The 63rd New York Film Festival unveiled its full lineup.
Normally, when you see lineups, they are long lists. What we do that is different, we break down the most important titles and organize them in categories that are more intuitive, so it is easy for you to get the most important information:
- Cover Storythat breaks down films world premiering at the festival.
- NYFF Industry News,which breaks out top distributors.
- NYFF Actor Spotlight, highlighting the top talent at the festival.
- NYFF Indie Filmmaker Spotlight, showcasing first and second-time filmmakers.
- NYFF International News, showing the top international filmmakers at NYFF.
If you know anyone that we mention, we’d appreciate you forwarding it to them.
Below is the full breakdown:
New York Film Festival is an interesting beast. It takes the best films from other festivals, the shining gems, the breakouts, the rock star indies.
This year, only two films will world premiere.
NYFF this year spans Cannes winners, Venice’s most anticipated, and Sundance highlights. Including films by Luca Guadagnino, Jim Jarmusch, Kathryn Bigelow, Noah Baumbach, Kelly Reichardt, Park Chan-wook, Ira Sachs, and Joachim Trier.
Here are the two world premieres:
- Is This Thing On? (Closing Night Film)
- Dir/Prod/Star/B-Cam Operator: Bradley Cooper
- Co-Writer/Co-Star: Will Arnett
- Co-Star: Laura Dern
- Studio: Searchlight Pictures
- First look image
Synopsis:
As their marriage unravels, Alex faces middle age and divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while wife Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family, forcing them to navigate co-parenting and identity.
From NYFF:
“Cooper uses his penchant for naturalism to give the actors space to find their complicated centers… [he] confirms his dexterity for representing the complexities of human relationships, constructing a film that is both lacerating and sweet-souled, funny and tender.”
To prep for the B-Camera operator job, Cooper joined a camera operators’ union and prepped on various smaller projects.
- Gavagai
- Dir: Ulrich Köhler
- First look image
Synopsis:
An astute metacinematic drama in which a film adaptation of Medea becomes the center of cross-cultural tensions during the shoot in Senegal, all the while negotiating an adulterous romance off-set.
NYFF stated:
“Köhler specializes in cunning, tonally surprising films about cross-cultural disconnection, and Gavagai is his most ambitious and expansive film yet—a pinpoint-accurate account of moral crises and social biases, modern and ancient, internal and external.”
Köhler won the Berlin Silver Bear award for Best Director for Sleeping Sickness (2011, trailer).
And all the Cannes winners will be playing at NYFF too:
- It Was Just an Accident (Palme d’Or)
- Sentimental Value (Grand Prix)
- Sirāt (Jury Prize), Sound of Falling (Jury Prize)
- The Secret Agent (Best Director/Best Performance by an Actor)
- Resurrection (Special Award).
NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim described the selection:
“Acts of rejuvenation and refusal, expressions of unease and joy, feats of imagination and commemoration.”
THE NYFF INDUSTRY NEWS
Jay Kelly. Netflix.
Both indie and studio distributors came out in force at NYFF.
Here’s a breakdown:
Netflix – 2 films
- Jay Kelly
- Dir: Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story)
- Cast: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Riley Keough, Patrick Wilson, Greta Gerwig, Emily Mortimer
- Producers: David Heyman and Amy Pascal
- In theaters: Nov 14
- On Netflix: Dec 5
- Trailer
Synopsis:
A famous movie actor Jay Kelly (George Clooney) and his devoted manager Ron (Adam Sandler) as they embark on a whirlwind and unexpectedly profound journey through Europe. Both men are forced to confront the choices they’ve made, the relationships with their loved ones, and the legacies they’ll leave behind.
This is the type of soul-searching film that Baumbach excels at. And transforming Clooney into a listless protagonist, who seems to live in his own shadow, seems like a surefire hit.
- A House of Dynamite
- Dir: Kathryn Bigelow
- Writer: Noah Oppenheim (Jackie)
- Cast: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Greta Lee
- First look image
Synopsis:
Centered on White House staffers grappling with an impending missile strike on America, this gripping drama unfolds in real-time as tensions escalate.
Bigelow cemented her interest in films about US soldiers embroiled in foreign conflicts with The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. A House of Dynamite continues this creative exploration, but there may be a fascinating angle where the entire movie is contained inside the walls of the White House. We haven’t seen her pull off psychological claustrophobia like that since Strange Days (1995).
