The "Cultures of Eating" will be explored in five well-known works selected for the Office of Cultural Affairs' 2000 Spring Film Series. This group of films looks at the significance of preparing, consuming and sharing food in a variety of cultures, which range from 19th-century Denmark to 1950s Baltimore to contemporary Taiwan. It examines cooking and eating as cultural rituals, as sources of individual self-expression and as communication between people.

The programs, which begin this week, will take place on consecutive Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. in Mountcastle Auditorium, Preclinical Teaching Building, JHMI campus. All are free and open to the public.

Diner opens the series on April 5, followed by Babette's Feast, April 12; Like Water for Chocolate, April 19; Eat Drink Man Woman, April 26; and Tampopo, May 3.

'Diner'