By Natalie Rooney

Seeing too many depressing, war-torn documentaries or quirky, human-interest films in a row can take a toll on your weekend. Festival co-founder David Wilson and contributing writer Natalie Rooney categorize the 2012 films based on whether they’re artsy to mainstream and uplifting to heavy so that you can properly plan your next screening.

Artsy and Uplifting

• The Belovs: Daily trials of a Russian family are shown in black and white.
• The Connection: A group of talented jazz musicians in the ’60s waits for its heroin hookup.
• Going Up the Stairs: A wife discovers her passion for art in a film that explores the dynamic of a modern Iranian family.
• Me @ The Zoo: YouTube sensation Chris Crocker and his defense of Britney Spears get at identity, celebrity and tolerance.
• Low and Clear: Two unlikely friends bond on a fishing trip and challenge ideas on fly-fishing.
• Gypsy Davy: David Serva Jones fathered many children, and one daughter created this film to capture the life story of her estranged musician father.
• Summer of Giacomo: A deaf Italian boy and his female companion explore the woods, as captured on a handheld camera.

Uplifting and Mainstream

• Undefeated: A volunteer high school football coach inspires his team of inner-city players.
• Only the Young: Two best friends discover girls and how to rebel, as teens do.
• Ai Weiei: He flips off Chinese officials with his influential art.
• Maria Abramovic: Footage of her extreme performance art is combined with interviews.
• The Imposter: Years after their teen goes missing, a family gets a call while in Spain that he is still alive.
• The Queen of Versailles: A wealthy couple builds their dream home — Louis XIV-style.
• Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope: Morgan Spurlock captures the lives of strangers who unite at the annual comic book convention.
• Searching for Sugar Man: A Mexican musician became famous in South Africa, and two fans search for him and tell his story.

Heavy and Mainstream

• The Waiting Room: Follow a nurse, anxious father, returning patient and other memorable characters in a hospital waiting room to understand what the health care system is like in dangerous Oakland.
• How to Survive a Plague: A vocal AIDS activist group forms in the ’80s to raise awareness for the disease that was not talked about at the time.
• The Island President: Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed faces many challenges in office, especially the threat of global warming on the Indian Ocean islands.
• Bully: Observe the lives of children who suffer from daily and nonstop bullying.

Artsy and Heavy

• Secret Screening Green: True/False co-founder David Wilson called Secret Screening Green “off-the-charts artsy,” so you know it’s going to be an interesting surprise.
• Abendland: What happens while a continent sleeps? Experience the varied night life of Europe with no titles or narrators.
• The Vanishing Spring Light: A dignified grandmother chain smokes and watches her traditional Chinese neighborhood be destroyed for tourism.
• Detropia: This film explores the historically significant city of Detroit and its current struggles.