2 FRIDAY “Jerusalem syndrome” is the term applied to what happens to visitors in the Holy City who have a religious experience and start to think they’re the Messiah, or begin speaking in tongues, or run naked in the streets, all of which happen more than you might think–about 100 times a year. Such behavior usually results in a free ticket to the loony bin, and the treatment of these tourists and pilgrims is the subject of Erin Sax’s 1998 documentary, The Jerusalem Syndrome. “I was interested not in uncovering if these people were truly connecting with something holy, but the criteria being used to determine this,” says Sax, who will attend tonight’s 8 PM screening at Columbia College’s Ferguson Hall, 600 S. Michigan. The 52-minute video will also be shown Sunday night at 8–sans Sax–at Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark. Admission to both screenings is $6; call 773-293-1447.
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3 SATURDAY It’s traditional to make a sheep’s head out of butter for Losar, the Tibetan New Year, which began February 24. Tibetans regard the sheep as an auspicious animal and in their language the words for the ovine cranium and the beginning of the year sound alike. Other traditional activities include cleaning house, eating ghutuk (a dumpling soup), visiting relatives, and drinking barley wine. The Tibetan Alliance of Chicago will celebrate the year of the iron serpent tonight at 6:30 at the American Indian Center, 1630 W. Wilson. The suggested donation is $15, which includes dinner. Reservations are required; call 773-275-7454.
5 MONDAY “There are a lot of small museums that are underpublicized and underattended,” says David McKay, coordinator of the Feet First Museum at the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine. “I was trying to think of ways of drawing attention to them in a different sort of way.” One of his ideas is the museum’s current series of exhibits, The Foot and Leg as Art and Symbol. The latest installment is a collection of drawings, paintings, and sculpture related to the lower extremities and created by professional artists, teachers, and students at the Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts, the city’s oldest school for representational art. The exhibit opens today and runs through the end of the month at the college’s museum, 1001 N. Dearborn. It’s open weekdays from 9 to 5 and admission is free. Call 312-280-2487.
