The selection committee from the Bermuda International Film Festival will be including a Best of World Cinema side bar in the 11th annual film bonanza at the end of the month.

The dozen films chosen for screening have won slates of awards at independent film festivals around the globe. Offering darks tales of suspense and intrigue, intense interpersonal dramas, glimpses of disappearing lifestyles a globe away, tales of the extraordinary triumphs of the human spirit, light-hearted looks at shifting national boundaries and more — these distinguished films should delight local audiences, normally starved for a film without a laugh-track.

The 12 feature length films selected for the World Cinema Showcase are:

* The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) (d. Julian Schnabel, France, 112 min) French with English subtitles

An achingly beautiful film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a triumph of acting, direction and cinematography based on the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. Bauby is a fashion editor who suffers a massive stroke and awakes with "locked-in" syndrome.

He is almost completely paralysed — able to move only his left eyelid — but his mind is nimble. A therapist develops a system of 'blinks' and, in this way, Bauby communicates his memoirs.

Everything in the film is uniquely filtered through the consciousness of the locked-in man — his anger, fantasies, frustrations, lusts and, unexpectedly, humour and wit. There is no doubt Julian Schnabel has created a breathtaking portrayal of the sheer heroic nature of Bauby's stubborn rebuff of his fate, and we are astonished and humbled.

* My Kid Could Paint That (d. Amir Bar-Lev, United States, 83 min)

In the span of only a few months, four-year-old Marla Olmstead rocketed from total obscurity to international renown, and sold more than $300,000 worth of paintings.

She was compared to Kandinsky and Pollock, and called "a budding Picasso".

Then, just before her fifth birthday, a bombshell dropped. CBS' 60 Minutes aired an expose suggesting strongly that the paintings were painted by her father, himself an amateur painter.

The family was barraged with hate mail, ostracised around their hometown and sales of the paintings dried up. Embattled, the Olmsteads turned to the filmmaker to clear their name.

Torn between his own responsibility as a journalist and the family's desire to see their integrity restored, the director finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a situation that can't possibly end well for him and them, and could easily end badly for both.

* The Edge of Heaven (Auf Der Anderen Seite) (d. Fatih Akin, Germany-Turkey. 122 min) German, Turkish and English, with English subtitles

Fatih Akin is one of the most significant voices in contemporary German cinema.

His realist style and readiness to engage in social and political issues is reminiscent of Fassbinder.

In The Edge of Heaven, his finely sketched relationships between characters are the defining features of a poignant and at times devastating film. Retired widower Ali offers a monthly allowance to prostitute Yeter in exchange for her live-in company.

His bookish son, Nejat, disapproves — but he quickly warms to Yeter when he discovers that she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. When Yeter dies in an accident, Nejat travels to Istanbul to begin an organised search for Yeter's daughter, Ayten.

He doesn't know that political activist Ayten is already in Germany, where she befriends German student Lotte.

When Ayten is arrested and deported, passionate Lotte decides to abandon her comfortable life to help Ayten. Lives intersect, and plot twists abound, as paternal, maternal, heterosexual and lesbian love are juxtaposed with questions of family and homeland. Best Screenplay, Cannes Film Festival and European Film Awards

* Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (d. Kim Longinotto, United Kingdom, 100 min)

For the 40 children who call it home, Mulberry Bush boarding school in Oxford is their last chance.

They have been excluded from the mainstream school system for extreme behaviour, and they are given three years at Mulberry Bush to turn their lives around.

The emotionally traumatised young boys at the heart of the film lash out in shockingly extreme ways — hitting, swearing and spitting — as their severe emotional trauma is taken out on the counsellors/teachers at the school, and on their fellow classmates.

Staff members at the school earn our respect for their patience and determination, while at times having to restrain the boys to prevent them hurting others and themselves.

This is ultimately a heartbreaking, engrossing study of dysfunction — and a stark reminder of the effect that adults have on children, both good and bad. Special Jury Prize, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam. This film is screening at BIFF as a Sneak Preview courtesy of Women Make Movies.

