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At a meeting of the World Archaeological Congress in Washington, D.C., archaeologists say post-war instability masks the full extent of Iraq's missing antiquities. But archaeologists stress that while looting is rampant in Iraq, similar destruction is occurring at museums and excavation sites around the world, including China, Guatemala and Afghanistan. Hear David D'Arcy.

Oscar-winning British director John Schlesinger, whose films Midnight Cowboy and Bloody Sunday featured unlikely heroes who helped bring homoerotic themes into the open, died Friday in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 77. NPR's Neda Ulaby offers a remembrance.

In the latest movie from Chinese director Chen Kaige, a young violin prodigy moves to the big city with his father. As Beth Accomondo of KPBS in San Diego explains, the movie is about music, family and the conflicts between "old" and "modern" China.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews Sweet Sixteen, a Scottish film about a tough teenager determined to raise enough money to buy a gift for his mother upon her release from prison -- a mobile home near the water.

After four years of a record industry war on illegal file-sharing, more people than ever are flouting the rules and swapping music online. The Recording Industry Association of America is trying various tactics to end the practice. NPR's Laura Sydell reports.

Production is underway in Texas for a new movie that may explode long-standing myths surrounding the 1836 siege of the Alamo. The film aims to set history straight by portraying the faults of such Alamo heroes as David Crockett and telling the story in part through the eyes of Mexican soldiers. NPR's John Burnett reports.

In Washington, several aspiring conductors get a chance to learn from a maestro. Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, offers his young charges advice ranging from clothing tips to the physicality of the job. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports.

Pat Dowell profiles Canadian Director Guy Maddin, whose new movie, Pages from a Virgin's Diary, is a screen adaptation of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's production of Dracula. Maddin describes his movie making technique as "primitive," because he strives to give his story telling a dream-like effect. He was motivated to make this movie by curiosity about elements of female sexuality and male jealousy in the Dracula story.

City Lights, the West Coast bookstore of the Beat Generation and American alternative culture turns 50 on June 8. Commentator Andrei Codrescu offers a poem, paying homage to a San Francisco icon and to City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

The fifth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, goes on sale at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday. The U.S. publisher has commissioned a record first run of 8.5 million copies. Thousands of bookstores across the United States plan late-night Potter parties. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.