Top Picks of the VIFF

Got your VIFF program guide yet? Circled your favourites? Cross-referenced show times in your already jam-packed day planner? Don't worry, we're here to help. This year Jark-the-prolific and I will be calling in sick to work, braving long line ups in the rain, and watching movies at 10am - whatever it takes to bring you as many VIFF reviews as we can.

The fun starts September 27th and, to prep you, we've compiled a list of what we consider to be this year's must see films. Our top picks after the jump.

My top picks, in no particular order:

Persepolis (France/Iran): The illustrated feature film based on Marjane Satrapi's highly-acclaimed graphic novels that recount her childhood growing up rebellious and pop-culture savvy during the Iranian Islamic Revolution.

4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Romania): Back room abortions in the dying days of the Iron Curtain. Guaranteed to be bleak, witty, and brutally raw.

She's a Boy I Knew (Vancouver): Locally-made documentary/memoir about how the filmmaker's MtoF transition affected those around her, namely her wife and family.

Paranoid Park (USA): The new Gus Van Sant. Melancholy coming of age featuring alienation, divorce and skateboarding in Portland. Only showing once - will definitely come back to town after the festival.

Weirdsville (Ontario): Drug-induced escapades in my hometown (Hamilton) by the director of Pump Up the Volume, Empire Records and New Waterford Girl - who knew those 3 films were made by the same director?

Battle in Seattle (USA): Not saying it's going to be good, in fact I'm pretty darn sure it's going to be painful to watch, but anyone who was down there in the tear-gassed streets in 1999 will want to relive the memories in this co-opted Hollywood blockbuster. Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson (of course) and Andre 3000.

War on Democracy (UK): John Pilger's latest and reportedly most optimistic documentary showcasing the rise of left in Latin America against the ongoing imperialist war waged by the US.

Jark's Top Picks:

Terror's Advocate (France): Following what is often called blind-terrorism, this film chronicles a lawyer's involvement in terrorist groups and the gray areas implied therein.

I Just Didn't Do It (Japan): A coy chronicle of a months-long nightmare of imprisonment, court hearings, adjournments, re-enactments and interviews with lawyers and cops for something a young man didn't do.

Forbidden Lie$ (Australia): Where do you draw the line between con and artist? A story about a story that was so real it made you famous, until everyone discovers it never ever happened.

Strange Culture (USA): Completed just as President Bush bulldozed through the Military Commissions Act, which redefined habeas corpus for so-called enemy combatants, this film nails the mood of post-9/11 America.

Redacted (USA): Inspired by the murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, who was raped, shot in the face and set on fire by US soldiers, this movie shows found footage that will open your eyes.

Garbage Warrior (UK): Talk about sustainable living. A chronicle of a brilliant new architecture. As the threat of global warming becomes ever more apparent, so does the need for a
new type of human habitation.

Daughters of Wisdom (USA): A feminist look at a small band of women changing centuries-old perceptions of gender in Tibet - a groundbreaking documentary with an intimate glimpse into the daily life of the nuns at Kala Rongo.

Antonia (Brazil): A chronicle of the machismo an all-girls-hip-hop group must face and transgress in their struggle for expression.

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High (Canada): A tale of the marijuana industry: and how it is that such a powerful industry can function so successfully while remaining illegal.

Confessions of an Innocent Man (Canada): After spending 31 months in solitary confinement in a Saudi prison where he was sentenced to death by beheading, see how a Canadian defies his captors as well as idle Canadians who stood by without intervening.

Making Of... (France): A stunning portrayal and description of the "making of" a suicide bomber, and the complexities and contexts that lead an individual to such a fate.

Stay tuned for reviews of these and many more films!