* My Brother is an Only Child (Mio fratello e figlio unico) (d. Daniele Luchetti, Italy, 108 min) Italian with English subtitles

A smash hit at the Italian box office, My Brother is an Only Child is set in a small Italian town in the 60s and 70s and tells the story of two brothers who want to change the world — but in completely different ways.

The elder, Manrico (Riccardo Scarmaccio) is a handsome, charismatic firebrand who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio (Elio Germano), the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrarian voice by joining the reactionary Fascists.

What starts as a typical tale of sibling rivalry becomes the story of the polarising and paralysing politics of those turbulent times, and the rift between the brothers is further intensified when Accio realises that he loves his brother's girlfriend, Francesca (Diane Fleri) who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico's increasingly dangerous ideas.

An intensely cinematic and incredibly incisive film about the dreams and disillusionment of the 60s and 70s, My Brother is an Only Child pays homage to the early classics of Bertolucci and Bellochio and shares their beauty, intelligence and youthful exuberance. Winner, Best Actor, Actress, Screenplay and Editing, Italian Film Awards

* Operation Filmmaker (d. Nina Davenport, US, 95 min)

In the wake of "Operation Iraqi Freedom", American actor Liev Schreiber had an idealistic notion: to rescue an Iraqi film student from the rubble of his country (and film school) and bring him to the West to intern on a Hollywood movie ('Everything is Illuminated').

It promised to be a heartwarming tale, a small victory out of the troubled mission of the US war in Iraq. But as in the war itself, "good" intentions yielded unintended consequences, and even this operation doesn't go smoothly.

Director Nina Davenport becomes personally involved in Schreiber's charitable effort, and soon finds herself embroiled in a complex moral quagmire and all-consuming power struggle between filmmaker and subject. Iraqi film student Muthana Mohmed, 25, is engaging, charismatic, handsome — but, in practical terms, utterly helpless, and carrying a bad attitude.

When he declares his love for George W. Bush, the liberal producers are taken aback — just like the war itself, things are not going according to plan. Operation Filmmaker is an engaging, sometimes comical political parable.

Full of remarkable twists and turns, it takes the viewer on a riveting ride from Baghdad to Hollywood. Jury Prizes, Rotterdam, Chicago, and AFI festivals

* Import Export (d. Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 135 min) German, Russian and Slovak with English subtitles

In Import Export, Ulrich Seidl's grim but often darkly funny snapshots of life in a changing Europe take little heed of national boundaries, suggesting that the malaise goes deep and wide.

Olga, a nurse from the Ukraine, abandons her life to look for a better one in the West, but ends up working as a cleaning woman in a geriatric ward in Austria. Moving in the opposite direction is Paul, an unemployed security guard from Vienna who heads East with his sleazy stepfather to seek a new life in the Ukraine.

Both youngsters are trying to improve their circumstances and find happiness, but this doesn't come easily. Using non-professional actors and blurring the line between documentary and fiction, Seidl often gives us scenes that are hard to watch. But he also finds moments of true compassion and tenderness, all the more remarkable amidst the desolation he reveals.

* Up the Yangtze (d. Yung Chang, Canada, 93 min) English, and Mandarin with English subtitles

A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze, navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as "The River". In the biggest engineering endeavour since the Great Wall, China has set out to harness the Yangtze with the world's largest mega-dam. Meanwhile, at the river's edge, Yu Shui says goodbye to her family and turns to face the future.

Among the two million losing their livelihood to the dam, the Yu family must send their daughter off to work. In a bitter irony, she has been hired by Fairwell Cruises, part of the strange apocalyptic tourist trade that thrives along the river, offering a final glimpse of a legendary world before it disappears forever.

While Yu Shui works in the galley down below, Western passengers take in the spectral views, consuming entertainment on the spacious upper decks, including an entertainer singing "It's so easy to learn Chinesey".

