POLITICS ON SCREEN Director John Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi are on hand for a daylong program exploring the intersection of filmmaking and politics. The event opens with a discussion that asks “Whatever Happened to Political Filmmaking?” with panelists including Mr. Sayles and producer Jerry Carlson (noon). Ms. Renzi participates in a discussion on women in the moviemaking industry with scholar Carrie Beauchamp, actress Marianne Leone,and producer Liz Manne (5 p.m.).The day also includes screenings of Mr. Sayles’s “Matewan” (1987), about a 1920 coal-mine strike (2 p.m.), and “City of Home” (1991), a complex tale of race and real estate in a fictional New Jersey town (6:30 p.m.). All events: Saturday, Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, 718-784-0077, $10 general, $7.50 seniors and students, free for members.

SHORT STUFF Asbury Shorts celebrates its 25th anniversary with a program of live-action comedy, drama, and animated short films. A portion of the proceeds will go to the restoration of the monument to painter and teacher William Merritt Chase in Green-Wood Cemetery. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 Fourth Ave. at President Street, Brooklyn, 718-857-4816, $10 in advance, $12 at the door.