"The Visitor" will take center stage at the Sunrise Theater Thursday, May 29, through Monday, June 2. Evening showings are at 7:30 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:30. This film is written and directed by Tom McCarthy, whose debut work was "The Station Agent."

The film revolves around Walter Vale, a widowed Connecticut college professor who is sent to New York City to deliver a paper he co-wrote. He has kept a small apartment in an East Village walkup in which he intends to stay for this trip. When he arrives he finds two illegal immigrants are living there, victims of a scam to rent the flat, a Syrian musician, Tarak (Haaz Sleiman) and his girlfriend, Zainab (Danai Gurira) from Senegal. They offer to leave but Walter, moved by their predicament, offers to let them stay until they can find other digs.

As the friendship evolves, Tarak teaches Walter to play the African drums through which Walter recovers some of his lost zest for life and his appreciation of New York. Tarak's detention by the police interrupts this idyll, but the entrance of Tarak's mother, Mouna (played by Israeli Arab actress, Hiam Abbass) to aid her son, adds the possibility of a new romance in Walter's life. Walter is brilliantly and subtly played by Richard Jenkins, perhaps best known for his recurring role on "Six Feet Under."

There is no villain in this film. The antagonist is "The System" -- the faceless bureaucracy where the human element has been eliminated in favor of procedures. The film is about the growth of one man through a simple act of compassion and the ensuing relationships. This film won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

Tickets are $7 for adults ($6 for the matinees) and $5 for children. This movie is rated PG-13 and runs 1 hour 43 minutes.

For further information, contact the Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines, NC, 692-3611 or www.sunrisetheater.com.