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Even if it's now theoretically possible to run into Russell Crowe or Anne Hathaway at Giant Eagle -- with all the recent Hollywood productions in town -- the real highlight of the cinematic year in Pittsburgh still is the annual Three Rivers Film Festival, now in its 28th year.

This year's festival seems headed in many directions at once -- festivals can do that -- casting a wide net for its audience. It opens Friday and runs through Nov. 21.

At Friday's opening night, three films will get their Pittsburgh premieres. At the Harris, Downtown, is "Precious," based on the best-selling book "Push," about a young girl trying to beat the odds and overcome her life of abuse and poverty in 1987 Harlem.

The Regent Square Theater will feature "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," an adventure about a sideshow magician who makes a pact with the devil for special powers, by visionary filmmaker Terry Gilliam ("Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Brazil"). "Imaginarium" stars Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell and includes the final performance by the late Heath Ledger.

At the Melwood Screening Room is the premiere of the third Pittsburgh-made comedy by local filmmaker Dr. Ravi Godse. "If It Ain't Broke, Break It" stars Ravi -- who plays himself -- as a nosy doctor who finds out he has six months to live, and wants to spend it "helping" six friends in his own bumbling, unorthodox way. The cast includes well-known faces from film and TV, like Steve Guttenberg, Rondell Sheridan, Richard Kind and singer Sabrina Bryan (of the Cheetah Girls).

Other festival highlights include "Bronson," a powerful drama about Britain's most dangerous prisoner, who turns fighting unwinnable battles into an art. It screens Nov. 12 at Regent Square Theater.

"Cafe Society" is a documentary by author and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Mike Seate, about the high-performance motorcycles called "cafe racers" and the "Rockers" subculture that surrounded them in England, beginning in the 1950s. It appears Saturday at the Harris.

World-renowned silent film accompanist and composer Dr. Philip Carli returns to the festival this year, creating a live score for the rarely seen silent epic "His People" (1925) about immigrants in New York City's Lower East Side. This melodrama is co-presented by the Jewish-Israeli Film Festival, and appears Sunday at Regent Square.

"Cloud 9," about a 67-year-old woman who finds passion returning to her life during an affair with an even older man, won big at Cannes in 2008. It screens Saturday and Sunday at Regent Square.

"Egon and Donci" is a family-friendly animated feature from Hungary that uses sounds and gestures, rather than dialogue, to tell its story -- of an explorer and his cat, the only inhabitants of a distant planet. This will be at the Melwood on Saturday.

"The Young Victoria," starring Emily Blunt, is a romantic drama about Queen Victoria, symbol of England's golden age. It screens Saturday at Regent Square.

Friday's opening-night party will be at Pittsburgh Filmmakers on Melwood Avenue in Oakland, with food, drinks, dancing and music by Donora and DJ Edgar Um. It coincides with the art exhibit opening of "zoo of (in)animate" by international installation artist Makiko Miyamoto.

Again this year, there's a special emphasis on Polish films, with five films co-presented by the Polish Cultural Council. Director Waldemar Krystek will present his film "Little Moscow" on Nov. 10 and 11 at the Regent Square Theater.

On Nov. 13 at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, the second Three Rivers Film Symposium will be held, on the subject "Is Film Dead?" It's open to the public.

A new feature this year is the Steeltown Film Factory, which invites aspiring student filmmakers (age 16 and older) to compete in a yearlong filmmaking competition, beginning Saturday.

To close out the festival on Nov. 21, Boston's Alloy Orchestra will return to provide live musical accompaniment to the classic silent Soviet experimental documentary "Man With a Movie Camera" (1929). Alloy also will perform an afternoon family matinee with the Douglas Fairbanks adventure "The Black Pirate" (1926), featuring some of the most famous stunts and derring-do in film history.

All films are $8, unless otherwise noted.

FRIDAY

• "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," 7 p.m., Regent Square Theater, Regent Square. $15

• "Precious," 7 p.m., Harris Theater, Downtown. $15

• "If It Ain't Broke, Break It," 7 p.m., Melwood Screening Room, Oakland. $15. Artist's reception, 8 p.m.

• Festival gala, 9 p.m., $15

SATURDAY

• "Cloud 9," 2:30 p.m., Regent Square

• "Araya," 5 p.m., Regent Square

• "The Young Victoria," 7:15 p.m., Regent Square

• "Thirst," 9:30 p.m., Regent Square

• "We Live in Public," 3:30 p.m., Harris

• "Terribly Happy," 5:45 p.m., Harris

• "Cafe Society," 8 p.m., Harris

• Artist Talk with Makiko Miyamoto, 1 p.m., Melwood

• "Egon and Donci," 2 p.m., Melwood

• "Exploding Girl," 4 p.m., Melwood

• "Stay the Same Never Change," 6:15 p.m., Melwood

• "A Woman in Berlin," 8:30 p.m., Melwood

SUNDAY

• "Case Unknown," 1:45 p.m., Regent Square

• "Cloud 9," 4 p.m., Regent Square

• "His People" with accompanist Philip Carli, 7:30 p.m., Regent Square

• "North Face," 2 p.m., Harris

• "We Live in Public," 4:30 p.m., Harris

• "A Woman in Berlin," 2 p.m., Melwood

• "Exploding Girl," 4:30 p.m., Melwood

MONDAY

• "Araya," 7 p.m., Regent Square

• "Case Unknown," 9 p.m., Regent Square

• "We Live in Public," 7:30 p.m., Harris

• "The Yes Men Fix the World," 7 p.m., Melwood

• "Stay the Same Never Change," 9:15 p.m., Melwood

TUESDAY

• "Little Moscow," 7:30 p.m., Regent Square

• "Terribly Happy," 7 p.m., Harris

• "North Face," 9 p.m., Harris

• "Egon and Donci," 7 p.m., Melwood

• "The Yes Men Fix the World," 9 p.m., Melwood

WEDNESDAY

• "Little Moscow," 7 p.m., Regent Square

• "Bronson," 9:30 p.m., Regent Square

• "Freedom House," 7:30 p.m., Harris

• Abina Manning presents new work from Video Data Bank, 7:30 p.m., Melwood

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