All the while, the ship charts a course towards its controversial destination, travelling upriver through a landscape of unprecedented upheaval, as ancient and revered sites give way to the burgeoning candy-coloured towers of China's neon future. Filmmaker Yung Chang has crafted a compassionate account of peasant life and a powerful documentary narrative of contemporary China.

Best Canadian Documentary, Vancouver International Film Festival and named of Canada's Top Ten Films of 2007.

* Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains (d. Gonzalo Arijon, France, 130 min) Spanish with English subtitles

Three days before Christmas in 1972, two Uruguayan rugby players walked out of the snowy Andes, and asked a Chilean shepherd where they were.

The story they told shocked the world. Bound for a match in Santiago, Chile, the plane carrying their team had crashed in the mountains 70 days before, killing 21 of the 45 passengers.

Ten days after the crash, they heard on the radio that the search for them had been called off. Starving and emaciated, and with nothing left to eat, they made the painful decision to eat the flesh of their late friends.

Constructed from re-enactments and the testimony of survivors, Stranded is a cinematic tour de force as Arijon goes beyond the lurid tale of cannibalism that swept the headlines to discover the essence of this extraordinary human drama. Winner, Joris Ivens Award, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.

* Tuya's Marriage (d. Quan An Wang, China, 96 min) Mandarin with English subtitles

This is a gentle, complex drama about the bittersweet affairs of the heart. Tuya is the persevering wife of Bater, a herdsman who lost his legs exploring water in the Neimenggu (Inner Mongolia) grassland that is fast vanishing as a result of desertification.

She takes up the sole responsibility to make a living for the family, but develops a dislocated lumbar from her hard labour and risks paralysis herself. Faced with harsh reality, the couple decides to divorce so that Tuya can seek a better life.

She meets suitors who are rich but disingenuous, likeable but shy, and saves a suicidal Bater who still longs for Tuya and their children along the way. Shot beautifully, this is a love story to a way of life that is quickly vanishing. Winner, Golden Bear, Berlin Film Festival.

* The Unknown Woman (La Sconosciuta) (d. Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy, 118 min) Italian with English subtitles

The Unknown Woman is a haunting story of mystery and love in a dark Hitchcockian style.

Irena is a young Russian woman who insinuates herself into the lives of the wealthy Italian family of Valeria and Donato. She becomes their trusted maid and the beloved nanny of their fragile daughter Tea. But why?

As Irena becomes increasingly obsessed with Tea and the family, we discover she has a vicious and disturbing past.

Through violent flashbacks we piece together the intricate jigsaw that is the enigma of Irena's lost youth: kidnapping, white slavery and sexual humiliation. Soon enough, Muffa, the 'owner' she has fled, tracks her down and a sinister game is played out.

The Unknown Woman is a suspenseful thriller that keeps you enthralled as the motivation for Irena's peculiar obsessions is revealed. Audience Award, European Film Awards.

* Unfinished Sky (d. Peter Duncan, Australia, 91 min) English and Dari with English subtitles

Unfinished Sky is a beautifully shot film that combines social commentary, suspense and romance.

John is a gruff loner farming his land with his dog as his best friend. One day, a terrified woman who has recently suffered a horrible beating collapses on his driveway.

Sheltering and caring for Tahmeena pushes John out of his numbing routine and isolated existence.

He lies to the cop that comes looking for her; then he deliberately seeks an explanation for her injuries. Realising Australia is not welcoming to all, he decides to help this one refugee.

The tension builds gradually on all fronts. Will the cops find her? What happens to unwanted people?

Will John and Tahmeena, two deeply troubled souls, find trust and solace in each other?

The emotional dynamic is perfectly balanced in this absorbing drama.

Tickets to BIFF 2008 will go on sale Wednesday March 19 at 10 a.m. both online at www.biff.bm as well as at the festival's physical box office, Washington Lane, Hamilton.

The festival runs from March 28-April 5.