Amazon MGM – 1 film
- After the Hunt (Opening Night)
- Dir: Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name)
- Cast: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield
- Trailer
- Release date: Oct 10
Synopsis:
A college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.
There’s an intellectual highbrowness of the characters that Guadagnino seems eager to snap.
A24 – 1 film
- If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
- Dir: Mary Bronstein
- Lead: Rose Byrne (Winner of Berlin’s Silver Bear for Best Performance)
- Co-Star: A$AP Rocky, Conan O’Brien
- Poster
Synopsis:
With her life literally crashing down around her, Linda attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.
More on this in the actor’s spotlight below.
Neon – Domestic Rights for 5 films (Mubi has select international rights)
- It Was Just an Accident
- Cannes Palme d’Or winner
- Clip
- Sentimental Value
- Cannes Grand Prix Winner
- Dir: Joachim Trier (Worst Person in the World)
- Cast: Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgård
- Trailer
- Sirāt
- Cannes Jury Prize
- Trailer
- The Secret Agent
- Cannes Best Director/Best Performance by an Actor
- Cast: Wagner Moura
- Clip
- No Other Choice
- Dir: Park Chan-Wook (The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave)
- Trailer with a highly saturated, sickly quality to it.
Synopsis:
After being unemployed for several years, a man devises a unique plan to secure a new job: eliminate his competition.
This is right up Chan-Wook’s alley, as he excels at playing with deeply disturbed characters who break out of tightly controlled settings, like in The Handmaiden. His imagery is electrically stylized with a neo-noir twist.
Mubi – 8 films (5 of which it has select international rights)
- Father Mother Sister Brother (Centerpiece)
- Dir: Jim Jarmusch
- Cast: Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Charlotte Rampling
- Producer: Joshua Astrachan (It Follows, Paterson, Gosford Park)
- First look photo
Synopsis:
Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.
- The Mastermind
- Premiere: Cannes
- Cast: Josh O’Connor and Alana Haim
- Dir: Kelly Reichardt (First Cow)
- Clip
In 1970, Mooney and two cohorts wander into a museum in broad daylight and steal four paintings. When holding onto the art proves more difficult than stealing them, Mooney is relegated to a life on the run.
- Sound of Falling
- Cannes Jury Prize
- Clip
A remote German farm harbors generations of secrets. Four women, separated by decades but united by trauma, uncover the truth behind its weathered walls.
- It Was Just an Accident
- International only
- Cannes Palme d’Or
- Sentimental Value
- International only
- Cannes Grand Prix
- Sirāt
- International only
- Cannes Jury Prize
- The Secret Agent
- International only
- Cannes Best Director/Best Performance by an Actor
- No Other Choice
- International only
- Dir: Park Chan-Wook
Janus Films – 5 films
- Peter Hujar’s Day
- Dir: Ira Sachs
- Cast: Rebecca Hall, Ben Whishaw
- Clip
Synopsis:
A conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and Linda Rosenkrantz from 1974 sheds light on New York’s vibrant downtown art world and the introspective journey of an artist’s life.
The way the light changes in the film is a gorgeous backdrop for the slow-moving day, where we see through Hall’s eyes the beautiful life of Whishaw’s Hujar.
- Resurrection
- Cannes Special Award
- Dir: Bi Gon (Long Day’s Journey Into Night)
- Trailer
Synopsis:
A woman’s consciousness falls into an eternal time zone during a surgical procedure. Trapped in many dreams, she finds the corpse of an android and tries to wake him up by telling endless stories.
- The Love That Remains
Synopsis:
Captures a year in the life of a family as the parents navigate their separation. Through intimate vignettes and strange occurrences, the film explores the complexities of family, love, and the impact of shared memories.
- Two Prosecutors
Synopsis:
1937: When a prisoner’s letter escapes destruction, idealistic prosecutor Kornev uncovers NKVD corruption. His pursuit of justice in Stalin’s USSR becomes a dangerous journey into the heart of a system devouring its own.
- Magellan
- Cast: Gael García Bernal
- Teaser
Synopsis:
A portrayal of Ferdinand Magellan (Bernal) and Beatriz Barbosa’s 1517 marriage in Seville, focusing on their brief time together before his departure on the Spanish crown’s expedition.
