The National Film and Sound Archive will host the new look 2015 Canberra International Film Festival.
ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, launched the festival today at the National Film and Sound Archive in Acton.
Feature film Neon, by film-maker Lawrence Johnson and local production company, WildBear Entertainment, will open The festival.
It will run from November 5-15.
Now in its 19th year, the CIFF program includes thirty international and Australian films screening exclusively at the National Film and Sound Archive in Arc Cinema.
Special guests include film historian and Movie Show favourite David Stratton and a range of international and Australian film-makers.
Festival manager, Andrew Pike, said he wanted the community to "again" fall in love with the festival.
“The 2015 program is not standard cinema fare. These aren’t the sort of films you could wander into a normal Friday night session and see," he said.
“For the first time, we are including a selection of Canberra films in our program.
"This is a key component of the future direction of the festival. We will be an internationally recognised platform for Canberra film-makers.
Pike said the festival would have its own exclusive space for the first time.
"So rather than a string of sessions bound together as a ‘festival’, we are creating a home for cinema at the National Film and Sound Archive," he said.
“The NFSA will be the home of the Canberra film community during the ten day festival.
"A place to watch films, yes. But also the place to talk about the films, drink wine, meet film-makers and learn.”
“We have over twenty free talks and workshops over ten days because we know Canberra audiences want to get involved. They are interested, passionate and creative; and this festival is for them."
The program was chosen by a panel of programmers.
"I worked with Oliver Krischner, Alice Taylor and Cris Kennedy to build an exciting program with award winning and provocative films from Indigenous Australia, the Pacific, South-East Asia and the Middle East," Pike said.
“From the illegally produced Tehran Taxi which the film-maker smuggled out of the country and entered into film festivals at great personal risk, to the R rated film, The Tribe, communicated entirely in sign language – every single film in the 2015 festival will astound.”
Festival goers will be well catered for with the beer hall style ‘hub’ which will be operational throughout the festival in the NFSA gallery space. The hub will provide drinks, food, entertainment and talks.