The New York Film Festival organizers have set the main slate for this fall’s largely in-person 59th edition, as well as enhanced pandemic measures including a Covid-19 vaccine requirement.
The 32 films in the Main Slate were produced in 31 different countries, reflecting New York’s decades-long reputation as a curator of global cinema. In recent years, it has also has shown it can enhance the imprimatur of an awards-season hopeful.
Consistent with New York City’s vaccine mandate, which takes effect September 13, the festival said proof of vaccination will be required for all staff, audiences, and filmmakers at fest venues. The event will also adhere to health and safety policies in coordination with Lincoln Center and state and city medical experts.
Among the films in the main slate (see the full list below) are Cannes prize winners Cannes prizewinners Titane, Ahed’s Knee, Memoria and The Worst Person in the World. Documentary selections include Todd Haynes’s The Velvet Underground and Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema.
In revealing the main slate, presenting organization Film at Lincoln Center said no virtual screenings will be offered this year. Last year, cinephiles from all 50 states streamed festival selections, with a number of drive-in screenings held in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. This fall’s edition will feature “primarily in-person screenings,” FLC said, as well as “select outdoor and virtual events.” Those details are still being finalized, and fluctuations in Covid-19 trends will also complicate efforts to welcome filmmakers, cast members and others.
The fest had previously announced it will kick off September 24 with The Tragedy of Macbeth and close October 10 with Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers. Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog is the Centerpiece selection. Retrospectives, talks and spotlight titles will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Taken together, the movies in this year’s Main Slate are a reminder of cinema’s world-making possibilities,” said Dennis Lim, the festival’s programming director. “They open up new ways of seeing and feeling and thinking, and whether or not they refer to our uncertain present, they help us make sense of our moment. I’m in awe of the sheer range of voices, styles, ideas, and images contained in this lineup, which includes many returning filmmakers but also more new names than we’ve had in some time, and I’m eager to welcome audiences back to our cinemas to experience these films as live, communal events.”
The 59th New York Film Festival Main Slate
Opening Night
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Dir. Joel Coen)
Centerpiece
The Power of the Dog (Dir. Jane Campion)
Closing Night
Parallel Mothers (Dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
A Chiara (Dir. Jonas Carpignano)
Ahed’s Knee (Dir. Nadav Lapid)
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Dir. Radu Jude)
Benedetta (Dir. Paul Verhoeven)
Bergman Island (Dir. Mia Hansen-Løve)
Il Buco (Dir. Michelangelo Frammartino)
Drive My Car (Dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
The First 54 Years (Dir. Avi Mograbi)
Flee (Dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen)
France (Dir. Bruno Dumont)
Futura (Dir. Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi, Alice Rohrwacher)
The Girl and the Spider (Dir. Ramon and Silvan Zürcher)
Hit the Road (Jadde Khaki) (Dir. Panah Panahi)
In Front of Your Face (Dir. Hong Sangsoo)
Întregalde (Dir. Radu Muntean)
Introduction (Dir. Hong Sangsoo)
Memoria (Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Neptune Frost (Dir. Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman)
Passing (Dir. Rebecca Hall)
Petite Maman (Dir. Céline Sciamma)
Prayers for the Stolen (Dir. Tatiana Huezo)
The Souvenir Part II (Dir. Joanna Hogg)
Titane (Dir. Julia Ducournau)
Unclenching the Fists (Dir. Kira Kovalenko)
The Velvet Underground (Dir. Todd Haynes)
Vortex (Dir. Gaspar Noé)
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky (Dir. Alexandre Koberidze)
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
The Worst Person in the World (Dir. Joachim Trier)
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