John Bell appears in A Shine of Rainbows, directed by Vancouver's Vic Sarin. (Sepia Films)

A Shine of Rainbows, a Canadian-Irish co-production directed by Vancouver's Vic Sarin, has been chosen to open the Vancouver International Film Festival.

The story of a childless couple who transform the life of a lonely boy stars American Aidan Quinn and Denmark's Connie Nielsen.

This is second feature for the Genie and Emmy-winning writer and director, following 2007's Partition.

It is one of 89 Canadian films announced Wednesday for the Vancouver film festival, which runs Sept 30 to Oct. 19.

The Canadian Images gala will be fronted by another film from a Vancouver director, Bruce Sweeney's low-budget sexual dysfunction comedy Excited.

Canadians films at the festival include:

• Leslie, My Name is Evil, a courtroom drama inspired by the Charles Manson murders, by director Reginald Harkema.
• Zooey and Adam, by Winnipeg director Sean Garrity.
• Black Field, a prairie romance by Danishka Esterhazy.
• Cooking With Stella, by Dilip Mehta.
• I Killed My Mother,by Quebec's Xavier Dolan.

The Asian gala features Toad's Oil by actor-turned-director Yakusho Koji of Japan, about a couple living in the magical space between the real world and the afterlife.

In the wake of the financial crisis, Vancouver organizers have gathered a group of films about the economy, including Leslie Cockburn's American Casino and Kevin Stocklin's We All Fall Down.

An Education by Denmark's Lone Scherfig, a coming-of-age story about a young girl set in London which made its debut this year at Sundance, also gets the gala treatment.

The full program includes 377 films from 70 countries.

Queen to Play or Joueuse, directed by France's Caroline Bottaro and starring Kevin Kline, closes the festival.