best bets at the CIFF

Here are some “Best Bets” from this year’s slate of movies at the Cleveland International Film Festival:

“EYES WIDE OPEN”: Haim Tabakman’s acclaimed Israeli drama about homosexuality in an Ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem community was a critical and audience favorite at last year’s Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals.

“FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES”: The history of American film criticism is chronicled in this wistful documentary by veteran Boston Phoenix critic Gerard Peary. “Wistful” because film criticism in America has become such an increasingly devalued: and, hence, dying: art form.

“GIRL ON THE TRAIN”: Catherine Deneuve stars in the great French director Andre Techine’s latest film in which a young woman falsely claims that she was the victim of an anti-Semitic attack. Based on an actual 2004 event.

“I AM LOVE”: Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton stars in this sweeping, deeply sensual Italian epic about a wealthy Milanese family coming together to celebrate their patriarch’s birthday.

“LOURDES”: A paralyzed woman travels to the titular French town famous for its Virgin Mary sightings and experiences ... a miracle?

“A TOWN CALLED PANIC”: Parachuting cows, snowball-throwing penguin machines, tidal waves and exploding houses all figure prominently in this wacky and surreal stop-motion animated film. Did I mention that it was in French?

“VINCERE”: The most accessible: and possibly finest: film to date by veteran Italian director Marco Bellocchio features an astonishing performance by Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Benito Mussolini’s first wife that deserves to be remembered next year at Oscar time.

“YOUNGSTOWN: STILL STANDING”: Told largely through the memories of some of our most famous natives (including Ed O’Neill and Ray Mancini), John Chechitelli’s documentary portrait of Youngstown recounts the city’s history (and contributions) from the early 20th century to present day.

— Milan Paurich