Preview by Brad Balfour, Arts Editor
What: The New York Film Festival
When: September 25 through October 12
Where: Lincoln Center,
BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) (Brooklyn)
Museum of the Moving Image (Queens)
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Staten Island)
AMC Bay Plaza Cinema (Bronx)
Contact: Film at Lincoln Center
70 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff/
If any festival matters to film fans, industry insiders and award voters, it’s The New York Film Festival, now in its 64th edition. Presented by Film at Lincoln Center in partnership with Rolex, NYFF64 takes place September 25 through October 12 at Lincoln Center and venues across the city. NYFF64 films will screen at Lincoln Center and in venues across the city, including BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) (Brooklyn), Museum of the Moving Image (Queens), Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Staten Island), and AMC Bay Plaza Cinema (Bronx).
As has happened many times over the years, numerous films slated for the festival get great reviews, are on best-of lists and make it into award nominations even getting major awards such as the Oscars. Last year, several films that got great notices and more, made it to the Oscars such as “It Was Just an Accident,” “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Blue Moon,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “Marty Supreme.”
This year, of the 32 films that comprise the Main Slate there are many veteran directors returning to the festival. Among these directors are 16 NYFF favorites who have appeared in previous editions.
These include Pedro Almodóvar (“Bitter Christmas”), Lisandro Alonso (“Double Freedom”), Ava DuVernay (“14th”), Alain Gomis (“Dao”), James Gray (“Paper Tiger”), Valeska Grisebach (“The Dreamed Adventure”), Andrew Haigh (“A Long Winter”), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (“All of a Sudden”), Hong Sangsoo (“The Day She Returns” and “Nowhere To Lay My Eyes”), Radu Jude (“The Diary of a Chambermaid”), Lee Chang-dong (“Possible Love”), Mike Leigh (“Tender Loving Care”), Julia Loktev (“My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile”), Paweł Pawlikowski (“Fatherland”), Ira Sachs (“The Man I Love”), and Angela Schanelec (“My Wife Cries”).
This year’s Main Slate spans 31 countries and brings together new works by renowned auteurs. There are also 17 directors making their Main Slate debut, and acclaimed selections from leading film festivals around the world. The lineup also includes three world premieres — Ava DuVernay’s 14th,” Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!,” and Mani Haghighi’s “I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies” — as well as seven North American premieres, and 13 U.S. premieres.
Since 1963, NYFF has played a vital role in shaping film culture, championing bold and remarkable works by both celebrated auteurs and emerging voices from around the world. While a lot of things are predictable about NYFF, the 64th edition still has its share of surprises. One that fixes itself prominently in my mind is that the recently announced monster epic “Godzilla Minus Zero” from Takashi Yamazaki comes to the festival as the Spotlight Gala screening — a world pre.
Of course the festival has its expected elements that makes it one stalwart of the cinema world for both New York, the USA and globally. It’s a gateway for many films to be launched on the awards circuit. It’s also a great place for the many directors whose long careers have include NYFF debuts or American premieres. I only knew of Korea’s Hong Sang Soo thanks to the fest for example.
One of the great thing about the festival is that it’s lineup draws heavily on titles from international festivals such as Cannes, bringing breakout films to town including Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s French-language drama “All of a Sudden,” twins Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri’s “Mrs. Dalloway” adaptation “Clarissa” and the Cannes Grand Prix winner “Minotaur” from Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Film at Lincoln Center also has announced the Spotlight lineup for the 64th New York Film Festival, which brings together an eclectic mix of festival favorites, special presentations, topical documentaries, and performance-driven works. Dynamic in scope and wide-ranging in style, Spotlight offers a curated survey of the year’s most anticipated films.
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center in partnership with Rolex, NYFF64 single tickets will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, September 15 at noon.
Explore the legacy of the New York Film Festival since 1963 in an online archive, featuring complete festival lineups, photographs from the archive, and official posters from all past editions.
64th New York Film Festival Main Slate:
Opening Night: “Paper Tiger” (James Gray)
Centerpiece: “Behemoth!” (Tony Gilroy
)Closing Night: “14th” (Ava DuVernay)
“9 Temples to Heaven” (Sompot Chidgasornpongse)
“All of a Sudden” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
“Bitter Christmas” (Pedro Almodóvar)
“Clarissa” (Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri)
“Dao” (Alain Gomis)
“The Day She Returns” (Hong Sangsoo)“
I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies” (Mani Haghighi)
“The Diary of a Chambermaid” (Radu Jude)
“Double Freedom” (Lisandro Alonso)
“The Dreamed Adventure” (Valeska Grisebach)
“Everything Else Is Noise” (Nicolás Pereda)
“Everytime” (Sandra Wollner)
“Fatherland” (Paweł Pawlikowski)
“La Gradiva” (Marine Atlan)
“I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming” (Isabelle Stever)
“The Loneliest Man in Town” (Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel)
“A Long Winter” (Andrew Haigh)
“The Man I Love” (Ira Sachs)
“A Man of His Time” (Emmanuel Marre)
“Minotaur” (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
“Misty Green” (Chris Rock)
“My Undesirable Friends: Part II –Exile” (Julia Loktev)
“My Wife Cries” (Angela Schanelec)
“Nowhere To Lay My Eyes” (Hong Sangsoo)
“Once Upon a Time in Harlem” (William Greaves and David Greaves)
“Possible Love” (Lee Chang-dong)
“Rose” (Markus Schleinzer)“Tender Loving Care” (Mike Leigh)
“The Unknown” (Arthur Harari)
Spotlight Gala: “Godzilla Minus Zero” (Takashi Yamazaki)
“Bucking Fastard” (Werner Herzog)
“Club Kid” (Jordan Firstman)
“The Debut” (Jesse Eisenberg)
“Edward Said: Between Worlds” (Maiken Baird)
“Fjord” (Cristian Mungiu)
“Iron Boy” (Louis Clichy)“Joy of Joys” (Jonathan Glazer)
“Making Marie Antoinette” (Sofia Coppola)
“One More Time” (Cindy Kleine, Andrè Gregory)
“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” (Noah Segan)
“Sixteen Moments of My Life” (Albert Serra)
“A Statement” (Tom McCarthy)