• Opening the festival is Australian writer-director Mirrah Foulkes' Judy & Punch. This live-action reinterpretation of the famous 16th century puppet show turns the traditional story of Punch & Judy on its head and brings to life a darkly comic and fierce female-driven revenge story.

• Australian director Ian Darling's The Final Quarter. Earning an impassioned standing ovation at its World Premiere at Sydney Film Festival, The Final Quarter documents AFL champion footballer and Indigenous leader Adam Goodes' call-out against racism and Australia's heated response.

• Slam, in which Sydney-based director Partho Sen-Gupta uses the rhythm of a poetry slam in this powerful look at race and gender relations; and from New Zealand, the warmly humorous Bellbird, set on a northern New Zealand farm, and featuring a standout performance from Marshall Napier (Babe).

• Stories from around the world include: Photograph, by Ritesh Bhatra. It's a whimsical love story following a Mumbai street photographer who convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancé; Icelandic director sthildur Kjartansdttir's feature debut The Deposit, about a journalist who invites three immigrant women to share her Reykjavik house ultimately exploring the priceless human quality of empathy; and the cinematic The Third Wife, about an arranged marriage in 19th century Vietnam filled with passion, beauty and melancholy.

• Films diving into fascinating true stories are: Sydney Film Festival audience favourite, The Biggest Little Farm, which follows filmmaker John Chester, his wife and dog as they lovingly chase their dream to set up a sustainable farm in harmony with nature; and Yuli, a moving and unusual fusion of biography and dazzling dance of Cuban ballet luminary Carlos Acosta who became the the first black principal dancer to join the prestigious UK Royal Ballet.

• The Final Quarter - Cheers turned to boos in the final years of AFL champion footballer Adam Goodes' career when he publicly called out racism. This impassioned film tracks Australia's heated response.
  
• The Biggest Little Farm - A genuine crowd-pleaser that follows filmmaker John Chester, his wife and dog as they chase their dream to set up a sustainable farm, with plenty of enthusiasm but zero experience.
  
• Photograph - Ritesh Bhatra (The Lunchbox, SFF 2014) returns with a whimsical love story about a Mumbai street photographer who convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancé. Screens with short film Prone to the Drone.

• Slam - A hijab-wearing Sydney slam poet goes missing in this powerful look at race and relations starring Adam Bakri (Omar) and Rachael Blake (Lantana), directed by Partho Sen-Gupta.

• The Public - Emilio Estevez directs and acts alongside Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Christian Slater and Michael K. Williams in this heart-warming film about homeless people who occupy a library to escape freezing conditions.

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