NYFF stated:
“Bernal brilliantly subordinates his stardom to Diaz’s discerning camera, disappearing into the role of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.”
Look at how still he is in this clip.
NYFF ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. A24.
Conan O’Brien co-stars in A24’s If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, which premiered at Sundance.
It’s a transformation unlike anything else I’ve ever seen him do. He subtracts all the elements of his molecularly wacky personality to transform into a cold, stoic psychologist.
His performance is a beautifully minimalist counterbalance to the lead Rose Byrne’s mania (which won her Best Actress Award at Berlin).
Here’s the synopsis:
With her life literally crashing down around her, Linda (Byrne) attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist (O’Brien).
O’Brien is rarely seen in dramatic roles. Even when he was portrayed tough guy characters in late night skits (Sons of Anarchy parody) there was an inherent goofballness to it.
During the post-Sundance premiere Q&A, O’Brien explained why he took on the role:
“I’m not looking out for movie scripts or anything but when I got a call from A24 that they wanted me to read something, I’m not stupid, I read it.”
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You releases October 10th.
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex) co-stars in Claire Denis’ new film The Fence. Actors Matt Dillon (Crash) and French actor Isaach de Bankolé (Chocolat) also star.
Official Synopsis:
As supervisor Horn is welcoming his partner Léone into the hut he shares with engineer Cal, a man called Alboury appears outside. He is determined to stay there until they return the body of his brother to him, who was killed on the site.
McKenna-Bruce will play Dillon’s wife, described as having neurotic vibrations and being alienated.
This is her sweet spot. She was wildly lively and painstakingly vulnerable in Mubi’s How to Have Sex, a performance for which she won the BAFTA Rising Star award (trailer).
Willem Dafoe, the ultimate actor chameleon, charms his way into Kent Jones (2018’s Diane, Hitchcock/Truffaut) new film Late Fame.
Synopsis:
Legendary New York poet Ed Saxberger’s (Dafoe) forgotten works captivate an eccentric group of young creatives, reigniting his artistic passion. Their intrigue intertwines with the bewitching presence of actress Gloria (Greta Lee).
Dafoe will assume the role of a wise expert in his respective domain. He has a commanding presence on screen, and although he often plays supporting roles in larger Hollywood films, we love to see him front and center in any arthouse fare.
Tidbits:
Duse (directed by Pietro Marcello) stars Noémie Merlant (Cate Blanchett’s character’s assistant in Tar). The film centers on the legendary Italian stage diva Eleonora Duse, through the latter part of her life, and her legendary career is now long over. Not sure if Merlant will play her in a flashback, but in Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, Winner, Best Screenplay Cannes), Merlant’s often stoic performance is a canvas of hidden desire (painting scene).
NYFF DOC FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
Nuestra Tierra.
Lucrecia Martel, twice nominated for the Palme d’Or (The Headless Woman, The Holy Girl), has a new doc, Nuestra Tierra, playing out of competition. It follows the murder of an indigenous community’s leader, Javier Chocobar. And how his killers lived as free men for nearly a decade. A lacerating doc on colonialism.
NYFF stated:
“A ravishing, at times vertiginous visual approach to filming the natural beauty of the contested land, Martel pays cinematic tribute to people whom history has systematically tried to erase.”
Premiering at Venice.
Laura Poitras (dir: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the 2nd doc ever to win the top prize at Venice) co-directs the doc Cover-Up.
Synopsis:
Seymour Hersh has been at the front lines of political journalism in the United States. Hersh’s breakthrough reportage has brought to the public’s attention many of the most damning constitutional wrongdoings and cover-ups.
NYFF stated:
“Though a decades-gestating project for the filmmakers, Cover-Up couldn’t have come at a more crucial moment, when freedom of the U.S. press is increasingly under fire by those in power.”
Full details here.
Below the Clouds from Gianfranco Rosi.
Synopsis:
Between the Gulf and Vesuvius, the earth sometimes trembles, the fumaroles of the Phlegraean Fields mark the air. On the trail of history, of the memories of the subsoil, in black and white, a lesser-known Naples is populated with lives. Beneath the clouds lies a land traversed by residents, devotees, tourists, archaeologists excavating the past, by those who, in museums, try to breathe life into it.
