Get ready, film lovers. The Brisbane International Film Festival is upon us, with another powerhouse collection of excellent films set to delight and impress. From prestigious prize winners at the Venice Film Festival to a homegrown zombie-kangaroo movie, there’s sure to be something for everyone.

The action starts on October 24, with Opening Night red carpet celebrations including a screening of the movie Saturday Night from Academy Award-nominated director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air). The film looks at the 90 minutes of chaos leading up to the first night of the legendary live TV show, Saturday Night Live. Reitman’s dad  Alex Reitman was director and he worked with many of the original SNL comedians, so he’s got the pedigree to make this one authentically hilarious.

BIFF CEO Luke Wheatley says of the choice: “It’s really important to choose a film to set the tone for the festival.”

“Opening Night is to entertain people and get them excited,” he says. “Remember, the first BIFF Opening Night was Strictly Ballroom. We landed on Saturday Night because it’s just such an enjoyable film.”

Wheatley creates the strategic direction of the film festival and heads up a team that includes festival programmer Nuala O’Halloran. The Closing Night film on November 3 is Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, about the Australian tennis star who suffered terrible abuse at the hands of her violent father and coach while reaching number four in women’s tennis world rankings.

“We like to end the festival with a film that has an important message,” Wheatley says. “This is the world premiere of an important documentary about an Australian icon and we knew Jelena could attend. We’ve sold out two cinemas already for Closing Night, so it’s obviously a popular choice.”

Wheatley also highly recommends Anora, which he describes as “a gritty version of Pretty Woman and not for families”. The winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, it comes with a lot of buzz. Sean Baker is the director and Mikey Madison (whom Wheatley thinks should win an Oscar for the role) plays a young sex worker from Brooklyn who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch – news that isn’t welcomed by her parents who travel to New York to get the marriage annulled.

Popular multi-award-winning actor Amy Adams certainly goes for something different with the intriguingly titled Nightbitch, based on the novel of the same name. A hit at Toronto International Film Festival and directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me), the film has Adams as a former career woman who’s now a stay-at-home mum. At night, her maternal instincts begin to manifest in canine form.

Fans of prolific Spanish director Pedro Almodovar should check out his first English language film, The Room Next Door, which won the Golden Lion at Venice. Even if he’s not usually to your taste, this one’s got Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and John Turturro as sweeteners, so will definitely be worth the entry fee to watch them interact onscreen. Based on Sigrid Nunez’s novel What Are You Going Through, Swinton is a former war correspondent diagnosed with a terminal disease who reconnects with her old friend, played by Moore, now an author.

Winning the Silver Lion at Venice, The Brutalist is also set to be a highlight of the festival. It’s about a fictional Hungarian architect, played by Adrien Brody, and is an ambitious project by co-writer and director Brady Corbet – at three-and-a-half hours in length with an intermission. Described as “an epic tale of art, architecture and ambition”, the film, which starts in post-war Europe then moves to the US, also stars Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce.

Wheatley recommends other films such as Black Dog, about a man who has to clean up an area in China for the Olympics and who befriends a black dog. Despite it sounding rather grim, Wheatley describes it as beautiful. He also thinks Emelia Pérez is a must-see – a Spanish-language French film described as a musical crime comedy, written and directed by Jacques Audiard. It’s about a lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) hired by a Mexican cartel boss (Karla Sofía Gascón) who wants to transition into a woman. Selena Gomez also stars.

Film festivals are a great way to catch up with Australian content that might not otherwise be seen in cinemas, so check out the blurbs for The Red (the Queensland-made horror movie about a zombie kangaroo called Rippy), Double or Nothing, 150, and The Aegean, all with guests attending for Q&A sessions.

BIFF runs October 24 to November 3 at seven cinemas across Brisbane: Palace Barracks, Dendy Coorparoo, Dendy Portside, Dendy Outdoor, Reading Newmarket, Five Star New Farm and the Angelika Film Centre. For the full program and to book tickets: biff.com.au