For the Deseret Morning News MONTREAL - As expected, titles from Canada dominated the 350 films in the lineup at the 2006 Montreal World Film Festival, followed by a substantial number of submissions from France, Spain, Germany and the United States.

David Boily, Associated PressHana Sugiura joins director Eiji Okuda, whose "Nagai Sanpo" shared the Grand Prize in Montreal. Still, more often than not, it was the films from many other far corners of the world that captured the imagination and admiration of this year's many filmgoers.

Expertly directed by Branko Schmidt from the former Yugoslavia was "The Melon Route," based on a true story of a group of illegal immigrants who - after being smuggled across borders in a truck ostensibly delivering melons - become victims of a rough river-crossing. All perish except one Chinese girl, who eventually finds help from a reluctant, troubled former soldier and recovering drug addict suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. The result is a fascinating and unforgettable 90 minutes, impeccably acted and directed, reassuring us that art cinema is still alive and well at least somewhere in the world.

From Switzerland this year comes a considerably more mainstream film that is nevertheless so well done that it deserves to be a major hit around the world. It is called "Vitus" - the name of a little boy who is not only a piano prodigy but also has an impressive IQ. The amazing Bruno Ganz (after dazzling audiences playing Hitler in the highly praised "Downfall") here does an about-face as the boy's charmingly offbeat but influential grandfather, and the result is a film you'll find yourself recommending to everyone.

From Iran comes "A Little Kiss," directed by Bahman Farmanara, who, after being forbidden by the Iranian censor board to make a film for more than two decades, created the memorable "Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine" a few years ago. "A Little Kiss" is equally intelligent and thought-provoking, based on a story in which it is said, "If your conscience is clear, death is just like a little kiss." The plot concerns two aging writers - one an exile and one who has stayed in the country - who are reunited to re-examine the choices they've made after being apart for years.

Reza Kianan, "A Little Kiss" Also from Iran, but set in a snowy forest during an ongoing blizzard, is Khosro Masoumi's unusual but attention-holding "Somewhere Too Far," concerning a man who confesses to a murder he did not commit.

From Poland is "The Collector," by longtime director Felix Falk, featuring a remarkable performance by Andrzej Chyra as a man whose job is to collect goods from companies or individuals who have failed to pay their debts. When he realizes that one of those is a girl he had once loved, and when another person commits suicide, the power he has felt in his job becomes tainted, bringing on unexpected cataclysms.

From Belgium and Spain comes a powerful and very moving co-production called "Hell in Tangier." Based on a real event: A bus driver from Brussels assigned to take a group of tourists to Morocco ends up unknowingly transporting a hidden shipment of drugs, which is discovered by the border guards. Similar to "Midnight Express," the film excruciatingly chronicles his frustrated efforts to clear himself, as well as the devastating treatment he undergoes over the many months - even years - he is forced to spend in prison.

Also based on truth, at least partially - events taking place during Peru's political upheaval a few years back - is "Black Butterfly" in which a young judge, known for his honesty in the midst of much corruption is murdered. Convinced he was targeted by the present government, his fiancee sets out to get revenge. Both her character and that of the female journalist who ends up helping her will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Two Scandinavian films also stood out for me. "En Soap" from Denmark continually jerks you around emotionally. A woman moves by herself into an apartment house after leaving the man she has been living with and develops a strange relationship with the man who lives in the apartment below her and who is set on undergoing a medical sex change. "Search," from Sweden, is somewhat lighter, yet follows the disasters and surprises of a woman nearing 40 who is advised to look for a mate through the Internet. Surprisingly, it turns out to be a much more serious film than it might have been in the hands of lesser actors or a more commercial writer and director.

Even more powerful are two German films. The first, "Under the Ice," a totally engrossing story about a little boy who accidentally kills the small girl he was walking home from school, and his mother does everything she can to conceal what happened - which is complicated by the fact that her husband has just been made chief of police. Equally involving is "Warchild," a co-production by Germany and Slovenia. In this heartwrenching story, a young mother, 12 years after the civil war in Yugoslavia, sets out to try to find the daughter that her troubled husband had given away in hopes of saving the little girl's life.

New from France are two recommendable films. "Don't Worry, I'm Fine" involves a young girl's attempt to find her missing twin brother. And "One Summer," starring the very versatile Catherine Frot, concerns a good-looking itinerant worker who stops by for the summer to help out on a farm and soon finds himself drawn not only to the widow now doing much of the work herself, but also to her daughter, who offers to teach him how to read.

From Italy is a well-done period piece, "Forget Me Not," in which nine pregnant women in 1947, just after World War II, are placed in the one large room in the obstetrics ward of a Rome hospital. Though keeping the women and their particular stories straight demands considerable attention, it is ultimately rewarding and quite moving.

Even more powerful and consequently even more unforgettable is "Holly," by a new and promising young American director, Guy Moshe. Concerning a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl sold into prostitution in Cambodia, it features a remarkable performance by the first-time actress, Thuy Nguyen, playing the girl, as well as a first-rate performance from Ron Livingston, who plays the young man who befriends her.

In a much lighter vein, new from Argentina and Spain is "Sighs from the Heart," a film as delightful as the ragtime-like theme music that accompanies much of it. A young man (in the Toby McGuire vein) is so stricken by the accuracy of his horoscope in a magazine that he decides he needs to get an advance look at the upcoming issue before he makes a crucial decision in his work. This brings him not only to three eccentric old men who run the family business, all wonderfully portrayed by first-rate character actors, but also the pretty young girl who happens to write the column he's anxious to read.

My first impression of the 75 films I viewed was that there were far more mediocre efforts than films worthy of attention, but I suddenly find myself, now that the almost non-stop viewing is over, happily surprised at how many movies, tucked away here and there, were really recommendable.

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