The Lincoln Center is welcoming back the New York Film Festival (NYFF) for its 61st year and is boasting a selection of diverse and highly anticipated films. The festival runs until Oct. 15 and offers student tickets for all screenings.
Last Friday the festival opened with Todd Haynes’ “May December” starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. The romantic drama is a fictionalized retelling of the real life events of Mary Kay-Letourneau according to screenwriter Samy Burch. The film is part of the festival’s Main Slate of which there are 28 other films. “All of Us Strangers” is a highlight of the slate which stars Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott; a romantic fantasy feature loosely based on Taichi Yamada’s novel “Strangers.” Yorgos Lanthimos newest film “Poor Things” starring Emma Stone is also part of the Main Slate and is a punk take on the classic “Frankenstein” story.
NYFF’s Main Slate selections this year also provide a large range of international films including Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” (French), which previously won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is a meditation on finding the truth within people’s relationships after a novelist is accused with the murder of her husband. Other notable international features include Radu Jude’s “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World” (Romanian), a film about an overworked production assistant, and Zhang Lu’s “The Shadowless Tower” (Chinese), set in contemporary Beijing exploring the obstacles of growing older while living with the past.
The Spotlight selections of the festival are spearheaded by Bradley Cooper’s second directorial work, “Maestro.” The film dramatizes the life of the musician Leonard Bernstein, the festival buzzing it a “tour de force.” It made its North American premiere at the festival on Oct. 2 and will be screened again at the Spotlight Gala on Oct. 13. Other selections include “Foe,” a science-fiction film set in 2065 which stars Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan as a midwestern couple faced with the challenges of climate change and artificial intelligence. Richard Linklater’s newest project “Hit Man” also premiered at NYFF on Oct. 3 and is garnering critical acclaim. The film starring Glen Powell is based on the true story of a by-day philosophy professor turned undercover hitman by-night.
As a complement to the Main Slate selections, the Currents portion of the festival amplifies new and innovative contemporary voices within the industry. “The Human Surge 3” opened the Currents section and is helmed by Argentinian filmmaker, Eduardo Williams. He uses a 360-degree camera to capture the landscapes of Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and Peru to explore the interconnectedness of humans despite distance and cultural differences. Thien An Pham’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” has also been much anticipated at the festival after winning the Camera d’Or Award for Best Film at Cannes. The film follows a man in his thirties as he returns to his home after a family tragedy and intensely contemplates faith, grief and connection to nature.
The Revivals section of the festival features remastered and restored works from acclaimed filmmakers that contextualize the contemporary selections from NYFF. “La Roue” was originally released in 1923 by French filmmaker Abel Gance and has garnered lots of conversation at the festival due to its 412 minute long runtime. This silent film is a work of psychological realism and considered an example of the early narrative form that cinema would later take on. Other notable screenings include the premiere of the restored Iranian film, “The Stranger and the Fog” and the 1947 film by Jean Renoir, “The Woman on the Beach.”
Finally, the Shorts program of the festival, some of which are also playing in the Currents section, offer short-form visionary films that pair well with the feature-length screenings. David Cronenberg’s short, “Four Unloved Women, Adrift on a Purposeless Sea, Experience the Ecstasy of Dissection” will be screening alongside Harmony Korine’s “Aggro Drift.” The short is surrealist in nature and utilizes wax models from La Specola, a 250-year old science museum located in Florence, Italy. Also of note is the German short film, “Unhappy Hour” by Ted Fendt and the American film “Laberint Sequences” by Blake Williams.
The Main Slate and Spotlight screenings are $25 and Currents and Revivals screenings are $13. Students are also eligible to attend the centerpiece screening of Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” and the closing night screening of Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” for $35-$65 depending on the theater. Other screenings such as the Spotlight Gala are discounted to students and there are a variety of free talks that can be attended on a first-come-first-served basis. Look out for Sandra Hüller’s talk about her performances in “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” on Oct. 8 and director Catherine Breillat’s talk on Oct. 12!
