The Coen Brothers, James Franco and Hayao Miyazaki are all headed to the Big Apple.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced the main slate of selections for the 51st annual New York Film Festival, and it’s another choice cross-section of top festival offerings from the year so far. Of immediate note, the Coens’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” and J.C. Chandor’s “All is Lost” will make the transition from Cannes to the City (via Telluride), but will skip Toronto, making their profile at this year’s NYFF all the more significant.
As Anne Thompson and I touched on in last week’s introductory Oscar Talk podcast, the vast scope of Toronto has become a place where some films that might have made a bigger splash elsewhere have gone to either die or be drowned out by the glut. Some might argue that this trio of small films isn’t well served by the Toronto marketplace atmosphere, so they’re looking to ride the waves of somewhat smaller ponds this year.
But New York is by no means insignificant. Quite the opposite, in fact, as a changing of the guard in recent years has seen an influx in glitzy (exclusive) premieres like “The Social Network” and “Life of Pi,” while head-turning “secret” screenings like “Hugo” and “Lincoln” have set the late-September fest up as a proving ground for starting awards season buzz more than ever. (Might we see Martin Scorsese show up in that capacity again this year with “The Wolf of Wall Street?”)
This year’s line-up, which also features Cannes holdovers such as Palme d’Or winner “Blue is the Warmest Color” and James Gray’s “The Immigrant,” as well as Berlin award winner “Gloria,” join previously announced premieres from Paul Greengrass (opening night gala selection “Captain Phillips”), Ben Stiller (centerpiece selection “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”) and Spike Jonze (closing night selection “Her”).
Films also slated at other fall fests that will play New York include James Franco’s “Child of God” (Venice), Ralph Fiennes “The Invisible Woman” (Toronto) and Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Wind Rises” (Venice, Toronto).
“Cinema is a vast terrain with a complex ecology, encompassing a mindbending array of species and habitats,” NYFF Director of Programming and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said. “There are multiple approaches to the question ‘What is a movie,” from the industrial to the hand-made, from the carefully written to the poetically assembled. I love the level of diversity in the main slate selections, which includes documentaries, biographies, comedies, adventures, epics, chamber pieces, elegies, explorations and affirmations. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.”
Check out that diverse slate below. For more, visit the Film Society’s official website.
The 51st annual New York Film Festival runs Sept. 27 – Oct. 13.
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“About Time”
Director: Richard Curtis
“Abuse of Weakness (Abus de faiblesse) :
Director: Catherine Breillat
“Alan Partridge”
Director: Declan Lowney
“All is Lost”
Director: J.C. Chandor
“American Promise”
Directors: Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson
“At Berkeley”
Director: Frederick Wiseman
“Bastards (Les Salauds)”
Director: Claire Denis
“Blue is the Warmest Color (La vie d”Adèle)”
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
“Burning Bush (Horicí Ker)”
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Opening Night Gala Selection
“Captain Phillips”
Director: Paul Greengrass
“Child of God”
Director: James Franco
“Gloria”
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Closing Night Gala Selection
“Her”
Director: Spike Jonze
“The Immigrant”
Director: James Gray
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
“The Invisible Woman”
Director: Ralph Fiennes
“Jealousy (La Jalousie)”
Director: Philippe Garrel
“Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian”
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
“The Last of the Unjust (Le Dernier des injustes)”
Director: Claude Lanzmann
“Like Father, Like Son (Soshite Chichi ni Naru)”
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
“The Missing Picture (L”image manquante)”
Director: Rithy Panh
“My Name is Hmmm… (Je m”appelle Hmmm…)”
Director: agnès B
“Nebraska”
Director: Alexander Payne
“Nobody’s Daughter Haewon (Nugu-ui ttal-do anin Haewon)”
Director: Hong Sang-soo
“North, the End of History (Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan)”
Director: Lav Diaz
“Omar”
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
“Only Lovers Left Alive”
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Centerpiece Gala Selection
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Director: Ben Stiller
“The Square”
Director: Jehane Noujaim
“Stranger By the Lake (L”Inconnu du lac)”
Director: Alain Guiraudie
“Stray Dogs (Jiao You)”
Director: Tsai Ming-liang
“A Touch of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding)”
Director: Jia Zhangke
“Le Week-End”
Director: Roger Michell
“When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism (Când se lasa seara peste Bucuresti sau metabolism)”
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
“The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu)”
Director: Hayao Miyazaki