions of Africa to the coldest regions of Alaska in awe inspiring films.

Film List and Descriptions

Africa: The Serengeti, introduces the audience to a spectacle that few humans have ever witnessed, the Great Migration, taking viewers on a journey with over 1.5 million animals as they travel more than 500 miles across the Serengeti plains in Tanzania and Kenya. This film is a tribute to the wildebeest as they set out on their yearlong odyssey; it is also a documentary featuring a fascinating array of animals including zebras, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, baboons and even hyenas, jackals and vultures, with an abundance of animal trivia. The final destination is their ancient calving grounds where more than a half million young are born in a few short weeks. Visit the earth's last remaining wildlife refuge - the Serengeti of East Africa! Feel the roaring thunder of great herds; dare the crocodile infested waters; soar above the southern grasslands. Narrated by James Earl Jones. Run time: 39 minutes.

Mysteries of Egypt will transport audiences to a distant time and place where the Nile River Valley cuts an emerald swath through the desert sands. In the flood-fed richness of this land rose an ancient kingdom whose culture has strongly influenced the western world. Its massive architecture and the intrigue of such personages as Nefertiti and Tutankhamen capture the imagination. Around the old capital of Memphis, near modern Giza, rulers such as Ramses II built massive funerary pyramids to house them in their afterlife and farther up the river, temples were built to the pharaohs and their gods at Luxor and Karnak. With a dedicated team of scientists, Mysteries of Egypt will explore these magnificent edifices and the civilization that built them, bringing their wonder to life. Legendary actor and native Egyptian Omar Shariff (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago) joins leading experts on the Egyptian Empire and award-winning filmmakers to tell a fascinating story of Egypt. Run time: 38 minutes.

The Living Sea celebrates the beauty, power and importance of the ocean. Filmed in locations around the world, underscored by the music of Sting and narrated by Meryl Streep, the motion picture explores our relationship with the sea. Once feared as a dark and mysterious place, the sea's geography and inhabitants remained largely unknown for centuries. Travel from the giant kelp forests of the Pacific, to the remote islands of Palau. Audiences will feel the awesome power of the ocean as they surf thundering waves in Hawaii and ride in a Coast Guard Rescue Boat with cadets learning to save lives at Cape Disappointment, home to some of the roughest surf in the world. Run time: 39 minutes.

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild - Few places on earth impose greater survival challenges and this conflict between climate and life is the central thematic thread of Alaska. Despite harsh conditions, life in Alaska always finds a way to endure. The film is about the majesty and uniqueness of wild Alaska and about the resiliency of life itself. Moviegoers will be swept over the snow-mantled peaks of Mt. McKinley, above immense ice fields, and across black-striped tidewater glaciers which collapse building size icebergs into the sea. Explore its rich history, surprising wildlife and magnificent landscapes. Run time: 39 minutes.

Super Speedway - Buckle up! Super Speedway puts audiences in the cockpit of an Indy car and catapults them into world championship auto racing action at mind-bending speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour. At the core of the film's action are Michael Andretti and the Newman/Haas racing team for which he drives. Together, driver and team test a newly fabricated car and ultimately drive it in hot pursuit of the championship in the PP CART World Series. Michael's efforts are seen through the eyes of his father, racing legend Mario Andretti, who participates in testing the new car and reflects on his own racing experiences and on the art, science and risk of high-speed competition. Set against the drama of the track are two story lines that follow the remarkable craft of creating Indy cars: the restoration of a 1964 roadster - a thoroughbred once driven at Indianapolis - and the building of Michael Andretti's state-of-the-art Indy car at the Lola car plant in England. Run time: 48 minutes.

Space Station is the first cinematic journey to the International Space Station (ISS) - where audiences can experience for themselves life in zero gravity aboard the new station. Transported by the magic of the IMAX® technology, the audience blasts off into space with the astronauts and cosmonauts from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome to rendezvous with their new home in orbit 220 miles above Earth. Now people of every age and language can work side by side with their space-walking crewmates, building and inhabiting this unprecedented structure in space. Run time: 43 minutes.

Note to Editors: California Science Center, located at 700 State Drive in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission to the exhibitions is free. For recorded information on IMAX show times, phone (213) 744-7400. For advance ticket purchases, group rates, or to make reservations for any visiting group of 15 or more (required), call (213) 744-2019. Parking is available in the guest lot at Figueroa and 39th Street for $6 per car. Both the Science Center and IMAX Theater are wheelchair accessible. For general information, phone (323) SCIENCE or visit our website at www.casciencectr.org.