The Ten Must See Films at the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival

The Melbourne International Film Festival dropped its full lineup earlier this week, and we've been frantically flicking through the program guide ever since. Packed with some of the year's most anticipated movies in local, foreign, arthouse, and experimental flavours, plus special events and retrospectives galore, it's a butt-numbing, movie-loving marathon of truly epic proportions that reminds us why we love going to the cinema in the first place.

After an intense few days of highlighting, here are our picks for the ten must see movies of the festival – as well as a whole bunch of special mentions we just couldn't not include.

QUEEN OF EARTH

After helming one of the most popular pictures of MIFF 2014 with the acerbic New York comedy Listen Up Phillip, writer-director Alex Ross Perry returns to the festival with a movie of a very different kind. Described in the program as a darkly comic psychological thriller, Queen of Earth stars Elisabeth Moss and Katherine Waterson as two old friends whose relationship begins to fracture while holidaying at a lakeside cabin. Colour us intrigued.

Also: Fans of American indie cinema have plenty to choose from this year. Kevin Corrigan, Guy Pierce and Cobie Smudgers get caught up in a love triangle in Andrew Bujalski’s Results, while Allison Brie and Jason Sudeikis play a pair of sex addicts in Leslye Headland’s Sleeping With Other People. And let’s not forget closing night film Mistress America, which marks the latest screwball collaboration between writer-director Noah Baumbach and writer-actor Greta Gerwig.

THE DAUGHTER

Among a strong dramatic contingent of Australian films at the festival – including opening night feature Force of Destiny and centrepiece gala Holding the Man – it's the debut feature from celebrated theatre director Simon Stone that has really peaked our interest. Translated from Stone’s own critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, this dysfunctional family drama garnered solid reviews when it premiered at SFF, and boasts a top-notch local cast that includes Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie, Miranda Otto and Sam Neil.

Also: There’s plenty of buzz building around locally made crime drama Downriver, and we can also highly recommend Jennifer Peedom’s Mt Everest documentary Sherpa. A dig into the shorts program reveals even more local gems, including Adam Elliot’s newest work Ernie Biscuit and two thirty minute films from Indigenous media organisation the Karrabing Film Collective.

OUR LITTLE SISTER

One of Japan’s most talented storytellers, Hirokazu Kore-eda follows up his Cannes Jury Prize-winning Like Father, Like Son with another intimate family drama. Our Little Sister follows three adult sisters who share a house in Kamakura, who discover upon the death of their estranged father that they have a teenage half-sister who they decide to welcome into their home. A touching portrait of familial responsibility and love, the film stands out as an absolute festival highlight.

Also: As always, the Accent on Asia section is absolutely packed. Prolific South Korean director Hong Sang-soo returns to MIFF with The Hill of Freedom, the latest in a string of disarming low-key comedies; while his compatriot Shim Sung-bo tackles the brutal world of people smuggling in the critically acclaimed drama Haemoo. And if you're after something a little more introspective, check out the latest film from Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Cemetery of Splendour.

THE LOBSTER

The winner of the Jury Prize at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, The Lobster is the first English language feature from Yorgos Lanthimos, director of Alps and Dogtooth and a leading figure in the so-called Greek weird wave movement. A pudgy Colin Farrell stars alongside Rachel Weisz, Ben Wishaw and John C. Reilly as citizens of a not-too-distant future, where single people are turned into animals if they can't find a romantic partner within 45 days. Like we said. Weird.

Also: Another big Cannes winner was Taiwanese martial arts film The Assassin, for which Hou Hsiao-Hsien took home the gong for Best Director. American coming-of-age film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance, while the three part epic Arabian Nights was awarded top prize at the Sydney Film Festival in June.

RACING EXTINCTION

Six years after astounding audiences with his Oscar winning documentary The Cove, National Geographic photographer turned filmmaker Louie Psihoyos returns with another guerrilla-style environmental doco, Racing Extinction. Using covert shooting tactics, and aided by both scientists and activists, Psihoyos and co. force viewers to confront the devastating effect human activity is having on the natural world. With endangered species disappearing on an unprecedented scale, it's unlikely you'll see a more important film all festival – or indeed, all year.

