If there’s one reason to check out the second annual Vancouver Serbian FilmFest—which runs from November 12 to 15 at the Ridge Theatre—it’s to see the West Coast premiere of Goran Markovic’s The Tour (Nov. 12, 9:30 p.m.). The film, a surreal tragic-comedy about an acting troupe performing on the Serbian Krajina warfront during the Bosnian War, is Serbia’s candidate for the 81st Academy Awards. It also earned Markovic the best director award at the Montreal World Film Festival earlier this year.

The festival will feature four other films, including the documentary Joe Goes to Serbia (Nov. 14, 9:30 p.m.), and the controversial Love and Other Crimes (Nov. 15, 9:30 p.m.) by the Oscar award–nominated director Stefan Arsenijevic. Love actor Fedja Stojanovic will answer audience questions after the film.

The festival was created, in part, to bring the city’s Serbian community together. “I think they [people] feel even closer to those they left behind when”¦you offer something like this. They feel a part of a community,” Svetlana Vladikovic, president of the board of directors for the non-profit Vancouver Serbian FilmFest Society, said by phone.

All films have English subtitles. For full details, visit www.vsfilmfest.com/.