Preceded by shorts: Donor Party (Laurence Arcadias, U.S., 1995). A guest at a mysterious clinic finds out he'll be staying forever-at least, part of him will be. This devilishly comic computer-generated animation was inspired by early anatomical drawings. (4 mins, 3/4" video, From artist) Operation Successful (Orlan, Stephan Oriach, France, 1992). French artist Orlan declares "the body is a costume" in this stylized depiction of one of her many cosmetic surgeries. Silicone abounds! (8:30 mins, 3/4" video, From Scolopendra Productions) The body carries with it an implicit contract of enclosure and function. We accept the body's flaws, the unsightly blemishes and secretions, relying on its indefatigable ability to contain and propel us. But what if this contract is broken? What if the body is damaged or disfigured? Andrej Zdravic, a Slovenian filmmaker living in the Bay Area, has made a curious and sometimes gruesome work about microsurgery and the art of restoration. "Anastomosis" is a term meaning "the union of intercommunication between any system or network." The intercommunication here is that of several microsurgeons and the human hand. As an instrument of human agency, the hand dictates how we engage the world, yet it is also a vulnerable appendage of fragile sinews and tissue. In minute and magnificent detail, Zdravic's film depicts the reconstruction of several hands. The result can be inspired in conception, monstrous in form-a toe replacing a severed thumb. What are the conditions of the body's contract? Anastomosis looks at our attempts to alter the terms.-Steve Seid