It’s time to start planning! The Melbourne International Film Festival is almost here. Back for it’s 64th year, the festival will run from 30 July until 16 August. Here are our top 5 films that we’re hanging out to see :

1) The Wolfpack (USA):

“Six brothers live together in a cramped Manhattan apartment. Rarely permitted by their parents to leave their home, they live vicariously through films in their DVD collection, their seclusion channelled into activities such as recreations of scenes from Reservoir Dogs, The Dark Knight and The Nightmare Before Christmas and the construction of a Batman costume from cereal boxes.

Director Crystal Moselle spent five years documenting the life of the Angulo brothers, including their first forays into the outside world, creating a unique coming-of-age documentary. Both a fly-on-the-wall record of a bizarre sociological phenomenon and a fascinating insight into the nature of creativity and control, The Wolfpack is a riveting experience.”

2) The Lobster (UK):

“Winner of this year’s Cannes Jury Prize, the new film and English-language debut from the wonderfully idiosyncratic mind of director Yorgos Lanthimos (Alps, MIFF 2012; Dogtooth, MIFF 2009) is a deadpan absurdist satire of modern romance that could only have come from the Greek auteur.

In the near future, single citizens are sent to a hotel where they have 45 days to pair off with a mate – or be turned into the animal of their choosing and hunted in the woods. Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz and Léa Seydoux, among many others, The Lobster is fiercely, unmistakably Lanthimos: by turns surreal, grimly funny and strangely moving. It’s the work of one of contemporary cinema’s true originals.”

3) Foodies (Sweden):

“What compels a person to spend enormous amounts of money and time in pursuit of the world’s finest dishes? This revealing documentary chronicles the journeys of five of the internet’s most influential restaurant bloggers (Brit Andy Hayler; former model Aiste Miseviciute; Opinionated About Dining‘s Steve Plotnicki; Perm Paitayawat, aka The Skinny Bib; and Hong Kong’s Katie Keiko, from K’s Luxe Dining Table), self-appointed food critics from all corners of the world who’ve devoted their lives to the culinary quest and amassed huge followings as a result.

Brimming with delicious detail, Foodies serves up a banquet of mouth-watering and sometimes strange dishes – from beetle fungus to a meal wrapped in an edible condom – while exploring the idiosyncratic, often hilarious lives of those who prepare and savour them.”

4) The Look of Silence (Denmark, Finland, Indonesia, Norway, UK):

“The Act of Killing (MIFF 2013) was remarkable for the way it unearthed unrepentant mass murderers celebrated as heroes in their community and still enjoying unquestioned power and privilege. Shot concurrently, this companion film gives voice to their victims, who have spent decades living side-by-side with the killers, silenced by terror.

Specifically, the film focuses on ophthalmologist Adi Rukun, whose brother Ramli was slaughtered during the massacre. With Oppenheimer filming, Adi embarks on a dangerous, emotional mission to break the silence by meeting Ramli’s killers and asking them to accept responsibility for their crimes.

Winning the Venice Film Festival’s Grand Jury and FIPRESCI prizes and an audience award at SXSW, The Look of Silence is as deeply unsettling as its predecessor, but also more acutely personal and pointed.”

5)  Mistress America (USA):

“For aspiring writer and college freshman Tracy, her new life on campus is proving a challenge. Rejected by the university’s literary society, she feels uncool and unpopular, adrift in the endless buzz of Manhattan. But when she meets Brooke – her stepsister-to-be and a whirling dervish of charismatic confidence and big ideas – Tracy gains both mentor and muse.

The latest collaboration between director Noah Baumbach and actor Greta Gerwig (who also co-wrote), Mistress America a comic delight filtered through an 80s lens via Howard Hawks and Whit Stillman. Up-and-comer Lola Kirke is radiant as Tracy, while Gerwig’s Brooke engagingly deconstructs manic pixie dream girl tropes, as the script spins from idiosyncratic female buddy film to all-out screwball farce.”

See the full program here: http://miff.com.au/