But there were several fictional films at Palm Springs, especially those from Eastern Europe, that packed a wallop as powerful, as immediate and as real as any documentary. Topping my own list were "The Trap" from Serbia, "12" from Russia, "It's Hard to Be Nice" from Bosnia, and "A Time to Die" from Poland.

The electrifying film, "The Trap," concerns a struggling father who, desperate to come up with enough money for a crucial operation for his little boy, is offered the full amount, providing he will kill someone. And "12," the gripping Russian remake of "Twelve Angry Men" with the famed and multitalented Nikita Mikhalkov ("Burnt by the Sun") not only directing but also playing the 12th jury member, is an out-and-out masterpiece.

"It's Hard to Be Nice" also glues you to the screen from beginning to end, as a taxi driver who, after working undercover for a gang of thieves, makes up his mind to change his life for the sake of his wife and baby boy, yet meets one earthshaking obstacle after another. And Poland's artists of cinema, Dorota Kedzierzawska and Arthur Reinhart, have once again come up with a real gem, the beautifully shot in crisp black-and-white "Time to Die" focusing on the last days of an old woman, superbly played by the 91-year-old actress Danuta Szaflarska. Brilliant filmmaking.

The immensely charming and offbeat "Duska," by Holland's very clever and original Jos Stelling, will stay with you for a long time, for it's not only focused on one of the oddest friendships you'll ever come across, but no one can do more without dialogue than the ingenious master of Dutch cinema.

And from just a little farther northeast, in Sweden, came another burst of fresh air. The equally clever and extremely inventive Roy Andersson's "You the Living" proved to be a welcome delight for Palm Springs filmgoers. And for anyone who knows and admires Andersson's masterful and prize-winning "Songs From the Second Floor," this latest highly unconventional gem will surely be something you won't want to miss.

And there were many many more gems from around the world, especially "Getting Home" from China, "Jar City" from Iceland, "XXY" from Argentina, "Short Circuits" from Slovenia, "Eduart" from Greece and Germany, "Conversations with My Gardener" from France, and certainly Estonia's devastating but amazingly professional and realistic film, "The Class," inspired by the Columbine tragedy, Belgium's "Ben X" about an autistic boy whose life is colored and distorted by video games, and Macedonia's very intriguing and thought-provoking film, "Shadows," from Milcho Manchevski, the prize-winning director of 1994's "Before the Rain."

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