No End in Sight still from Magnolia Pictures.

The Reel Politik film festival, in association with the Munk Centre for International Studies, kicks off this evening with the stunning American documentary No End in Sight. The film follows the history and politics behind the war in Iraq, complete with interviews with insiders and former officials who try to explain why everything went wrong. Reel Politik will be screening this and other politically influenced films this weekend, running discussion panels after every film with scholars from U of T and other schools. Tonight's film starts at 6pm and while it has sold out in advance, some tickets will be available at the door.

CINSSU starts this weekend with one of the most memorable films of the French New Wave period, the Francois Truffaut film Jules et Jim. The film follows two young writers (Jules and Jim) before and after the First World War and the woman they would both love, who would then try to come between them. Playing tomorrow night as part of the Free Friday Films series, the screening starts at 7pm at Innis Town Hall.

The Bloor is screening The Orphanage this weekend, the spooky Spanish horror film which I've already recommended as well as Lust, Caution on Tuesday, the Ang Lee film starring Tony Leung which was highly sought after by TIFF film-goers this past year.

An interesting side-bar this week would be the Wednesday night screening at the Royal of the R. Kelly opera Trapped in the Closet. As the facebook event page indicates, the film will be screened off Beta tapes to keep in mind the Royal's mandate to screen only high quality films. Personally, I prefer the South Park episode but sometimes irony is a dish best served in high definition.

I don't know about you, but I've got a busy weekend full of films. Until next week!