This year the Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival honors the memory and the work of Peter Adair, an independent filmmaker who, in the New York Times's words, "used the eloquent voices of ordinary people" in films that are at once important cultural studies and explorations of the artist's personal interests. Word Is Out, his best-known work, was the aptly titled film that took the first realistic look at life for gays and lesbians in America; if ever a film made a difference in people's lives, this was it. In announcing his death, in June, the San Francisco Examiner wrote that Adair was survived by "all of San Francisco." Tonight we remember Peter Adair, as part of the Mead Festival and our own contribution to A Day Without Art, with two programs of films. Holy Ghost People (Peter Adair, U.S., 1967): Margaret Mead herself called this one of the best ethnographic films ever made. It is a portrayal of a West Virginia fundamentalist snake-handling sect, filmed with tact, respect, and compassion. This early film by Adair, anthropology as direct cinema, was given the Film As Art award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. (53 mins, B&W) Some of These Stories Are True (Peter Adair, U.S., 1981): This work, exploring the relationship between male violence and power through interviews with three men, only two of whom are telling true stories, calls into question the idea of documentary itself. (30 mins, Color)