Sydney Film Festival Announces Full 2015 Program

The Sydney Film Festival's 62nd iteration is just around the corner, set to kick off on 3 June with recently announced, locally made Opening Night Film Ruben Guthrie, and now organisers have revealed the rest of the massive program to steer the event's 12-day run as its draws ever closer.

Launched by NSW Deputy Premier and Arts Minister Troy Grant today, this year's Sydney Film Festival features 251 films sourced from 68 countries, and will be bookended by two Aussie films, for only the fourth time in the event's six-decade-long history: the aforementioned Ruben Guthrie, directed by Brendan Cowell and starring Patrick Brammall, Alex Dimitriades, Abbey Lee, Jack Thompson and Robyn Nevin, and Neil Armfield's Holding The Man, featuring Ryan Corr, Anthony LaPaglia, Guy Pearce and Sarah Snook. Both screenings will be world-premiere events for the films.

The Opening and Closing films for the festival aren't the only spotlight shed on must-see local productions, however, with three Aussie titles making the cut for the 12-strong field under consideration for this year's Official Competition: the world premiere of Simon Stone's The Daughter, starring Geoffrey Rush, Miranda Otto, Ewen Leslie and Sam Neill; Strangerland, directed by Kim Farrant and starring Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes and Hugo Weaving; and documentary Sherpa, from director Jennifer Peedom. Along with nine international selections, the films are in with a chance to be named recipient of the Sydney Film Prize and $60,000 cash in recognition of their boundary-pushing efforts.

Among the enormous spread of cinematic goodness on offer, the 2015 Sydney Film Festival will be featuring 33 world premieres (including 22 short films), four international premieres and 135 Australian premieres (including 18 shorts), suc as Gillian Armstrong's Women He's Undressed, Jeremy Sims' Last Cab To Darwin, starring Michael Caton and Jacki Weaver, and three documentaries that are all up for the Documentary Australia Foundation Award For Australian Documentary - The Cambodian Space Project - Not Easy Rock'n'Roll, Freedom Stories and Wide Open Sky.

Adding an extra air of esteem to proceedings will be the spread of films sourced direct from Cannes, including Hirozaku Kore-ada's Our Little Sister, Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, directed by Asif Kapadia, and Sembene!, about renowned African filmmaker Ousmane Sembene.

This is all in addition to the wealth of titles previously announced by the festival, including the NZ-made Deathgasm, which leads the return of the shlocky goodness of the SFF's Freak Me Out program, plus throwback favourite 54, surrealist comedy A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence, psychological drama Sunrise, Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, and Western thriller Slow West.

Foodies are catered for with a buffet of films with focuses of a culinary bent - Sergio Herman: Fucking Perfect, Foodies and Good Things Await all screen as part of the event's Gourmet Cinema program - while there is plenty on offer across the board, no matter your niche: Ingmar Bergman fan? Check out the retrospective of 10 of his best works, curated by David Stratton. Love music? The Sounds On Screen contingent has you covered. Penchant for the movies of South Africa? Nashen Moodley has five flicks to draw your attention. Interested in Indigenous cinema? Screen: Black and the Pitch Black Shorts sub-program, as well as the musically inclined Songlines On Screen, are all over it.

There's heaps more going on at this year's Sydney Film Festival - we haven't even scratched the surface of attractions such as the Animation Showcase, Dendy Awards, Foxtel Movies Audience Award, Destruction Cinema program and other such specialties, so your best bet is to head straight to the event's website and start trawling the gigantic programfor the who, what, when, where and other essentials now.

This year's Festival Hub once again returns to Sydney Town Hall, and will be open to the public every night (and select days) of the festival, from 4-13 June, and will feature music, design and film-related entertainment such as exhibitions, the Foxtel Movies Blue Screen, talks and panels, a Herman Miller Collection Lounge and Program Gurus to help steer you to where you want to be.

This year's Sydney Film Festival will be held from Wednesday, 3 June, to Sunday, 14 June, at the State Theatre, Dendy Opera Quays, Art Gallery of NSW, Event Cinemas George STreet, Skyline Drive-In Blacktown, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne, the Festival Hub at Sydney Town Hall and SFFTV at Martin Place.

For more information, see the SFF website.