Also: Kirby Dick tackles the endemic problem of rape on campus in The Hunting Ground, while The Act of Killing director Joshua Oppenheimer furthers his investigation into the Indonesian communist purges with The Look of Silence. For something a little less grim, try Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, a fascinating portray of the Apple founder from Oscar winner Alex Gibney.

THE GUEST

Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett follow up their home-invasion horror movie You're Next with The Guest, a wildly entertaining thriller that plays like a cult classic in the making. Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens play against type as David, a handsome young war vet with a dark secret who wreaks havoc on the lives of an unassuming American family. Mixing sly comedy with paranoid suspense and genuinely terrific action sequences, this is exactly the kind of movie you want to see late at night with a crowd.

Also: Horror buffs should definitely see Goodnight Mommy, an Austrian film featuring the creepiest set of twins since The Shining. Japanese gore-master Takashi Miike, meanwhile, delivers another blast of demented mayhem with his vampire gangster movie Yakuza Apocalypse. And for the super committed, there's an entire retro stream on psychedelic cinema, featuring the likes of Enter the Void, The Holy Mountain and Yellow Submarine.

THEORY OF OBSCURITY

There's always plenty for music lovers at MIFF, courtesy of the ever-popular Backbeat section. This year, one major highlight would have to be Don Hardy's documentary Theory of Obscurity, which delves into the history of San Francisco's most mysterious rocking eyeballs, The Residents. While uninitiated viewers will likely just be baffled, fans of the band will be fascinated by the unprecedented access gained by the filmmakers. And if nothing else, the soundtrack should be pretty damn great.

Also: Elsewhere in the Backbeat section, Alex Gibney chronicles the life of James Brown with Mr. Dynamite, while actor Ethan Hawke makes his documentary filmmaking debut with Seymour: An Introduction, an understated portrait of classical pianist Seymour Bernstein.

TANGERINE

One of the wildest, raunchiest and most entertaining pictures in the MIFF 2015 program, Tangerine follows transgender prostitute Sin-Dee as she tears around Los Angeles trying to track down her cheating boyfriend/pimp. Director Sean Baker shot the entire movie using tricked out iPhone 5s, a bold and innovative approach that suits his characters to perfection, and helps suck viewers into the film's grimy, hard-bitten world.

Also: Baker's not the only filmmaker pushing the boundaries of the medium this year. German heist flick Victoria unfolds in a single, two-and-a-half hour take, while Gaspar Noe's provocative new film Love serves up some hard-core sex in eye-popping 3D. But the boldest movie of all comes from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, whose latest film Tehran Taxi was made in defiance of a state-imposed ban on filmmaking.

WALKABOUT

This year MIFF pays tribute to one of Australia's most legendary actors, with a retrospective of the films of David Gulpilil. Screening at the festival on 35mm film almost 45 years after it first premiered, Nicholas Roeg's dreamlike tale of colliding cultures in the outback launched Gulpilil to international stardom and remains one of the landmark titles in the Australian film canon. Don't miss your chance to see it on the big screen.

Also: Other films in the Gulpilil retrospective include Peter Weir's The Last Wave and Philippe Mora's Mad Dog Morgan, as well as the actor's recent collaborations with director Rolf de Heer in The Tracker, Ten Canoes and Charlie's Country. The festival will also present separate retrospectives covering the careers of Chilean director Sebastian Silva and American siblings Josh and Benny Safdie.

VERTICAL CINEMA

This short film showcase at Deakin Edge is turning cinema on its head – or rather, on its side. Projected onto a ten metre high, vertically hung screen from a custom built 35mm projector, the shorts in this package make use of a very different type of cinematic space, with an emphasis on height rather than width. Could this be the future of motion pictures? No, probably not. But it's an interesting experiment, that's for sure.

Also: At the end of the day, a festival like MIFF isn't just about the movies, but the experiences that surround them. This year you can catch a film at the Melbourne Planetarium, enjoy a gourmet meal as part of Culinary Cinema, or take part in one of the countless Talking Pictures panel discussions in the festival lounge.

The Melbourne International Film Festival runs June 30 – August 16. For the full program and to book tickets, visit the festival website.