USA

Conceived, written and designed by the legendary Dr Seuss, The 5000 Fingers of Dr T is a true cult classic and one of the strangest, most memorable musical films for children ever made. Ages 6+

This collection of films selected especially for our youngest audience promises some laughs, some frights – and some food for thought. This year’s programme is probably best suited to a slightly older age group (6-10) than previous years’.

Our popular yearly programme of the year’s best animate shorts is one of the strongest collections in a long time, celebrating the sheer diversity of the animated art form. Including the Oscar winning Ryan.

"The poignant profile of a troubled troubadour… a dignified and wistful look at the unusual life, difficult career and lasting influence of singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt." — Variety

James Mason plays a mild school teacher unhinged by cortisone in Nicholas Ray’s blistering expose of 50s family values. “Sharper and fiercer than ever.” — The Guardian

This selection of Bill Morrison’s mesmerising visual meditations spans more than a decade, Morrison’s short abstractions are mini histories and stories about the fleeting and unpredictable nature of cinema – and life itself.

“The eerie tale is steeped in brooding atmosphere and psychological suspense… Nicole Kidman is better than ever. Brilliant.” — David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor

Actor Richard Burton was never more compelling on screen than as the cynical, cocksure Captain Leith in Nicholas Ray’s tale of a British commando raid into Nazi-occupied Libya.

Lovers of the Broadway musical and of the great American theatre of the 50s will be enthralled by the wealth of anecdote and reminiscence recorded here with a starry array of writers, directors and performers. “Enormously entertaining… Chock full of juicy, touching and hilarious tales.” — Playbill

Bill Murray catches up with some old girlfriends – Sharon Stone, Tilda Swinton, Jessica Lange! – in Jim Jarmusch's deadpan Cannes prizewinner. "Deliciously funny and strangely touching." — Time Out

Adrenalised panorama of Los Angeles life with Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Ryan Philippe. “Racism collides with its targets during one thirty-six-hour period in Los Angeles. Alive with bracing human drama and blistering wit… The acting is dynamite.” — Rolling Stone

Decasia is a jaw-dropping collage of decaying archival footage, which seems to melt, burn, drip and deteriorate before our very eyes.

Sundance award-winning documentary about indie-rock cult hero and ‘crazy genius’. “Superb: a complex and balanced portrait that celebrates and reveals a character who has remained an enigma for years.” — Dave Calhoun, Time Out

Filmmaker Ondi Timoner spent seven years documenting the criss-crossing careers of alt-rock bands, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and emerged with this classic narrative of art vs. commerce.

Appreciative and entertaining double portrait of veteran Hollywood stuntwoman Jeannie Epper (Wonder Woman) and Kiwi newcomer Zoë Bell (Xena, Kill Bill).

James Dean is at the centre of virtually every frame in Elia Kazan’s adptation of John Steinbeck’s Cain and Abel tale. His electrifying impact can still be felt 50 years later – in a beautiful new CinemaScope print on the big screen.

A riveting beginner’s guide to the mind-boggling Enron crash. “Fiercely intelligent, terrifying and absurdly funny… It’s a bracing portrait of American power-lust run amok.” — Scott Foundas, LA Weekly

The classic triangle of old patriarch, young wife and young son plays out at the moneyed end of the Memphis music world in this year’s Sundance winner. Starring Rip Torn.

“The Future of Food gets to the elemental truths about genetically modified seeds and produce.” — Laura Singara, Village Voice

Comprehensive portrait of the notoriously autocratic mayor of New York who became the hero of 9/11. “Strips away the self-aggrandizement and analyzes the record." — Variety

Self-taught naturalist, Timothy Treadwell, who spent 12 summers living in the wilds of Alaska, obsessively filming the activities of grizzly bears, is the subject of Werner Herzog’s “brilliant portrait of adventure, activism, obsession and potential madness.” — Variety

This excellent documentary contains all known footage of country music's first superstar whose classic songs continue to inspire a thousand covers. “A vital piece of historical testimony.” — Variety

A fascinating examination of the mysterious life and the truly bizarre art of outsider artist Henry Darger.

How did one cheesy porn flick end up grossing $600 million, enrage the conservatives, enrapture the liberals, unite the feminists and finally bring down a President? This highly entertaining documentary has the answers.

George Romero, the individual most responsible for the world's enduring affection for the undead has returned to claim his title as King of Horror. We’re stoked to be presenting the premiere of his long-awaited futuristic zombie epic on the big screen.

"A definite contender for this year’s award for best film within a film about a struggle to make a film out of a TV series." — Time Out

The Jurassic Park of great-grandpa’s day, moviedom’s first major foray into creature animation. Accompanied by a dynamic original score by Sydney-based New Zealand composer and pianist Jan Preston.

