New York Film Festival Unveils Main Slate Featuring Prominent Works and Acclaimed Filmmakers

According to CinemaDrame News Agency, the 64th New York Film Festival has announced the complete lineup of 32 films from 31 countries that comprise the festival’s Main Slate. New works by James Gray, Ava DuVernay, and Tony Gilroy had previously been announced for the section.

The New York Film Festival, taking place from September 26 to October 13, brings its signature mix of world premieres and festival favorites from throughout the year to venues across all five boroughs of New York. The festival offers an excellent opportunity to catch highly anticipated titles that may have been missed at Berlin, Cannes, or Toronto.

Among the centerpiece announcements, James Gray’s Paper Tiger will open the festival, Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! serves as the Centerpiece film, and Ava DuVernay’s Fourteenth will close the event. Additionally, Godzilla Minus Zero has been selected as a Special Gala presentation.

In total, the main slate represents 31 countries, boasting three world premieres, seven North American premieres, and thirteen U.S. premieres. Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi features in the World Premiere section with his documentary I Deserve a Lover Who Raises Scorching Hells in the Skies Every Sunrise, centered on artist and curator Naser Bakhshi. The documentary explores an extensive collection of found art objects, preserving memory from pre-revolutionary Iran.

Distinguished selections from the Cannes Film Festival are well represented, including Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, which won the Best Actress award; Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva; Pedro Almodóvar’s A Bitter Christmas; Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Clarissa, an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s work; Valeska Grisebach’s A Dreamy Adventure; Emmanuel Marre’s A Man of His Time; Sandra Wollner’s Every Time; Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland (winner of the Best Director award); Ira Sachs’s The Man I Love, starring Rami Malek; Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur; and Arthur Harari’s The Unknown.

Also featured is the documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem by William Greaves and David Greaves, which offers a retrospective look at the luminous figures of the Harlem Renaissance following a successful run at the Sundance Film Festival.

Notable titles from the Berlin International Film Festival also grace the slate, including Alain Gomis’s Daou, examining African immigrants in France; Hong Sang-soo’s latest feature, The Day She Comes Back; Angela Schanelec’s My Wife Cries; and Markus Schleinzer’s striking historical drama Rose, which earned Sandra Hüller the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance.

Several films will be making their debut without prior festival runs, such as Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter; Chris Rock’s Misty Green; Mike Leigh’s Tender Care, slated to potentially be his final feature film; Julia Loktev’s new chapter, My Undesirable Friends; and Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, marking his first feature since 2018’s Burning.

Reflecting on this year’s selection, NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim stated: “It is hard to recall a Main Slate that reflects current world conditions with such urgency and creativity. Whichever part of this lineup you look at, you get a vivid picture of the state of the world today—its voices, its feelings. I am thrilled to introduce New York audiences to the work of these courageous and inventive directors whose art draws inspiration from our shared realities.”

Complete Main Slate Lineup for the New York Film Festival:

• Opening Night: Paper Tiger (James Gray)
• Centerpiece: Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)
• Closing Night: Fourteenth (Ava DuVernay)
• 9 Temples to Heaven (Sompote Chidgasornpongse)
• All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
• A Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)
• Clarissa (Arie & Chuko Esiri)
• Daou (Alain Gomis)
• The Day She Comes Back (Hong Sang-soo)
• I Deserve a Lover Who Raises Scorching Hells in the Skies Every Sunrise (Mani Haghighi)
• Diary of a Chambermaid (Radu Jude)
• Dual Freedom (Lisandro Alonso)
• A Dreamy Adventure (Valeska Grisebach)
• Everything Else Is Noise (Nicolás Pereda)
• Every Time (Sandra Wollner)
• Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski)
• La Gradiva (Marine Atlan)
• I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (Isabelle Stever)
• The Loneliest Man in Town (Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel)
• A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)
• The Man I Love (Ira Sachs)
• A Man of His Time (Emmanuel Marre)
• Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
• Misty Green (Chris Rock)
• My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile (Julia Loktev)
• My Wife Cries (Angela Schanelec)
• Nowhere to Stare (Hong Sang-soo)
• Once Upon a Time in Harlem (William Greaves & David Greaves)
• Possible Love (Lee Chang-dong)
• Rose (Markus Schleinzer)
• Tender Care (Mike Leigh)
• The Unknown (Arthur Harari)