Winter has its perks: whisky by the fire, warm woollen knits and spending great swathes of time in dark cinemas for starters. In this regard the Sydney Film Festival (June 6-17) is well timed. Here are some highlights of the low lights.

Moonrise Kingdom: Eye-melting '60s interior design, a broken-down Bill Murray and young Scouts in love – Wes Anderson is back.

Dead Europe: an adaptation of Australian author (and Smith contributor), Christos Tsiolkas's 2006 novel about Europe's anti-semetic past gets an appropriately chilling cinematic treatment.

Woody Allen: A Documentary: A behind-the-neuroses exposé of the beloved, but controversial, cult figure.

Death of a Japanese Salesman: Ready to cry? Mami Sunada documents her workaholic and terminally ill father as he appraises his life and organises his departure.

Safety Not Guaranteed: the Australian premiere of this offbeat take on the time-travel genre, starring the bug-eyed Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation).

Parmedico: examines the intense world of paramedics in Lahore, Honolulu, Mexico City and Venice as they drive fast to save lives.

Crazy Horse: indefatigable dance documentarian Frederick Wiseman turns his gaze on a high-end Parisian exotic dance club coordinating an ambitious project.

The Last Dogs of Winter: the Canadian Eskimo dog faces extinction as Inuits replace them with Ski-Doo technology. Can an eccentric Canadian and a young New Zealand actress save them?

The King of Pigs: Korea produces wonderfully strange films, such as this animated examination of bullying.

Thanks to the team at SFF we have double passes to give away to: 

Dead Europe (June 14 and 15)
Paramedico (June 15)
Crazy Horse (June 10)
The King of Pigs (June 12)
The Last Dogs of Winter (June 16)

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