MUST-SEE FILMS AT THIS YEAR'S CINE-EUROPA

On its 11th year, The European Union's Cine-Europa Film Festivalcontinues to dazzle and delight the film cognascenti with its commitment to bring European cinema to the masses. 2008's line-up is certainly one of the most interesting and varied, both in narrative, production values, performances, thespians, and awards/film festivals' credentials.

Here are the seven films that are highly recommended (based on critical and popular reception during their domestic and international release):

BEAUTY IN TROUBLE
From the director of the Oscar-nominated 2000 dark comedy Divided We Fall comes another slice-of-life on contemporary Czech society. This time, the narrative is female-centric.

AFTER THE WEDDING
Fresh from playing the Bond villain in 2006's Casino Royale, Mads Mikkelsen plays a different type of hero in Susanne Bier's Oscar nominated drama. In a crowded year for foreign language features, her acclaimed family tale lost to a politically charged (and well acted) European film, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's The Lives of Others.

AND WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER?
A cast of well respected British thespians (Oscar winner Jim Broadbent, Mamma Mia's Colin Firth, and Juliet Stevenson) star in Anand Tucker's (1998's Hilary and Jackie) adaptation of an autobiographical novel about a son's bittersweet memories of his father.

VITUS
Germany's greatest living actor, Bruno Ganz (Oscar nominated Downfall, 2004), plays the father of the title character in Switzerland's official Oscar Best Foreign Language Film entry of 2006. The film tackles the familiar but heart-rending tale of a young piano prodigy's struggles to win his father's attention and affection.

LOVE SONGS (LES CHANSONS D'AMOUR)(pictured, above)
One of contemporary French cinema's uncompromising filmmakers, Christophe Honore, has crafted a change-of-pace story about love and relationships in contemporary Paris. A who's who cast of actors (Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni) star in this Cannes 2007 musical-comedy-drama.

THE PAPER WILL BE BLUE
With the ascendance of contemporary Romanian cinema toward critical and popular renown, another entry to the theme of revisiting its politically-challenged past is The Paper Will Be Blue.

UN FRANCO, 14 PESETAS
Also known as Crossing the Border, actor-director Carlos Iglesias' satire on Spanish immigration of labor in the 40s was one of the country's critically adored features of 2006.