The 19th incarnation of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival kicks off tonight, and runs until August 26th.

There's a really strong line-up (see our capsule reviews) and a wide variety of things to appeal to different people.

There's quite a good range of films from different countries. When I interviewed their director of programming Vanessa Kwan, she said they were particularly pleased to be able to get a movie from Romania, Love Sick (Legaturi Bolnavicioase), since queer movies from Eastern Europe are rare (especially in light of the attacks on or attempts to prevent gay marches and parades in countries like Poland and Russia).

There seems to be a lot of interracial and interrcultural characters in these films as well. The two sisters in Vivere are Italian-German, one of the lead females in The Chinese Botanist's Daughters is part-Russian, part-Chinese, and an Israeli falls for a Palestinian in The Bubble (Ha Buah).

The Bubble kicks things off tonight with quite a powerful mark. It's an engaging film that adds a twist to the classic forbidden love story by layering it with both the gay element as well as the conflict in Israel.

Kwan says it's a bit of a risk to start off with something more serious, but it generated a ton of interest right away and consequently, there is a second screening planned.

It is quite a departure from last year's festival which featured the extremely bizarre, Monty Python-esque Japanese film Yaji and Kita, the Midnight Pilgrims, and the over-the-top Spanish musical 20 Centimetres.

But there will be plenty to choose from, and some additional levity throughout the festival will be provided by live, unscheduled, spontaneous performance art.

It is Vancouver's second biggest film festival, and it's a good warm-up to the Vancouver International Film Festival, which is right around the corner.

For full details, visit their Web site.

To read part 2 of this blog series, click here.

To read the 2006 Vancouver Queer Film Festival Diaries on this blog, click here.