August 06, 2008 11:00AM EDT

Things To Do: See a Free Movie Tonight, or Meet Stephen Frears

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Some days, the cultural events in New York just converge on one night. Free films! Outdoor films! Meeting brilliant directors! So you have to pick your (awesome) poison.

Feeling French? Childish, but also brave? Then you, my dear, need to bust out your raspberry beret and head over to Socrates Sculpture Park at 7pm tonight for a great double feature of the childhood classic The Red Balloon and last year's excellent animated feature Persepolis. The show begins with a performance by the excellent Clare and The Reasons, and then the films unspool. French fusion cuisine will also be available.

Feeling American? Want to feel like a properly outraged American in this election year? Right on! Then get yourself down to Central Park (specifically the lawn adjacent to the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, 110th St. between 5th and Lenox Aves.) a 8pm for Rooftop Films' free screening of documentary Trouble the Water, where a couple in New Orleans pick up the camera and film the destruction and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and its effect on their lives. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at this year's Sundance. If you miss this screening, Trouble the Water opens at the IFC Center on August 22nd.

Or perhaps you're feeling buttoned up. Repressed. Think of England in this case, and head over to the Walter Reade Theater for the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 8 pm screening of The Deal, the prequel to 2006's Oscar-winning film The Queen. Instead of Queen Elizabeth, this time director Stephen Frears follows Gordon Brown and Tony Blair (again played by Michael Sheen) as they fight for the leadership of the Labour Party. A Q&A and reception with Frears follows the screening. (and yeah, this costs $$$. But Frears! And food! It's so worth it.)

For more information, go to the websites for Socrates Sculpture Park Film Series, Rooftop Films, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.