Given the state of the industry, it is more than refreshing to have the Vancouver International Film Festival. And it is even better that VIFF consistently picks impressive films ... with explicit or implicit spiritual themes.

It has become fashionable to trash Hollywood movies. And alas, Im becoming one of the not-so-merry band of trashers. Words cannot convey the emotional and intellectual emptiness I often feel after experiencing most mainstream Hollywood movies.

My cringing is not necessarily in reaction to the artistic quality of the movies, since some are professional and polished. It is mostly a response to their meaning quotient.

So many mainstream American films indulge in cynicism, nihilism, hedonism, escapism, revenge, consumption, or cheap despair. And those movies that actually do try to be positive mostly end up being sentimental.

Would the world be worse off without the likes of Scary Movie 5, G.I. Joe Retaliation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, or even the clever Bling Ring?

Given the state of the industry, it is more than refreshing to have the Vancouver International Film Festival. And it is even better that VIFF consistently picks impressive films from around the world with explicit or implicit spiritual themes.

VIFF has so far not chosen to go the route of the Cannes, Berlin and Montreal film festivals, which award a so-called ecumenical prize each year, for best movie delving into a spiritual subject. (Recent winners have been The Hunt, Adoration and Babel.)

Still, this years VIFF catalogue counts 15 of the feature films it is showing from Sept. 26 to Oct. 11 in the category of religion, spirituality and myth.

Most of the 15 are about clear religious subjects, like missionaries or the Bahai faith. Which is great. But I maintain there are many other powerful spiritual films in the VIFF catalogue, which deal more subtly with meaning, purpose and the sacred.

The rest is here:

2013 VIFF: Festival offers films that explore spirituality and dignity