Sydney Film Festival Unveils the First Part of Its Ace 2018 Program

In 1954, Rear Window was the highest-grossing film in American cinemas, the first Godzilla movie rampaged across the big screen, and On the Waterfront won best picture at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes. And, in our neck of the woods, the first Sydney Film Festival was held. 65 fests and more than 9000 flicks later, and SFF is still going strong as it celebrates its latest milestone — with its usual excellent array of international cinema, of course.

While the full 2018 SFF program won't be released until May 9, the festival's powers-that-be have revealed the first 26 films that you should start pencilling into your diary. Come June 6 to 17, you'll be watching everything from this year's top Sundance winner, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, to the absolutely exceptional festival circuit hit Foxtrot, from Israeli director Samuel Maoz. And, you'll be clamouring to see Oscar-nominated animated effort The Breadwinner, from the same Irish studio behind gorgeous SFF 2014 favourite Song of the Sea; the Martin Freeman-starring Ghost Stories, which features the star as a professor investigating paranormal activity; and Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, a documentary profile of the British fashion designer and activist.

Other early standouts include the Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz-starring Disobedience, the newest film from A Fantastic Woman director Sebastián Lelio; American Animals, which is based on the true tale of four friends trying to steal the world's most expensive book; and psychosexual S&M thriller Piercing, featuring Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska and Girls' Christopher Abbott. In addition, the acclaimed Leave No Trace marks the latest feature from Winter's Bone helmer Debra Granik, while this year's best foreign-language Academy Award nominee The Insult relates a fiery court battle between a Lebanese Christian man and a Palestinian refugee. There's also Berlinale Silver Bear winner Mug, a touching Polish satire about a man who has a face transplant (and a flick that has nothing to do with Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and Face/Off).

Among the documentaries, Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders delves into the horrific small-town killings that formed the basis of Truman Capote's iconic true-crime novel In Cold Blood (as well as the film of the same name), with the Paradise Lost trilogy's Joe Berlinger in the director's chair. For something completely different — and completely adorable, no doubt — Pick of the Litter charts the lives of five puppies training to become guide dogs. Also on the bill: Genesis 2.0, about hunters in the New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean searching for tusks of extinct mammoths; Chef Flynn, which focuses on 19-year-old culinary whiz kid Flynn McGarry; and RocKabul, with Aussie journalist Travis Beard meeting Afghanistan's first and only metal band.

On the local front, West of Sunshine leads the charge, with the Melbourne-shot debut of Aussie filmmaker Jason Raftopoulos making its Australian debut after premiering at the Venice Film Festival last year. Then there's Jessica Leski's Kickstarter-funded I Used to be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story, which interviews fans of One Direction, The Beatles, Take That and the Backstreet Boys. Plus, SFF will also screen a brand-new digital restoration of Gillian Armstrong's 1979 classic My Brilliant Career.

The just-announced titles join the previously revealed SFF 2018 retrospective, which will once again be curated by David Stratton, and will focus on ten films from Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. Plus, as well as offering a sneak peek of the full lineup, SFF have also advised just where you'll be seeing this year's movies. For the second year running, the fest has added a new location, with Hoyts Entertainment Quarter joining returning venues The State Theatre, Dendy Opera Quays, Dendy Newtown, Event Cinemas George Street, Art Gallery of NSW, the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne, Randwick Ritz and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. The EQ site will screen a specially selected family lineup, plus SFF's Screenability strand, which highlights the works of screen practitioners with disability.