NYFF stated:
“Rosi (Notturno, NYFF58) specializes in kaleidoscopic portraits of people living amid anxiety and uncertainty. Among his most striking and monumental works, his latest details with pointillist precision and unnerving beauty a region in Naples living under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.”
Rosi is a much-lauded doc filmmaker. Having won the top prize in Venice for Sacro GRA (2013, trailer) and the top prize in Berlin for Fire at Sea (2016, trailer).
Below the Clouds primordial trailer.
NYFF INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions.
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions has had a wild ride to make it to NYFF.
It premiered at Sundance but was then pulled when the director Kahlil Joseph (Beyonce’s Lemonade) was accused by his financiers/prod company, Participant Media, of submitting one cut to them and a 2nd cut to festivals.
Here’s the film’s synopsis:
Preeminent West African curator and scholar Funmilayo Akechukwu’s magnum opus, The Resonance Field, leads her to the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, drawing a journalist into a journey that shatters her understanding of consciousness and time.
Then, in a wild reversal to what was already a bananas story, James Shani’s Rich Spirit and BN Media (the film’s production company) purchased the rights from Participant Media, which allowed it to be reinstated and continue playing at Sundance.
The director stated at the time:
“[Participant’s] willingness to relinquish ownership of the film… allows audiences to finally experience what we’ve spent years crafting alongside so many contributing artists.”
James Shani also saved The Apprentice from a similar fate, helping purchase it from Dan Snyder’s Kinematics.
Mark Jenkin is like the British Panos Cosmatos (Mandy). His cinema is full of found footage montage, surreal horror, and just the worst feelings of dread and psychosis. Just see his Enys Men (trailer), which Neon picked up after it played at BFI, Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, and NYFF.
Jenkin’s next film is Rose of Nevada (starring George MacKay and Callum Turner).
Synopsis:
Mysterious boat returns to a village 30 years after vanishing. Two men join its crew hoping for better fortune. After one voyage, they find themselves transported back in time, mistaken for the original crew.
If anything like Enys Men, it’s going to be a violent time travel film. BFI Films is the production company. Sales Rep: Protagonist Pictures.
NYFF INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The Last One for the Road (Francesco Sossai) premiered at Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Synopsis:
Two blustery 50-somethings, have an obsession: going for their last drink. One night, they run into Giulio, a shy architecture student, whose way of seeing the world and love will be transformed as the trio wander from bar to bar of Veneto.
NYFF stated:
“Sossai has created a freeform, energetic comedy that echoes work by Aki Kaurismäki and Richard Linklater yet has its own beautiful sense of rhythm and revelation.”
It’s great to see a festival film that is goofy. Trailer.
What Does That Nature Say to You by Dir: Hong Sang-Soo (A Traveler’s Needs starring Isabelle Huppert), 4x Silver Bear winner.
Synopsis:
A young poet drops his girlfriend off at her parents’ house and is amazed by its size. He bumps into her father, meets her mother and sister, and they all end up spending a long day together; fueled by conversation, food and libations.
NYFF stated:
“Combining the casual familiarity of a meet-the-parents scenario with the lo-fi visual experimentation… Sangsoo’s latest keeps revealing new emotional layers, finally offering a rich examination of economic anxiety and contemporary alienation.”
Here is the trailer.
Tidbits:
Spanish director Carla Simón is reteaming with MK2 Films (Anatomy of a Fall) on her next film and third feature, Romería. This film follows her Berlinale Golden Bear-winning film Alcarràs (2022), telling the story of orphaned 18-year-old Marina, who is confronted by her past when traveling through Spain to meet her paternal grandparents for the first time. Hélène Louvart, the cinematographer of La Chimera (2023) and The Lost Daughter (2021), is lensing Romería, a film paying tribute to Simón’s parents.
Kontinental ’25 is the latest film from director Radu Jude (Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World). Winning the coveted Silver Bear Best Screenplay award at its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, Kontinental ‘25 is an innovative dark comedy set in the Transylvanian region of Romania.
Cannes Director’s Fortnight title Miroirs No.3 is directed by Christian Petzold (Barbara), it follows a young musician whose boyfriend tragically dies in a car crash. Metograph was originally going to distribute this, but it has changed hands.
The festival runs Sept 26 – Oct 13.