Nicholas Ray’s rodeo classic centres on the complex triangle of a former rodeo champion (the incomparable Robert Mitchum), his cowboy protegé, and the cowboy's wife. “A fine chunk of Americana… containing one of Mitchum's finest performances.” — Elliott Stein, Village Voice

Ballroom dancing teams from three New York public elementary schools prepare for competition. This irresistible picture of the civilising power of music, dance and inspired teaching may leave you hankering to move the kids to Manhattan.

We’re delighted to present one of the landmark westerns of the 1950s in a superb new restoration. Starring Jimmy Stewart.

Funny, poignant and fresh as paint, Miranda July’s prize-bedecked drama burrows into suburbia to illustrate a classic conundrum: children long to become adults, and adults yearn for the irresponsibility of youth.

“A fascinating picture on wine as business and pleasure, poetry and philosophy, a way of life and a form of colonialism.” — Philip French, The Observer

An exploration into the work and the mind of unique Bruce Bickford, a Seattle based animator whose obsessive brilliance with clay-mation will leave you gobsmacked.

“Powered by a fantastic subject and real-life characters who would be difficult to invent, Murderball is a blast and a half.” — Robert Koehler, Variety

Gregg Araki’s punk cartoon-book approach to directing live action is remarkably right for this bracingly direct film about getting over child abuse.

Embedded with the US Army in Falluja, this intimate portrait of young soldiers in the occupying force is a potent antidote to the recruitment ads.

Robert Ryan, a brutal city cop who plays dirty, is sent to the country to cool off in Nicholas Ray’s striking rural film noir, also starring the peerless Ida Lupino as the woman who awakens his better instincts.

A stunning rags-to-rags morality tale about a blowhard who blew a once-in-a-lifetime Hollywood deal.

Todd Solondz (Happiness) puts the terminally uncool at the centre of his sick comic pictures of American suburbia. This time it’s 12-year-old Aviva whose sole ambition in life is to have a baby. “A demented screwball dream.” — Entertainment Weekly

A gangland lawyer and a lounge singer/call girl rebel against their underworld ‘family’ in this stunningly stylized Technicolor film noir. Rare screening of this hard-to-see cult classic.

“From street crazies who think ‘Jewmerika’ and ‘Jew York’ are run by people like ‘Jew-liani,’ to Nazi skinheads [and] Black Muslim prison inmates… [documentarian Marc] Levin pursues the issue of anti-Semitism straight into the murky places where it festers and blooms.” — Variety

“Nicholas Ray’s 1955 troubled-teen drama refuses to age any more than its martyred lead tearaway James Dean’s star ever dimmed… It’s a bleak and tumultuous film, but searing.” — Time Out

The death of a boxer in 1962 is the focus for an intelligent, many-faceted consideration of brutality, machismo and sport. “An amazing story” — NY Times

The Official Festival Closer is a brilliant new documentary by David LaChapelle, which exuberantly demonstrates the rise of Krumping a startling new hip-hop dance subculture, which has grown beneath the mass-media’s radar.

Margaret Leng Tan, charismatic diva of the avant-garde piano provides a seriously enlightening crash course in her repertoire in this highly entertaining documentary portrait. “Mesmerising.” — Michael Nyman

At 31, drawing from movies he’d been making since age 11, Jonathan Caouette put together this extraordinary picture of his traumatic life-to-date. The year’s most written-about, exhaustively analysed and argued over documentary.

Famed (and famously cantankerous) cinematographer and activist Haskell Wexler submits ungraciously to the shrewd documentary scrutiny of his photojournalist son.

This darkly poetic tale of outlaw lovers on the run is a black-and-white crime classic.

Lou Pucci took the Best Actor Award at the Berlin Film Festival for his performance in this gentle satire of suburban family angst. He plays 17-year-old Justin Cobb, who tries half-heartedly to ‘fix’ his oral obsession by replacing it with a host of interesting alternatives, including Ritalin.

“Even those with a passing knowledge of the tumultuous career of the first black heavyweight boxing champion will be amazed by the depth and range of detail in Burns' irresistibly engrossing study.” — Variety

Fascinating, moving portrait of San Franciscan Mark Bittner and his relationship with the wild parrots who flock around his leafy neighbourhood.

“The Woodsman, a serious and thoughtful drama on a hideously difficult subject, deserves the warmest praise and the widest possible audience.” — Anthony Quinn, The Independent

An evocative chronicle of the rise and fall of the TV programmer whose cable channel pumped a diet of art, cult, unreleased and otherwise under-the-radar movies into the Los Angeles area from 1974 to 1989 and influenced a generation of filmmakers.