Miami International Film Festival presents The Extraordinary Journey of Fernando Bujones, a documentary on the virtuoso ballet dancer, one of the most famous figures in ballet in the 1970s and '80s. Bujones, who died of cancer in 2005 at only 50, had a special connection to Miami where he was born while his Cuban parents were on a family visit. They returned to Cuba to raise him, then escaped back to Miami in 1964 when Bujones was 9. He studied ballet in Miami, and in 1972, as a 17-year-old prodigy, he joined American Ballet Theater. He rapidly became a star, and his success opened doors for other Latino dancers now so prevalent in the ballet world. In his later years, Bujones directed several troupes in Miami and elsewhere in Florida, finishing as director of the Orlando Ballet.

The Extraordinary Journey screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, with a reception at 6 p.m. at the Tower Theater, 1508 SW Eighth St., Miami. There will be a post-show discussion with director Israel Rodriguez, producer Kim Dawson, Bujones' longtime coach Zeida Cecilia-Mendez, Bujones' widow Maria Bujones, and Robert Hill, his successor as director of the Orlando Ballet. Admission is free, but a ticket is required (only two tickets per person). Tickets and info: 305-237-7979.

-- JORDAN LEVIN

Conundrum Stages continues its free play-reading series with N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker. Elizabeth Garrard directs Arthur Bivins, Julia Clearwood, Dominick Daniel, Jeff Holmes, Dan Leonard, Summer Hill Seven and Michael St. Pierre in the script about a ruinous drought, a single woman who has become caretaker to her father and brothers, and a seductive flim-flam man who pulls off a miracle.

The reading is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Collins Community Center, 3900 NE Third Ave., Oakland Park. Info: 954-630-4500 or conun drumstages@yahoo.com.

-- CHRISTINE DOLEN

Here's an exhibit that promises to challenge fixed notions of history: Freedom Fighters: American Legends Re-Imagined, opening with a reception at 7 p.m. June 12 at ArtCenter/South Florida on Miami Beach.

The show features 12 graphic artists from across the country who created ''mock posters'' of iconic African Americans -- among them Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner and the Black Panthers -- using movie-poster artwork to examine the 1970s Black Exploitation film genre.

The exhibit, billed as ''subversive'' by its publicists, was curated by Roderick Southall of Obsidian Arts with the help of Jacquenette Arnette, ArtCenter director of exhibitions.

Freedom Fighters is on view through July 19 at 800 Lincoln Rd. No charge. Info: 305-674-8278 or www.art centersf.org.

-- FABIOLA SANTIAGO

Three Broward artists -- Colby Katz, Samantha Salzinger and Nancy Spielman -- have won the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship Award for visual and media arts.

They were selected from more than 300 applicants during a two-tier panel process that included the participation of local and national art experts, such as local museum directors, professional artists and curators.

An exhibition featuring the artists' works will be presented at the University Galleries, School of the Arts at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton from Sept. 18 through Oct. 30. Opening reception is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 17.

The South Florida Cultural Consortium is an alliance of the local arts agencies of Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, and the group assists visual and media artists through cash awards on the basis of creative excellence.

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