OCTOBER 30 & 31

Everyone’s heard the maxim that pain and pleasure are intimately linked, but for Bob Flanagan the connection was between pain and survival. The L.A.-based poet and performance artist explored the limits of self-inflicted pain as a means of enduring his cystic fibrosis. This documentary account of Flanagan’s torments, both natural and conceptual, is reportedly as poignant as it is disturbing. Director Kirby Dick will attend both screenings to discuss the film (which is scheduled to open at the Key later this year) and the heated audience reactions it has provoked thus far. At 8 p.m. at the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden’s Ring Auditorium, 7th & Independence Ave. SW. FREE. (202) 357-2700. (Mark Jenkins)