Carroll Ballard

The Scene: The recent non-splashy premiere of Tri-Star's sailing saga "Wind," Carroll Ballard's film about learning to win by working with nature's elements instead of against them.

A cinéaste who began his career as a reporter profiling such Hollywood icons as Howard Hawks, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Bogdanovich became a writer-director in his own right in the late 1960s. Bogdanovich will be discussing his craft this weekend at the American Cinematheque's tribute to the filmmaker at the Egyptian Theatre. Tonight, Bogdanovich presents the director's cuts of his 1971 triumph "The Last Picture Show," as well as his 1981 romantic comedy " They All Laughed" with Audrey Hepburn, John Ritter, Ben Gazzara and Dorothy Stratten -- the Playboy Playmate the filmmaker fell in love with who was subsequently murdered by her husband.

If you're one of those people who's been bemoaning the absence of yachting as a backdrop for a major motion picture, who's been waiting for who knows how long for a film with first-class footage of men against the sea, "Wind" is the picture for you. If you don't fit into that category, things are much more problematic.