Today, March 17, 2011, is the 150th anniversary of the day when Italy became a unified nation. On a related note, the St. Louis Italian Film Festival will be at Washington University on weekends in April.

The seventh annual event is one of four themed film festivals coming to St. Louis in the next few weeks.

First up is the annual African Film Festival at Washington University. It comprises four features and four shorts in four programs (including a children's program with Zimbabwe's "Legend of the Sky Kingdom," Africa's first feature-length cartoon) from Friday, March 25 through Sunday, March 27. The free screenings are in Room 100 of Brown Hall. for more information, visit the African Film Festival website.

The popular St. Louis Italian Film Festival will offer new feature films from Italy on weekend evenings throughout April. This year's movies include "L'Uomo Che Verra" ("The Man Who Will Come"), a drama about the Italian partisans who fought on the Allied side in World War II, followed by a Q&A with a surviving partisan. All screenings are free and will be in Room 100 of Brown Hall. For more information, visit the St. Louis Italian Film Festival website.

April 14-17, the Hi-Pointe Theatre will host the fourth annual QFest, presented by Cinema St. Louis and sponsored by Stella Artois. The lineup includes 11 gay-themed feature films (including two new comedies from Italy) and 10 shorts. The opening night film is "The Sons of Tennessee Williams," a documentary about a gay Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are also documentaries about the Natonal Equality Day march and gay high-school athletes; a caper about  L.A. burlesque queens; and the hirsute comedy "Bear City." For tickets and more information, visit the Cinema St. Louis website. 

And finally, on April 18, the traveling Found Footage Festival returns to the Mad Art Gallery for an evening of odbball music videos and instructional tapes scoured from thrift stores across the country. Also on the bill is a screening of the documentary "Heavy Metal Parking Lot." The fest is curated by writers for "The Onion," "Late Night with David Letterman," "The Colbert Report" and "Mystery Science Theater 3000." For tickets and more information on the Found Footage Festival, visit the FFF website.