There are more than 355 screenings and 250 films to choose from in just 16 days at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and you say you still have to work? Well here are a few picks from the pros, the festival’s own programmers, to give you a head start.

Dragons & Tigers: The Cinema of East Asia

Programmer: Tony Rayns

– Vive L’Amour: The second feature and Canadian premiere of Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming Liang, Vive L’Amour won the top prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

This film is about three people: a middle-aged woman desperate to fall in love, a young man unsure of his sexuality who wants to meet someone, and their relationship with a cocky, arrogant young man who neither loves nor feels any need to be loved.

‘It’s one of those funny, sad and true films that takes you by surprise,’ says Rayns. ‘There’s very little dialogue, the emphasis is all visual, and it’s remarkable because it manages a perfect mix of humor and heartbreak.’

– To The Starry Island (Gesom E Kako Shipta): This drama from Korean director Park Kwang-Su is set on a small Korean island just before it is torn apart by the civil war that divided North and South Korea in the 1950s. Kwang-Su’s film deals with the question of reunification, a source of tremendous tension and unhappiness.

Says Rayns: ‘I liked this one because of its human values. While (Kwang-Su) tries to show the traditional nature of a Korean community before the division and the appalling wounds it has created that have never healed, it still remains a very sexy, funny, warm and human film.’

– Industry and Sex Doll: First-time feature film director Kazuhiro Shirao of Japan got his inspiration for this little gem when he wandered into an industrial section of Tokyo and discovered a vending machine selling inflatable sex dolls.

‘It looks like nothing you’ve ever seen before. It doesn’t have a strong story line but it’s very painterly in its approach with a strong stream of visual images. It presents a very different way of seeing.’

Canadian Images

Programmer: Alison Vermee

– Valentine’s Day: Directed by Toronto-based Michael Hoolboom, Vermee gives this entry the thumbs-up because ‘it’s an emotionally naked, character-driven film about Canada, sex, love and aids.’

– Super 8 & 1/2: Directed by Toronto filmmaker Bruce La Bruce, Super 8 & 1/2 is a highly tongue-in-cheek homage to most of western film history – with a little hard-core sex on the side.

– Motherland: Tales of Wonder: Helene Klodawsky spins a feminist documentary on the role and lot of mothers since the 1950s. Motherland serves as a one-movie support group.

Faultlines: Non-Fiction Features of 1994

Programmer: Alan Franey

– Hoop Dreams (u.s.): This documentary is the work of three Chicago directors who wanted to make a film about street kids. To get their footage, Franey says ‘they hung out at the courts where the kids dream of making it in the nba. After spentding four years with the kids, the filmmakers were able to capture a privileged view of the arc of their lives.

– Freedom On My Mind (u.s.): This documentary about the civil rights movement in Mississippi during the democratic convention in the ’60s, ‘is so artistically done, it’s a strong contender for this year’s documentary Academy Award,’ says Franey.

– Moving the Mountain (u.s.): Directed by Michael Apted and produced by Trudy Styler (Sting’s wife), this film features interviews with the leading dissidents of the Tianamen Square massacre who managed to get out of China and reconstructs events in their lives that lead up to the June 4, 1989 massacre.

‘A very powerful film because it is an extremely moving, humanizing depiction of a major historical event,’ says Franey.

Russia Now

Programmer: Alan Franey

– 100 Days Before The Command (Russia): Franey says he likes this one ‘because it is a mysterious film that works on a purely cinematic level.’

– Palms (Russia): Says Franey: ‘It is a very unusual work that brings a mystical sense to deal with issues of poverty.’

– Dostoyevsky’s Travels (u.k.): ‘It’s a truly delicious critique of the cultural pretensions of Russia and the West.’

The Best of Britain

Programmer: Pochu Auyeung

– Buddha of Suburbia: Written by Hanif Karachi (My Beautiful Laundrette) and directed by Roger Michell, this film is ‘a fun view of London during the 1970s reflecting cultural issues and homosexuality. Quite daring for a made-for-tv movie,’ says Auyeung.

– Century: This period piece directed by Stephen Poliakoff deals with political and scientific issues at the turn of the century, ‘done in such a compelling and interesting way.’

– Family: This original screenplay by Roddy Doyle was directed by Michael Winterbottom.

Auyeung’s verdict: ‘A beautifully acted and directed film with an understated quality that deals with the painful nature of the bonds of a family with an abusive father.’

Walk on the Wild Side

Programmer: Sandy Gow

– Toward Within (u.s.): Directed by Mark Magidson who produced the astonishing Baraka, this is a made-in-America live-concert film about The Dead Can Dance.

‘This will only be the third screening of the film, which has a wonderful sound track of predominately new material,’ says Gow.

– Mod Fuck Explosion (u.s.): ‘John Moritsugu has created the wildest take on the Romeo and Juliet story ever. An uncompromising vision of modern shit and cultural disintegration – live fast, die young on drugs.’

viff marks its world premiere.

– Second Cousin, Once Removed (u.s.): First-time director John Shorney weaves this intricate little thriller with the deadpan style of early Jim Jarmusch, ’40s hard-boiled melodramas and early ’60s tv cop shows. ‘A real surprise.’

Second Cousin has its Canadian premiere at viff.

Cinema of Our Time

Programmer: Pochu Auyeung

– The Silences of the Palace (Tunisia): ‘A simple and gentle look at a little girl, with exquisite cinematography directed by Moufida Tlatli.’

– The Beginning And The End (Mexico): Directed by Arturo Ripstein, Auyeung says this entry is ‘a very masterfully made film that deals with the melodramatic disintegration of a family. A powerful dramatic sense that can really carry you away with superbly crafted characters.’