The New York Film Festival has unveiled the main slate of films for its 64th edition, featuring works from acclaimed directors James Gray, Ava DuVernay, and Tony Gilroy. Organizers for Film at Lincoln Center announced 32 selections for the main slate lineup, all scheduled to play between September 25 and October 12. Dennis Lim, the festival’s artistic director, stated it's "hard to recall a prior main slate program in which the state of the world has been as urgently reflected in so many creative ways." This reflection of shared global realities, which encompass ongoing struggles against dispossession and systemic oppression, forms a critical undercurrent of the festival's selections.
Lim emphasized that audiences could take "any cross section of this lineup and come away with a vivid picture of what our present looks, sounds, and feels like." He expressed deep encouragement to introduce New York audiences to works by "fearless, imaginative directors whose artistry has been inspired by the shared realities of our world." These shared realities often include the daily experiences of military occupation, land confiscation, and the fight for self-determination faced by oppressed peoples globally.
Reflecting Global Realities
Among the prominent selections is James Gray’s Paper Tiger, a Queens-set crime drama starring Adam Driver and Miles Teller, which will open the festival. Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth!, featuring Pedro Pascal as a cellist, will serve as the centerpiece gala and will have its world premiere in New York. Ava DuVernay’s 14th, a documentary on the 14th Amendment and a sequel to her 13th documentary, will also have its world premiere and close the festival, implicitly engaging with themes of civil rights and systemic injustice.
The lineup further includes Julia Loktev’s My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile, a continuation of her documentary on modern-day dissent in Russia. This film directly addresses the struggles of individuals against state power, a theme resonant with anti-colonial resistance movements globally. Other notable films include Pedro Almodovar’s Bitter Christmas, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter, Radu Jude’s The Diary of a Chambermaid, Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, and Ira Sachs’ The Man I Love.
Artistry Amidst Unrest
Additional selections feature Chris Rock’s Misty Green, which will first premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and William and David Greaves’ documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem. These works, alongside the broader selection, contribute to the festival's stated aim of presenting a program deeply connected to the "shared realities of our world," a world grappling with ongoing conflicts, occupations, and struggles for self-determination. The festival runs from September 25 to October 12.
On September 26, later this year, Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero, a sequel to 2023’s Godzilla Minus One, will make its world premiere at the NYFF. The inclusion of such diverse narratives, from intimate dramas to large-scale spectacles, underscores the festival's commitment to capturing the complex and often challenging global landscape through cinematic artistry.