61st BFI London Film Festival

Full steam ahead to Nowhereland, in this surreal, beautifully shot black-and-white dream voyage from French cult maverick FJ Ossang.

A night transforms into a nightmare as one woman attempts to seek justice but discovers her helplessness in the face of institutionalised patriarchy.

A fascinating documentary about contemporary dancer Bobbi Jene, whose ambition and physicality will in turn impress and mesmerise.

A rare and incisive female-centric documentary about the political and cultural landscape of contemporary Pakistan and India, 70 years after they divided.

A disaffected, middle-aged Thai architect is reunited with an elephant from his childhood in this gently surrealistic and boldly visual debut from Kirsten Tan.

A Chilean documentary filmmaker plunges into a family’s darkest secret, with irreversible consequences.

“Grandma our roof is leaking / Don’t worry son, Twitter will save us!” Korean punks Bamseom Pirates take on the world in this anarchic documentary.

A Colombian coming-of-age comedy set on a gloriously eccentric Caribbean island where two squabbling siblings must cover their tracks after an unforeseen accident.

A portmanteau feature that is an often laugh-out-loud portrait of Lebanon and all its myriad charms and idiosyncrasies.

A spell-binding exploration of the human experience, visually dazzling, combining documentary and video art.

Happiness is an emotion shared by all in this dystopian world, but when one man questions his existence, the penalty can be deadly.

A formally audacious account of the life and times of traditional Irish folk singer Joe Heaney, combining ‘fictional’ drama, documentary footage and musical sequences.

A visually striking and experimental anthropological essay about border crossings in the Sonoran Desert.

This Berlin Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner weaves a story around a resilient Kinshasa singer who has to fight for her child’s survival.

Three young Iranian men hit the South of France in Maryam Goormaghtigh’s intimate road movie, mixing documentary and improvised fiction to enjoyable, unpredictable effect.

Romanian life prior to the outbreak of the Second World War is the subject of Radu Jude’s fascinating archive documentary.

Filipa César’s documentary following the rediscovery of the revolutionary cinema of Guinea-Bissau and its role in reclaiming national memory.

Investigative portrait of famous Vietnam vet, ‘Bo’ Gritz, the inspiration for Rambo, that exposes the complexities of how America creates its own reality.

Benedict Seymour’s experimental feature is an urgent, engaging journey into the London riots and our current political situation via imagery from dystopian science fiction.

Portuguese director Pedro Pinho and a terrific ensemble case reinvent the agitprop tradition in a sprawling, formally inventive panoramic tale about workers defending their factory.

A film about nothing is one of the year’s finest documentaries, and a lyrical tribute to its late director, Michael Glawogger.

Meet the man who injected sensuality, transgression and fun into the 1970s NYC and Paris fashion scenes.

The horror of Mexico’s drug war is revealed through the shattering first-hand testimonies of both victims and perpetrators in this astonishing documentary by Everardo González.

A male midwife must reconcile with his past in this supernatural Samoan drama.

Harry Dean Stanton gives the performance of a lifetime as an irascible nonagenarian maverick in a New Mexican town, grappling with his mortality.

A teenager is drawn into the past life of his neighbour in this delicate, poetic work from Brazilian filmmakers João Dumans and Affonso Uchôa.

1960s Japan receives an electrifying charge of countercultural subversion in this visually striking, anti-establishment classic.

A portrait of Bible salesmen selling their wares becomes a fascinating window on 1960s American life.

A moving story of an important voice lost and found – one that makes us reflect on the value and meaning of heritage and ancestry.

Bodybuilders as you’ve never seen them before, in all their vulnerability and away from artificial glamour.

Five years in the making, this brave and level-headed documentary exposes paramilitary activity in present day Northern Ireland during a supposed time of peace.

Tensions erupt when three sons are forced to take over a failing family fisheries business in this dark and compelling North Sea drama.

A rousing behind-the-scenes account of the life of Salim Shaheen, Afghanistan’s most prolific actor/director, and a one-man charisma-bomb.