Australian cinema in 2017 presented a range of weird and sensational visions, from stunning snow-tipped mountains to a feral and murderous Stephen Curry. This year’s outlook looks similarly eclectic, from zombies to iconic animals and escaped convicts.

Looking further ahead than January, this list of films to look out for in 2018 does not include Samson and Delilah director Warwick Thornton’s second masterpiece Sweet Country, nor the director Stephan Elliott’s terrific, acidic suburban satire Swinging Safari (which opens this week).

Hotel Mumbai, director Anthony Maras

A famous Australian film director recently raved to me about how good, and how engrossing, an early cut of Hotel Mumbai was – and how unfortunate it was that director Anthony Maras’s historical thriller remains in the clutches of the Weinstein Company, which acquired the film in 2016.

Armie Hammer and honorary Australia Dev Patel (so good in Lion) star in a recreation of the 2008 terrorist attack on the Taj Mahal Hotel, in which more than 160 people were killed.

Cargo, directors Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling

First-time feature film-makers (and co-directors) Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling extend a clever, viral Tropfest short film into a fully fledged zombie movie with a surprising amount of soul and pathos.

Martin Freeman stars as a father determined to find a carer for his infant daughter before he transforms into the undead, traversing a treacherous semi-dystopian landscape.

Howling and Ramke turn what could have been a rote genre exercise into a genuinely scary film about the fear of losing our land, ourselves and our loved ones.

Dying to Live, director Richard Todd

In this documentary, director Richard Todd explores the state of organ donation in Australia through the story of a seven-year-old girl, the late Zaidee Turner, whose organs saved the lives of six children and one adult.

Turner’s father, Allen, became a passionate champion of the cause. Todd followed another activist, the anti-CSG crusader Dayne Pratzky, in his previous film: the electrifying David v Goliath story Frackman.

I Am Mother, director Grant Sputore

Hilary Swank headlines this Adelaide-shot sci-fi, from debut feature film director Grant Sputore. The script involves a new generation of human beings, born in test tubes and raised by an is-it-evil-or-not robot named Mother.

I have a soft spot for “robots with questionable intentions” movies. This is the cinema of HAL, Tron, Maschinenmensch, Deckard, The Stepford Wives, Agent Smith and the bomb that experienced an existential crisis in 1974’s Dark Star.

The Nightingale, director Jennifer Kent

Even though I included The Nightingale on last year’s list, it would be remiss of me not to again mention the director Jennifer Kent’s highly anticipated follow-up to her brilliant 2014 creepy-crawly The Babadook, given we are still waiting – with bated breath – to see it.

Kent’s period piece follows an Irish convict as she chases a British soldier through the wilderness in Tasmania, circa 1829.

Nurses at War, directors Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe

The previous documentary from co-directors Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe was the criminally under-watched Remembering the Man: a moving account of the 16-year romance between writer and activist Timothy Conigrave and his lover John Caleo, overshadowed by Neil Armfield’s more high-profile film adaptation of Conigrave’s memoir Holding the Man.

Nurses at War (which may screen on television in two parts, but I couldn’t resist including it on this list) will explore the “untold stories of Australia’s and New Zealand’s military nurses”.

The Call Back, director Marion Pilowsky

British actor and comedian Eddie Izzard stars in the feature film debut of Australian writer/director Marion Pilowsky, from Charlie’s Country and Joe Cinque’s Consolation producer Sue Murray.

Izzard plays a British actor romantically involved with a struggling restaurateur played by Emily Taheny (who regularly appears in Mad as Hell). Izzard recently claimed that we are living in “the last century for humanity” – putting pressure on Pilowsky to at least give us a good laugh on the way out.

Storm Boy, director Shawn Seet

“Bird like him never die” were the words delivered by David Gulpilil at the conclusion of director Henri Safran’s deeply enchanting 1976 family film, adapted from Colin Thiele’s book of the same name. He was talking about the immortal pelican Mr Percival, who is up there with the likes of Babe, Red Dog and The Silver Brumby as one of this country’s most beloved screen animals.

Shawn Seet will direct Geoffrey Rush, Morgana Davies and Jai Courtney in the new Storm Boy, branching out from TV (Hiding, The Code, Deep Water) for the first time since 2008’s Two Fists, One Heart.

Akoni, director Genna Chanelle

Last year the writer/director Genna Chanelle Hayes released a beautiful teaser trailer for her feature film directorial debut, Akoni. Partly shot in Sydney and partly in Nigeria, Hayes follows a Nigerian refugee who survives a terrorist attack in his small home village, before coming to Australia.

The director’s previous work includes the short film Wurinyan, which screened at Cannes in 2016 and tells the story of an Aboriginal boy who dreams of becoming Australia’s first Indigenous prime minister.

The Backtrack boys, director Catherine Scott

Former jackaroo Bernie Shakeshaft’s unconventional youth program BackTrack, which involves kids training sheepdogs and spending time in shearing sheds, has achieved striking results, helping at-risk people in rural Australia.

Filmed over a year, documentarian Catherine Scott explores why Shakeshaft’s program is working, presenting a model the film-makers believe could be rolled out in towns across Australia.