While TIFF has finalized its line-up (check out our coverage), the Vancouver International Film Festival is just getting started with their announcements.

In the first of many to come press releases, VIFF has already posted a number of films on my “must see” list. It’s going to be a tough year of decision making. Here we go:

Prize Winners & Audience Favourites

Three Monkeys (Turkey) – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Il Divo (Italy) – Paolo Sorrentino
A Christmas Tale (France) – Arnaud Desplechinwhich
Tulpan (Russia/Kazakhstan/Germany/Switzerland/Poland) – Sergey Dvortsevoy
Cloud 9 (Germany) – Andreas Dresen
Hunger (UK) – Steve McQueen
Next Floor (Canada) – Denis Villeneuve
Captain Abu Raed (Jordan/USA) – Amin Matalqa
Ballast (USA) – Lance Hammer
Let the Right One In (Sweden) – Tomas Alfredson
My Marlon and Brando (Turkey) – Hüseyin Karabey
Old Man Bebo (Spain) – Carlos Carcas
The Song of Sparrows (Iran) – Majid Majidi
Happy-Go-Lucky (UK) – Mike Leigh
I’ve Loved You So Long (France) – by Philippe Claudel
Corridor #8 (Bulgaria) – Boris Despodov
Revanche (Austria) – Götz Spielmann
Be Like Others (Iran/Canada/UK/USA) – Tanaz Eshaghian
Sita Sings the Blues (USA) – Nina Paley

The Ark: Elements and Animals

Blue Gold: World Water Wars (USA/Canada) – Sam Bozzo
One Water (USA) – Ali Habashi
A Sense of Wonder (USA) – Christopher Monger
The Lie of the Land (UK) – Molly Dineen
Belonging (Canada) – Audrey Brohy
Sleep Furiously (Wales) – Gideon Koppel
The Dancing Forest (UK) – Brice Láine
Addicted to Plastic! The Rise and Demise of a Modern Miracle (Canada) – Ian Connacher
The Lost Colony (Netherlands) – Astrid Bussink
Peace with Seals (Czech Republic/Italy) – Miloslav Novak
Circus Rosaire (USA) – Robyn Bliley
Cat Dancers (USA) – Harris Fishman

Nonfiction Features: Arts & Letters

The Halfmoon Files (Germany) – Philip Scheffner
Talking Guitars (Netherlands/USA) – Claire Pijman
Café de Los Maestros (Argentina/USA/Brazil) – Miguel Kohan
Throw Down Your Heart (USA) – Sascha Paladino
Youssou N’Dour: Return to Goree (Switzerland/Luxembourg) – Pierre-Yves Borgeaud
Teak Leaves at the Temples (Indonesia) – Garin Nugroho
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (USA) – Matt Wolf
Celia the Queen (USA) – Joe Cardona and Mario de Varona
The Wrecking Crew (USA) – Denny Tedesco
Trip to Asia – The Quest for Harmony (Germany) – Thomas Grube
Dancing With Me (Germany) – Trevor Peters
Bird’s Nest: Herzog & De Meuron in China (Switzerland) – Christoph Schaub
Loos Ornamental (Austria) – Heinz Emigholz

Nonfiction Features: Nonfiction Highlights

The Living Goddess (UK) – Ishbel Whitaker
Donkey In Lahore (Australia) – Faramarz K-Rahber
A Road to Mecca: The Journey of Mohammed Asad (Austria) – Georg Misch
The Infinite Border (Mexico) – Juan Manuel Sepúlveda
My Live Inside (Mexico) – Lucía Gajá
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans (USA) – Dawn Logsdon and Lolis Eric Elie
Chris and Don: A Love Story (USA/Ireland) – Guido Santi and Tina Mascara
Be Like Others (Iran/Canada/UK/USA) – Tanaz Eshaghian
Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers (Cambodia/France) – Rithy Panh
Who Is Afraid of Kathy Acker? (Austria) – Barbara Caspar
Secret Museum (Belgium) – Peter Woditsch
Chomsky and Co. (France) – Daniel Mermet and Olivier Azam
Apology of an Economic Hitman (Greece) – Stelios Koiloglou
The Fallen: A Silent Collapse (Mexico) – Rudy Joffroy
The Atom Smashers (USA) – Clayton Brown and Monica Ross
The Chicken, The Fish and The King Crab (Spain) José Luis López-Linares
Blind Loves (Slovakia) – Juraj Lehotsky

Shaping up nicely! Looking forward to round two and namely, the Canadian Images selections!