Although Hong Kong is becoming more sophisticated as a film-viewing hub, there is still the sneaking suspicion that a lot is passing us by. Yes, we now get the Venice Golden Lion winners and the year's top-grossing French films as a matter of course - but where is the eclectic Euro-fare - the frequently state-sponsored and heavily art-influenced films which do not win prizes and are rarely seen outside the Euro art-house-circuit? Look no further than Hong Kong's own European Film Festival, which this year is wonderfully idiosyncratic. The line-up itself is so much fun to read one suspects the films themselves may be a disappointment. The programmers, who went out on a limb and sourced a series of 17 movies and videos based on music and dance, deserve to be congratulated. This year's European Film Festival, jointly presented by the Arts Centre and the European Union's Working Group for Culture, marks a confidence in Hong Kong's maturing film tastes. The previous three European Film Festivals - as with other national programmes such as French Cinepanorama - have been much more orthodox in their line-up. But this year the festival, which runs until November 29 at the Arts Centre's Lim Por Yen Theatre, is hopefully a sign of things to come. The films are wide-ranging, running from the late Jacques Demi's 1954 classic The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to two films developed from modern dance productions, a semi-documentary from Austria on the great Nijinsky, two very different productions based on operas from Sweden and Norway, and a documentary about six female conductors from Russia. Eclectic, it certainly is, but the festival presents a one-off opportunity to dip into both the avant-garde and the more conventionally dramatic. The Working Group for Culture was formed by the consulates general of Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, the British Council and the Italian Cultural Society of Hong Kong, and as such is representative of Europe as a whole. Starting with the best-known of the line-up, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (November 17 and 22) is simply a joy - a Hollywood-style musical with a French sensibility. Deneuve is a shopgirl who loves, and becomes pregnant by, a poor mechanic. When he goes away on military service, she is nudged into marriage with a diamond merchant by her ambitious mother. Bitter-sweet, yes, but with beautiful colours, gorgeous cinematography, and a dazzling score. France also presents The Accompanist (L'Accompagnatrice, November 15 and 27), an intimate drama directed by Claude Miller in 1992. It stars Romane Bohringer as Sophie, a young woman who is taken into the home of gifted singer Irene (Elena Safonova) as a piano accompanist. Once there, she is drawn into the household's drama. Touching on the core of human emotions, it is a much smaller-scale production than France's final entry in the festival (a co-production with Italy and Germany): Joseph Losey's 1979 version of Don Giovanni (November 28) with Ruggero Raimondi and Kiri Te Kanawa. Germany and Italy field one film apiece; Joseph Vilsmaier's 1995 production of Brother of Sleep (Schlafes Bruder, November 22) which was Germany's candidate for the Best Foreign Film Oscar that year. Set in a mountain village in the 1880s, it is a story about a girl's unrequited love for a musical genius - whose physical passion may lead him into self-destruction. Vrindavan Film Studios (today and November 26) is about Goutam, an Indian film director, and Francesco, an Italian writer, who are ready to make a film together until some unexpected setbacks at the studios take over. Britain is fielding an eclectic bunch - from the intriguing mini-animated operas Rhinegold, Turandot and The Magic Flute (November 20) to Alive and Kicking (also known as Indian Summer, November 19 and 27), directed last year by Nancy Meckler. Similar in theme to Philadelphia, Alive and Kicking is about Tonio (Jason Fleming), an HIV-positive dancer who meets Antony Sher. Britain's third film in the festival, Enter Achilles, is being screened with Rosas Dances Rosas from Belgium (November 15 and 24). Both of these films are adapted from modern dance productions; Enter Achilles from the DV8 Physical Theatre and Rosas Dances Rosas from the prize-winning dance production of the same name from choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaker. Belgium's second film in the festival is Just Friends (November 24), directed by Marc-Henri Wajnberg from his own screenplay about a talented saxophonist who dreams of going to New York to meet his jazz-world idols - but just cannot raise the cash. From Austria comes the acclaimed 1981 experimental documentary She Dances Alone (November 19), directed by Robert Dornhelm, who has persuaded Waslaw Nijinsky's daughter to forsake her life of seclusion and act as consultant on the film. From Denmark, Carl - My Childhood Symphony (November 20) is a more traditional biography, tracing the early life of composer Carl Nielsen through three young actors. The Dutch entry Belle Van Zuylen, Madame De Charriere (November 17 and 23) also traces the life of a great composer - Belle van Zuylenm - for eight years and during a passionate love affair with Benjamin Constant in the pre-Revolution French court. Sweden is presenting two films this year - A Woman is a Risky Bet (November 26), which traces the working lives of six female conductors, and Black Jack (November 23), a drama set in the country where weekend dances are the social highlight of life - until the sun comes up. Spain is offering one film - Pharaoh's Court, in which an entire company of semi-professional opera performers is arrested in 1950s Madrid for performing an operetta banned by the Board of Censors. As they explain the piece to the local constabulary, the plot-within-a-plot thickens. Finally, a treat from Finland - Prince of the Hit Parade (November 21), a light-hearted and lovely collage of the musicals and Finnish hit parade from the early 1960s. With actors made up to resemble Hollywood icons of the period, plus guest appearances from Paul Anka and Umberto Macarta, this is a fresh gust of wind from Finland - and not a chilly one from the northern tip of the continent. It may prove impossible to secure tickets to all the above-mentioned films; space in the Lim Por Yen Theatre is limited and the popular shows tend to sell-out immediately. This is an interesting programme and can only whet the appetite for the European Film Festival 1998. Hopefully it is the start of more sophisticated programming from our film festival mandarins. European Arts Festival 1997 at the Arts Centre's Lim Por Yen Theatre. Tickets $50 ($30 students) at URBTIX Enquiries: 2582-0268