JUNE 5-26

If cinema in an extension of painting, few directors have better credentials than Jean Renoir, whose father was impressionist Auguste Renoir. As the series’s title makes clear, “the light-struck films of Jean Renoir” emphasize the director’s painterly inclinations, but there’s more to these films (the first three from the ’30s, the last from 1969) than that: The first selection, The Crime of Monsieur Lange (June 5), is a charming collectivist plea; Grand Illusion (pictured, June 12) analyzes social status as it tells the story of a POW-camp escape; The Rules of the Game (June 19) is a class-conscious comedy banned on its initial release as “too demoralizing”; and The Little Theater of Jean Renoir (June 26), the director’s last, features four sketches about the dilemmas of modern life. At 7:30 p.m. at Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Hammer Auditorium, 17th & New York Ave. NW. $8 per film; $25 for the series. (202) 347-3601. (Mark Jenkins)