Around this time of year, most altruistic folks will be thinking about donating their time to shelters or the Salvation Army. Good stuff, that.

However, if you're more of the stay-at-home, cinematically obsessed type, here's the cause for you: AFI Silver's 2009 Silverdocs Festival is seeking volunteers to watch and rate its submissions to help programmers choose the standouts for the big event, scheduled June 9 - 15.

To reiterate: You'll be reviewing movies. For an outlet way bigger and more influential than your crappy blog.

It's a pretty sweet deal, with the chosen screeners receiving not only a bunch of free movies but also an all-access pass to the area's consistently excellent fest and---and---free year-round tickets to AFI Silver (with some exceptions).

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Let's be blunt: There's not a lot of good cinema out there these days. And considering we're already into Oscar-trolling season, for film lovers that's a picture bleaker than Synecdoche, New York. (Well, maybe not that bad.)

Starting Thursday, however, you'll have some alternatives -- and best of all, they're free. The Brazilian Embassy is hosting its second annual Première Brazil Washington, a selection of features, shorts, and a kids' program stopping at American University's Greenburg Theatre after runs in Rio and New York City.

The festival ends Sunday, Nov. 16; for schedule details and descriptions of the films themselves visit the Embassy's site.

And don't forget AFI's annual European Showcase, continuing through Nov. 25. For ticket details and descriptions of the remaining films (often future Academy Award contenders) go to AFI Silver.