Downstream: A festival of lights (not Vivid)

When Owen is introduced to a late-night TV show about a supernatural world underlying our own one, his grip on reality starts to crack. Pitched as a psychological horror, I Saw the TV Glow is a raw exploration of searching for identity through the lens of depersonalisation.

After getting run over by a car, Dutch teams up with a martinet witch who teaches him to unleash his psychic powers in order to find the car that hit him. Her classes are held in the local hall, and the basketball team hates it when she runs over time. A totally off-beat Kiwi comedy that blends the mundane with the supernatural, and a painful twist of fate.

Bong Joon Ho's Oscar-winning thriller isn't exactly a hidden gem but it wasn't the worldwide sensation it would eventually become when I first saw it at SFF. A friend and I walked into the cinema with few expectations and walked out awestruck. That's a rare feeling, to be one of the first in the world to witness a masterpiece in the making, especially here in Australia. 

Lee Chang Dong's Burning is a South Korean film based on a Japanese short story Barn Burning by Haruki Murakami which itself was heavily influenced by American author William Faulkner's short story of the same name. Somehow, this convoluted adaptation successfully transforms the 5,000-word short story into a 148-minute psychological thriller that will leave you guessing long after the credits have rolled. Before Burning I liked Steven Yeun but after Burning I was, and remain, convinced that he's one of the most talented actors working today.

Alejandro is a struggling toy designer trying to make his dreams come true in New York, but when his visa runs out he is desperate for help. So desperate he agrees to work with Elizabeth, an unstable art world outcast who is trying to get one last crack into the industry. Your classic surrealist Julio Torres film, full of heart, and a contradictory deadpan acceptance of the strangeness as reality.

A documentary following a secret society of hot air ballooners who illegally create and release elaborate balloons into Brazil’s night skies. A filmmaker is welcomed into the belly of the beast to explore the intrigue, tradition, and pride of the craft, all while police and bounty hunters stay close on their tails. A wildly heart-warming tale about freedom.

A man is dead, his wife is the only suspect, and their blind child is the only witness. A gripping legal drama clothed in a moral dilemma.

Goal of the Dead is a French football zombie comedy. What more do I need to say? It’s a little too long, but it’s a fantastically fun concept executed well. You don’t even need to like sports to apply. A perfect midnight movie.

A journey of the freedom, falls, and ferments of a family of four sasquatches in the forest of North America. Look, this is a weird one and it is going to make you feel uncomfortable, but that is the whole point. They might be sasquatches, but the film is a confronting depiction of humanity.

A group of eco-activists decide to take a stand and blow up an oil pipeline in Texas. Not your usual premise for a thriller, but the pacing and timing of this film will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time.

Gaspar Noe's Climax is no doubt a memorable film, but the atmosphere of seeing it in a packed theatre at SFF made it an unforgettable viewing. Filmed mostly in one shot, Climax is about a group of French dancers whose post-rehearsal celebrations turn sour when it becomes obvious that someone has spiked the communal drinks with LSD. What follows can only be described as the scariest psychedelic experience you could ever imagine. Bad trip is an understatement. I genuinely feel bad for anyone who went into that viewing under the influence.

After reinventing the world's most well-known kaiju with Shin Godzilla, Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno have reunited to give the iconic Ultraman a reboot. The result is a lovingly lo-fi blend of bureaucratic thriller and superhero story that's every bit as idiosyncratic as you'd expect. Come for the big monster fights, stay for the perverse camera angles and rapid-fire cinematography.