FILM/SNEAK PEEK : LETTING THE `HEALING' BEGIN.

Byline: - Bob McCarthy

The Contemporary Documentary Series continues Tuesday when the Oscar-winning short documentary ``A Story of Healing'' is shown at UCLA's James Bridges Theater.

In the film, American surgeons travel to Vietnam to perform corrective surgery on youngsters with birth defects. It was directed by Donna Dewey.

The night's program includes a pair of nonfiction films about people's courageous battles against life-threatening diseases.

In ``Heart of a Child,'' the family of a brave 4-year-old girl waits for a heart and lung donor, realizing the unsettling truth that another family must lose a child for their daughter to survive. Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon directed and produced.

And in ``Say It! Fight It! Cure It!'' the struggle against breast cancer is personalized through the women and their families who must face this all-too-common killer. It affects an estimated one in nine women in this country.

The screenings are free and co-sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy Foundation, and UCLA Film and Television Archives. The Bridges Theater is on the northeast corner of the UCLA campus in Westwood. Call [phone] for information.

In a related note, the short documentary category, for which ``A Story of Healing'' won a statuette in 1997, is being discontinued after this year's Oscar presentations. Instead, short and feature-length documentaries will be merged into a Best Documentary category.

In his announcement, academy president Robert Rehme attributed the decision to a shrinking pool of eligible shorts.

``The combined category will continue to give the really extraordinary short theatrical documentary a place to be recognized, but except for the IMAX films, there really isn't enough nontelevision work in the genre to justify a separate award these days,'' Rehme said.

Screenwriters meeting

A script analysis of ``As Good as It Gets'' highlights the February workshop of the Scriptwriters Network on Feb. 20. Producer David Freeman will discuss techniques for improved storytelling, fuller characters and great dialogue, using the acclaimed motion picture from 1997.

The workshop is at 2 p.m. Feb. 20 at Universal Studios, Building 476, rehearsal room B. Cost to nonmembers is $20. Reservations must be made by calling [phone] by Feb. 18.

`Out of Africa'

Meryl Streep and Robert Redford star in director Sydney Pollack's epic ``Out of Africa,'' which screens Saturday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Bing Theater. The film is part of a Streep retrospective this month.

``Out of Africa'' won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1985. Streep portrays the Dutch aristocrat Karen Blixen, who becomes a plantation owner out of necessity and falls in love with Redford's character, a rugged individualist much like herself. Outstanding performances, lush cinematography and a soundtrack come together amid the beauty and serenity of colonial Africa.

Screening begins at 7:30 p.m. at LACMA's Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets cost $7 general admission, $5 for museum and AFI members and students with ID. Purchase of a ticket includes admission to the museum. Call [phone] or Ticketmaster for ticket information.