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W e know that Vancouver Island is special; that’s probably part of the reason most of us choose to live here. But it isn’t just the amazing natural beauty and the temperate climate that set it apart from other places; it’s the people that make our communities so special.

■ Into Eternity ★★★★ — It begins with the camera gliding into a long, dark tunnel, which leads to the world’s first permanent repository for radioactive nuclear waste, currently being blasted out of solid rock 500 meters below Finland.

■ The Market ★★★ ½ — The Market is about the illegal organ trade in India. It follows the lives of two women and their families, one from India who wants to sell her kidney to pay off debts, and the other is from Nanaimo and has been waiting five years for a new kidney. In an attempt to save her life, her family wants her to explore the option of buying an organ from India.

It’s one of those universal truths: as condos go up, music venues shut down. Whether you live in London, New York or even here in Victoria. One need only look as far as the former home of Steamers (now a bike shop topped with heritage apartments) for proof of this adage — and when Melissa James moved from Montreal to Vancouver, she saw evidence of the trend everywhere.

People who like classical music, character-driven farce and/or films with a European sensibility should hurry up to Cinecenta for The Concert. This Russian-French co-production opens at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, as a politically disgraced ex-conductor goes about his janitorial chores.

■ Lesson Plan ★★★ — A documentary based on a classroom experiment called the Third Wave led by an unorthodox history teacher named Ron Jones in 1967. Jones started the movement to demonstrate to his students how easy it is to be led into a fascist regime.

■ The Process with Larry Weinstein – Get a sneak peek at the latest work by filmmaker Larry Weinstein (Mozart Balls, Inside Hana’s Suitcase): a “controversial political opera” about a former Canadian prime minister. Weinstein will walk the audience through the mostly-completed work, which will premiere across Canada April 16. 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Odeon.

■ You Are Here ★★★ — Put your thinking caps on for this one. It’s a slow contemplative movie about the existence of self in a collective consciousness. It is sort of like The Matrix except without the special effects and bad acting from Keanu Reeves.

sanctum -(SilverCity/Uni 4) This 3-D action-thriller follows a crew of cave divers as their efforts to trace an underwater river soon turns into a desperate struggle to survive against every nasty trick that nature can throw at them. Starts Fri.

■ The Fall of Womenland ★★★ ½ — This is a moving story of cultural assimilation, and the decline of the Mosuo people, a matriarchal women-led society in south-west China. All Mosuo stay with their mothers from birth throughout their lives; taking on their mother’s surnames, remaining in their maternal home even after finding