Starting next week, Prague will again be marrying two of its greatest passions together: film and music. The 3rd Annual Music on Film, Film on Music Festival is quickly gaining an international reputation with its wealth of world music captured on celluloid. This year's five-day fest will feature more than 100 films ranging from full-length features to short experimental videos.

It would be difficult to find any aspect of either music or film that isn't covered in the program, which is packed with workshops, panel discussions, live performances and art exhibits. There will be appearances by a number of guest artists, including British directors Julien Temple and Simon Broughton and American William Ferris. The festival will also be divided up into a few mini-festivals, including a focus on Central Asian music and South African music, as well as a few films covering the plight of New Orleans jazz musicians after Hurricane Katrina.

A Lion's Trail: Among the films from South Africa comes this fascinating history of the song "Mbube." Created by a former shepherd named Solomon Linda, "Mbube" would become one of the most famous songs of the 20th century, though Linda had no copyright on his song and died in poverty. What is "Mbube"? It's probably best known to Westerners as the Tokens' '60s hit, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which was later dragooned into the Disney Corporation's Broadway hit, The Lion King. Lucerna, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m.

Absolute Beginners: Director Julien Temple is represented by a number of his films this year. His latest, Glastonbury, is a history of the yearly British version of Woodstock that Temple created out of 30 years' worth of people's home movies, which range from old 8-mm reels to recent photo-phone shots. There's also a chance to catch The Great Rock-n-Roll Swindle, Temple's Sex Pistols documentary.

His feature film Absolute Beginners is a must-see. Based on Colin MacInnes' cult novel of late '50s Soho life in London, the 1986 film was a flop at the box office, but has dated well. A nostalgic look back on the Expresso Bongo era has itself become a bit of a memory lane, with performances by David Bowie, Sade and the Fine Young Cannibals. Kino Světozor, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Dama na Kolejich: Prague, 1966: The political thaw is being felt, and director Ladislav Rychman celebrates it with a musical that has dance numbers straight out of Busby Berkeley. Lady on the Tracks (to use its English title) is Dubček meets June Taylor, a colorful curio with Jiřina Bohdalová and Radoslav Brzobohatý, the two stars who would then appear in the ultimate film on the return of the hard-liners, Karel Kachyňa's Ucho. Ponrepo, Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m.