A remarkable array of long-unseen, little-seen and never-seen movies and plays will be available next week, so it’s time to mark the calendar.

The Light Factory celebrates the 40th anniversary of a diverse year for movies: 1972, which brought us everything from “The Godfather” to “Fritz the Cat.” American filmmakers were catching up to Europeans with their level of daring, sophisticated subjects and willingness to bring darker visions to the screen than the studio-controlled era had permitted.

The “Spirit of ’72” unspools Sept. 20-23 at Spirit Square, 345 N. College St. Tickets cost $7 ($5 for members). For full details, see www.lightfactory.org. Here’s what’s coming:

• Sept. 20: “Deliverance,” 7:30 p.m. Four men riding a mountain river enter a prolonged nightmare of humiliation and murder in this adaptation of James Dickey’s novel.

• Sept. 21: “The Way of the Dragon,” 7:30 p.m. Bruce Lee directed and starred in his last film, where he defends relatives from gangsters. (Chuck Norris gets a beat-down!) “Fritz the Cat,” 9:30 p.m. Ralph Bakshi directed the first X-rated cartoon, based on R. Crumb’s scabrous comic book.

• Sept. 22: “The Getaway,” 2:30 p.m. Sam Peckinpah directed this action drama, in which Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw try to flee after a bank heist. “What’s Up, Doc?,” 5 p.m. Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal star in Peter Bogdanovich’s tribute to screwball comedies of the 1930s. “The Godfather,” 7:30 p.m. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino play father-son leaders of a crime family.

• Sept. 23: “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” 2 p.m. Luis Buñuel directed this surreal Oscar-winner about an upper-class sextet that sits down to dinner but never gets to eat. “Pink Flamingos,” 4 p.m. Director John Waters and star Divine team for a gross-out cult classic about a competition to find the world’s most disgusting person.

Festival of India films

The annual fest offers free short films from 4 to 5 p.m. Sept. 22-23 in Wells Fargo Auditorium, on the lower level of Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.

The Oscar-nominated “Raju” may be the highlight; Max Zähle directed this drama about a German couple in India who hope to adopt a child but have a startling experience.

The other films are “Mehul the Music Man,” a documentary about a music teacher in Gujarat who discusses the ties between religion, his music and his personal identity; “The Return Address,” in which a photographer’s apprentice in a sleepy town plays Cupid by misdirecting postal packages; and “The Way It’s Played,” about four women who regularly meet for card games until one of them begins to falter.

Details: indiafestival.iacofcarolinas.org.

New play festival

The UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture and Department of Theatre will present Center City Scenes, a free festival of new plays by local playwrights. Six pieces, each about 15 minutes, will feature university and professional actors in workshop productions created for the intimate atrium of the UNC Charlotte Center City building at Ninth and Brevard streets.

Performances begin at 5 p.m. Sept. 22 (as part of UNC Charlotte Center City Community Day) and 2 p.m. Sept. 23.

The playwrights are members of Uni-Wrights, a writing group that meets regularly at the university. They are Ann Marie Oliva, Mark Pizzato, Stacey Rose, Jeanmarie Higgins, Don Cook and Timothy Baxter-Ferguson. To learn more, go to www.coaa.uncc.edu.