It’s the first weekend of SIFF and choosing from all the excellent films available can be an overwhelming task. No need to stress: we’re sure you’ll like whatever movies you go see, but we especially think you’ll like these:

Nurse.Fighter.Boy [siff] : A film that is at turns both dreamy and gritty in which a widowed nurse shares her dreams of Zion (Jamaica) with her son, who uses music to weave a spell of magic around them. Meanwhile, a boxer struggles to hold to his own dreams and keep afloat the gym owned by his suddenly deceased friend and mentor. As their lives become entwined, so do their dreams. A story about hope, faith and trust accompanied by a gorgeous soundtrack. [zee] May 22, 7:00 pm (Harvard Exit); May 23, 4:30 pm (Harvard Exit); June 6, 1:30 pm (Admiral Theater)

Terribly Happy [siff] : Although I gave up once I realized that my screener wasn’t subtitled, this city cop in a small town Danish noir at least looked stylishly done. The description cites the Cohen brothers and David Lynch; so your mileage may vary. [josh] May 22, 4:00 pm (Uptown); May 25, 7:00 pm (Egyptian)

Trimpin: The Sound of Invention [siff] : A European native who moved to Seattle to access technological components for his elaborate, unusual sculptures, Trimpin shuns the usual accroutrements of the successful artist and gains renown for working resolutely within his own self-made world. Follow as he creates a perpetual motion machine, colloborates with the Kronos Quartet, and builds a tower of self-tuning electric guitars for the EMP guitar gallery. [zee] May 22, 7:00 pm (SIFF Cinema); May 23, 1:30 pm (SIFF Cinema); June 1, 4:30 pm (Kirkland)

The Yes Men Fix the World [siff] : The bastard love child of Sacha Baron Cohen and Michael Moore? Sending up corporations with hoaxes and stunts to reveal the evils of globalism and the corruption of free trade. Likely to be a crowd pleaser among those who cheered from the balcony at last year’s Battle in Seattle premiere. [josh] May 22, 7 pm (Neptune); May 23, 11 am (Neptune); June 4, 4:30 (Kirkland).

Spring Breakdown [siff] : Parker Posey, Amy Poehler, and Rachel Dratch plumb the comedy goldmine of grown-up losers reliving their teenaged pasts through a babysitting assignment on South Padre from a conservative senator. If not for the cast and writing crew, you could preemptively dismiss this as a surefire trainwreck. Instead, it could be worth a look for more than rubbernecking. [josh] May 22, 9:30 pm (Neptune), May 23, 4:15 pm (Neptune).

I Sell the Dead [siff] : A comedy-horror more comic than actually horrific about a grave robber on the night before his execution relating the history of how he got into the “snatching” business to a priest intent on hearing all the details. His increasingly funny vignettes illustrate the difficulties in obtaining enough bodies to satisfy a greedy employer, the challenges of dealing with the not-entirely-dead, the struggle to stay ahead of rival snatching gangs and why you should never trust a corpse. [zee] May 22, midnight (Egyptian); May 25, 9:30 (Neptune)

Modern Life [siff] : Only a few minutes of this film feature anything other than long quiet takes of country roads or static shots of conversations at kitchen tables. Yet, laconic pacing aside, it manages to be an oddly mesmerizing look at the ongoing extinction of small family farms in the steeps of France told almost entirely through interviews with reticent elders whose cherished way of life seems likely to die with them. [josh] May 23, 11 am (Uptown); June 2, 7:00 pm (Harvard Exit).

Sunset Boulevard [siff] : One of the best films ever made, the classic tale of morality, madness and murder in Hollywood is made all the better by viewing it on the big screen. An in-person introduction by TCM’s Robert Osborne adds to the appreciation. [zee] May 23, 1:30 pm (Harvard Exit)

I’m No Dummy [siff] : Ventriloquism’s popularity has waxed and waned since its first big wave of popularity back in the 1930′s and some people think it’s about to hit another peak cycle now. Archival footage and interviews with past and present practitioners tell the history and development of ventriloquism and what makes inspires performers to pick up the practice. [zee] May 23, 6:45 pm (SIFF Cinema); May 24, 4:00 pm (Pacific Place); June 3, 7:00 pm (Kirkland)

we live in public [siff] : The bloggiest of bloggable movies at the entire festival presents the chronicle of early internet artist/entrepreneur Josh Harris’s ill fated experiments with communal and private public living. Puts the current wave of ‘lifecasters’, twitterati, and oversharers into perspective. [josh] May 23, 7 pm (Neptune); May 24, 11 am (Egyptian).

The Cove [siff] : a terrifyingly intense look inside the captive dolphin industry, featuring a Japanese dolphin park, anarchistic activists, and interviews with Flipper’s onetime trainer. Hardly a day at the park. [josh] May 24, 3:45 pm (Egyptian); May 25, 6:30 pm (Neptune)

Paper Heart [siff] : this is-it-or-isn’t-it documentary is about a young woman who’s sworn never to fall in love traveling around the country to make a low-budget, excessively precious, heartfelt documentary about people who are in love. Along the way she runs into Michael Cera, who seems bound to spoil all of her contradictory plans with his excessive charms. [josh] May 23, 7:00 pm (Uptown); May 24, 4:00 pm (Uptown).