So what are the hot tickets?

The Breaker Upperers

(New Zealand)

Directors: Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami

Stars: Jackie van Beek, Madeleine Sami, Celia Pacquola

Buzz: Surprisingly, there are still tickets available for the opening night film, a comedy about two friends who making a living breaking up couples which was warmly reviewed at its world premiere at South by Southwest.

Shoplifters

(Japan)

Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu (After Life, Nobody Knows)

Stars: Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Mayu Matsuoka

Buzz: Acclaimed film about a poor Japanese family committing petty crimes to survive that won the top prize at Cannes this year.

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot

(US)

Director: Gus Van Sant

Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Jonah Hill

Buzz: A return to form for the director of Good Will Hunting and Milk about a charismatic wheelchair-bound cartoonist.

The Guilty

(Denmark)

Director: Gustav Moller

Stars: Jakob Cedergren

Buzz: Pulsating thriller, centring on a former police officer working in an emergency call centre, that has won multiple festival prizes.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

(US)

Director: Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behaviour)

Stars: Chloe Grace Moretz

Buzz: Touching coming-of-age drama about a high school girl who is sent to a gay conversion camp that won the top prize at Sundance.

Climax

(France)

Director: Gaspar Noe (Irreversible, Love)

Stars: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub

Buzz: Sexually charged musical drama about a dance party that won Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.

On Her Shoulders

(US)

Director: Alexandria Bombach (Frame By Frame)

Stars: Nadia Murad

Buzz: Sundance-prizewinning documentary about a 23-year-old woman who survived genocide and sexual slavery at the hands of ISIS to become the courageous voice of her people.

The Seen And Unseen

(Indonesia, Netherlands, Australia, Qatar)

Director: Kamila Andini

Stars: Ida Bagus Putu Radithya Mahijasena, Ni Kadek Thaly Titi Kasih
Buzz: Asked for a hidden gem in the program, festival director Nashen Moodley cited this dreamlike drama, about a Balinese girl dealing with the loss of her twin brother, as "an extraordinary visual and emotional journey", adding: "I predict that this will be a really special screening at the State Theatre."

Bad Reputation

(US)

Director: Kevin Kerslake

Stars: Joan Jett

Buzz: The life story of the charismatic founding member of the Runaways and frontwoman for Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

Jirga

(Australia)

Director: Benjamin Gilmour

Stars: Sam Smith, Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad

Buzz: World premiere of a gritty drama, about a former Australian soldier who wants to atone for killing a civilian in a raid, that was shot secretly in Afghanistan.

You Were Never Really Here

(US, UK, France)

Director: Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher,We Need to Talk About Kevin)

Stars:  Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov

Buzz: Thriller about a traumatised hitman that won both screenplay and acting awards at Cannes last year.

The Kindergarten Teacher

Director: Sara Colangelo (Little Accidents).

Stars: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Buzz: Sundance-prizewinning drama about a primary school teacher who believes one of her students is a child prodigy.

Woman At War

(France, Iceland, Ukraine)

Director: Benedikt Erlingsson (Of Horses and Men)

Stars: HalldóraGeirharðsdóttir, JóhannSigurðarson, DavíðÞórJónsson

Buzz: An Icelandic choir leader leads a secret life as a radical environmental activist in a feelgood film that won Critics Week at Cannes.

Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders

(US)

Director: Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost series, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster)

Stars: Clutter family

Buzz: Absorbing documentary series about the infamous murders chronicled by Truman Capote in In Cold Blood.

1 per cent

(Australia)

Director: Stephen McCallum

Stars: Matt Nable, Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee

Buzz: Edgy drama about an outlaw bikie gang as its hardcase president gets out of jail.

Cold War

(Poland, UK, France)

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski (Ida)

Stars: Tomasz Kot, Joanna Kulig, Borys Szyc

Buzz: Variety called this intense long-term romance between two mismatched Polish musicians, which won the best director prize at Cannes, transfixing.

Upgrade

(Australia)

Director: Leigh Whannell (Saw)

Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Rosco Campbell

Buzz: In the US, Rolling Stone called this sci-fi pic about a paralysed man who uses an implanted microchip to take revenge on his wife’s murderers "a hi-fi, lowbrow gem".

Foxtrot

(Israel, Germany, France, Switzerland)

Director: Samuel Maoz

Stars: Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler, Yonatan Shiray

Buzz: The New York Times described this Venice-prizewinning drama, which opens with an Israeli couple being told their soldier son has been killed, "a devastating indictment of a nation".

Girl

(Belgium, Netherlands)

Director: Lukas Dhont

Stars: Victor Polster, Arieh Worthalter, Katelijne Damen

Buzz:  A teenage transgender girl trains to be a ballerina in a tender film that won no less than four prizes at Cannes including the Camera d’Or for best first film.

Whitney

(UK)

Director: Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September, Touching the Void)

Stars: Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina Brown, Bobby Brown

Buzz: A candid portrait of the late singer from triumph to sad decline.

Sydney Film Festival runs from June 6 to 17.