Hot Picks [FRIDAY]

Best of the Best

Friday, October 6, 2006

The Vancouver International Film Festival is in full swing. After a week, the cream is starting to rise to the top, and some of the audience's favourite films are getting extra screenings. If you've missed out on any of these winners, fear not. They're back!

We Feed the World - Austria - Presented by Capers Community Markets, this hard-hitting doc focuses on the disparities of food production. Its subjects certainly aren't pulling any punches. "Every child, under ten, who dies of starvation was murdered," says one U.N. official. You'll be talking about it for months. (Replays Saturday, Oct. 7 at 10:45 a.m.)

Vitus - Switzerland - A six-year-old boy who plays piano like a master faces pressure to become something absolutely amazing. But nobody seems to ask him what he wants to do, which mostly involves hanging out with his kinda-kooky grampa and just being a kid. A great tale about the magic of being young and young at heart. (Replays Saturday, Oct. 7 at 11 a.m.)

Magic Mirror - Portugal - A wealthy woman wants to see the Virgin Mary. And two ex-convicts decide to produce a vision for her. But that's just the beginning of director Manoel de Oliveira's wildly imaginative cinematic exploration of religion, wealth, and reality. (Replays Sunday, Oct. 8 at 9:45 p.m.)

Never Again as Before - Italy - A trip up the beautiful Dolomite Mountains becomes a rite of passage for six adolescents. Their problems might seem cliché--heartbreak, teen angst, overbearing parents--but their story is told with a unique beauty. A kind of Breakfast Club meets Dawson's Creek, but with more pasta. (Replays Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m.)

For more info, head to www.viff.org