Going out

        Exotic film: Cincinnati International Film Festival shows off Kandahar, a hybrid of fact and fiction about an Afghan expatriate who returns home to look for her suicidal sister. The movie has drawn fire from critics who claim a cast member was involved in the assassination of an Iranian dissident. A discussion led by Middle Eastern affairs experts follows. 7 p.m. today, Esquire Theatre, 320 Ludlow Ave., $7.50. 281-2803. 2

        Chamber music: The under-renovation Taft Museum takes its Chamber Music Series to a new site for the Amicus Piano Trio. 2:30 p.m. today, Christ Church Cathedral, 318 E. Fourth St., downtown, free. 241-0343.

        Ohio architecture: The Cincinnati Preservation Association hears a word or two on Ohio's architectural history from Jane Ware, author of Building Ohio: A Traveler's Guide to Ohio's Urban Architecture. 2 p.m. today, Cincinnati Fire Museum, 315 W. Court St., downtown, $5. 721-4506.

        Jazz: The Little Chicago Jazz Society has a big city show with jazz pianist Keith Ingham's evening of jazz history and improv on a Steinway concert grand. 7:30 p.m. today, Fitton Center for Creative Arts, 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton, $16. 863-8873.

Staying in

        TV picks: Another tough night of TV choices, and sweeps month doesn't start until Thursday, notes TV critic John Kiesewetter. He recommends the two-hour Biography on Star Wars creator George Lucas (8 p.m., A&E); a two-hour look at the Miss America pageant on The American Experience (9 p.m., Channels 48, 54, 16); or the start of a three-part Stephen King thriller, Rose Red (9 p.m. today, Monday and Thursday, Channels 9, 2).

Planning Ahead

        24 hours out: The alteractive cabaret performance series continues its cutting-edge ways with actress/comedienne Ann Randolph and her one-woman Squeeze Box, all about her experience with an Internet dating service. 7 p.m. Monday, Rosenthal Plaza, Playhouse in the Park, $6-$10. 421-3888.

        48 hours out: The internationally acclaimed Amernet String Quartetstrums into the second installment of its “Three Concerts, Three Premieres” series with works by Haydn and Milhaud plus the premiere of Stephen Danker's Sixth String Quartet. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,Greaves Concert Hall, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, free. (859) 572-6399.

        72 hours 'til Wednesday: Author Caryl Phillips kicks off the Winter Author Series at the Mercantile Library. 6:30 p.m., 414 Walnut St., downtown, $15-$18. 621-0717.

        Contact Jim Knippenberg by phone: 768-8513; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: jknippenberg@enquirer.com.

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