From its current home at the National Film and Sound Archive, the Canberra International Film Festival will continue the tradition that has brought loyal patrons back to it year after year since 1996. Curated with the Canberra filmgoer in mind, the program will cover new ground and introduce new voices and will complement the panel discussions, workshops and special events set to take place.

From October 27 until November 6, filmgoers can choose from a program curated just for them. No travelling fest package here. Festival director Alice Taylor emphasises the festival's connection with Canberra and its commitment to diversity, with films not necessarily mainstream nor commercial, nor from Europe or the United States: "Some of our key programming strands are films made by women, Indigenous Australians, films from the Asia Pacific, archival content and stories from Canberra," she says.

The NFSA is a natural home for any film festival. What's more, it offers the ambient charm of art-deco heritage features, state-of-the art amenity and spaces that lend themselves to cinemaphilic discussions within its inviting garden courtyard.

It could be just the space to spill into after experiencing the Hungarian black comedy Kills on Wheels, about a pair of young men from a Budapest rehab center who join forces with a wheelchair-bound hitman. It has been said that, despite its hard-hitting title, it is actually coming-of-age with nuance.

Also among the 29 films curated from 15 countries is Zoology, a drama in the magic-realist style about a young woman working in zoo administration who grows a tail. It turns her life around. Written and director by young filmmaker Ivan Tverdovskiy, it has been described by Sight and Sound magazine as a "startling parable about the perils of being different in contemporary Russia". The screening will be an Australian premiere.

Established and aspiring movie buffs who see The Frankenstein Complex, can expect an absorbing study of the development of this movie monster niche. Ma'Rosa from the Philippines is another highlight. It won Jaclyn Jose best actress at Cannes this year. Bad Girl, a new film screening with Simon Weaving's daughter, Samara, sharing the lead, will create buzz, as will new local production, Blue World Order.

The distinguished Australian cinematographer Geoff Burton, whose list of credits in Australian TV and film, includes The Sum of Us, The Year My Voice Broke, and Bedevil, will be a guest of the festival. He will do a Q&A after the screening of Storm Boy, discussing his role behind the camera in that Australian classic from 1978, recently digitally restored.

Burton will also lead a discussion on the techniques involved in shooting analog film. For this he will be joined by cinematographer Robb Shaw-Velzen, who specialises in digital filmmaking. Shaw-Velzen worked on the post-apocalyptic feature Blue World Order that makes good use of Canberra locations including Black Mountain tower and Lake George, and incorporates certain local personalities, like Chief Minister Andrew Barr who appears as an extra with eyes aglow and brain in thrall to others. After the exclusive preview screening of Blue World Order there will be a Q&A with director Che Baker and cast and crew.

Another highlight will be the screening of Children of the Revolution, a 20th birthday gala screening. Those who have seen the film be aware that the late Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, spent his last night in the arms of a committed young communist (Judy David). The result was their love child (Richard Roxburgh). A Q&A will follow with director Peter Duncan and actor Richard Roxburgh, both now work together on the TV series Rake. Children of the Revolution won the CIFF audience award at the inaugural festival in 1996.

Festival director Taylor points to a focus on women, in front of and behind the camera, at this year's CIFF. Eight of the feature films are directed by women, including doco about Ngunnawal elder, Aunty Agnes Shea, Pat Fiske's Footprints on Our Land. Heart of a Dog comes from New York avant-garde artist and composer/musician Laurie Anderson. Elisa Paloschi's documentary, Driving with Selvi, is about a child bride who escapes her marriage to become a taxi driver. Play Your Gender, from Stephanie Clattenburg, explores why a meagre five percent of music producers are female while so many of the most bankable pop stars are female. It asks what it takes for a woman to make it in music.

The closing night film is Cinema Travellers, filmed over five years in India, about the showmen riding cinema lorries who take the wonder of cinema to far-flung villages around the subcontinent. It premiered in the official selection this year at Cannes.

As a national capital Canberra is home to audiences who are "unique", observes festival director Taylor, "worldly", and who "like to be challenged and engage with topical ideas". Moreover, the city large expat community expect windows on the world at its doorstep, and the city now has a burgeoning profile as a screen production hub. CIFF is bound to be different.

The Canberra International Film Festival begins on October 27. Visit ciff.com.au