Coffee Movies is the theme of the fourth annual Film Kitchen Contest and Mini-Festival. Audience voting and a panel of judges will award cash prizes at the event, on May 9, 2006.

For this installment of its popular annual contest, the monthly Film Kitchen series solicited films and videos of four minutes or less. The only other requirement was that the movies have a coffee theme.

The seven finalists are: Ron Douglas ("A Brush With Gum Disease"); R.J. Hreha ("Caffeinated"); Michael Knight ("Caffeine is Murder"); Ben Shannon ("Happy Father's Day From Your Son"); Brian Staszel ("Over Coffee"); Keith Tassick ("Coffeeland"); and Janette Toth ("Coffee Crowd").

Contest judges are: Filmmaker Tony Buba; Sam Patti, of La Prima Espresso; and WQED TV producer Minette Seate. Audience members will also vote for their favorite work.

A coffee-movies invitational includes videos by area artists Matthew R. Day, Chris Ivey, Carolina Loyola-Garcia, Jerry King Musser and Liz Richards.

The Film Kitchen Coffee Movies Contest and Mini-Festival takes place at 8 p.m. Tue., May 9, at Pittsburgh Filmmakers' Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Ave., North Oakland. A reception begins at 7 p.m. The artists will attend for question-and-answer sesssions. Admission is $6.

Film Kitchen seeks submissions for future screenings. For more information, call (412) 316-3342, x178.