August 7, 2018
The following is a press release from the Film Society of Lincoln Center:
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces the 30 films for the Main Slate of the 56th New York Film Festival, September 28 – October 14.
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NYFF Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said, “Francis Ford Coppola said that the cinema would become a real art form only when the tools of moviemaking became as inexpensive as paints, brushes, and canvases. That has come to pass, but at the same time it’s become increasingly tough to do serious work that is beholden to nothing but the filmmaker’s need to express these emotions in this form in moving images and sound. So if I were pressed to choose one word to describe the films in this year’s Main Slate, it would be: bravery. These films were made all over the globe, by young filmmakers like Dominga Sotomayor and masters like Fred Wiseman, by artists of vastly different sensibilities from Claire Denis to the Coen Brothers, Jafar Panahi to Jean-Luc Godard. And the unifying thread is their bravery, the bravery needed to fight past the urge to commercialized smoothness and mediocrity that is always assuming new forms. That’s what makes every single title in this year’s Main Slate so precious, and so vital.”
This year’s Main Slate showcases films from 22 different countries, including new titles from celebrated auteurs, extraordinary work from directors making their first NYFF bows, and captivating features that wowed audiences at international festivals. Five films in the festival were honored at Cannes, including Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or–winner Shoplifters; Jean-Luc Godard’s The Image Book, awarded a Special Palme d’Or; Cold War, which took home the Best Director prize for Paweł Pawlikowski; and Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro and Jafar Panahi’s 3 Faces, which shared the Best Screenplay award. Returning to the festival for the sixth consecutive year is Hong Sangsoo with two new films, joined by his fellow NYFF54 filmmakers Olivier Assayas and Barry Jenkins. Frederick Wiseman makes his 10th appearance at the festival, while other returning filmmakers include Joel & Ethan Coen, Alex Ross Perry, Claire Denis, Ulrich Köhler, Lee Chang-dong, Jia Zhangke, and Christian Petzold. Making both their directorial and NYFF debuts are Paul Dano and Richard Billingham, and Louis Garrel makes his first NYFF showing as a director. Other filmmakers new to the festival include Dominga Sotomayor, Christophe Honoré, Tamara Jenkins, Mariano Llinás, and Ying Liang, as well as Bi Gan and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, both alumni of New Directors/New Films 2016.
As previously announced, the NYFF56 Opening Night is Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA is Centerpiece, and Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate will close the festival.
The 56th New York Film Festival Main Slate
Opening Night
The Favourite
Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Centerpiece
ROMA
Dir. Alfonso Cuarón
Closing Night
At Eternity’s Gate
Dir. Julian Schnabel
3 Faces
Dir. Jafar Panahi
Asako I & II
Dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Ash Is Purest White
Dir. Jia Zhangke
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Dir. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Burning
Dir. Lee Chang-dong
Cold War
Dir. Paweł Pawlikowski
A Faithful Man/L’Homme fidèle
Dir. Louis Garrel
A Family Tour
Dir. Ying Liang
La Flor
Dir. Mariano Llinás
Grass
Dir. Hong Sangsoo
Happy as Lazzaro/Lazzaro felice
Dir. Alice Rohrwacher
Her Smell
Dir. Alex Ross Perry
High Life
Dir. Claire Denis
Hotel by the River
Dir. Hong Sangsoo
If Beale Street Could Talk
Dir. Barry Jenkins
The Image Book/Le Livre d’image
Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
In My Room
Dir. Ulrich Köhler
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Dir. Bi Gan
Monrovia, Indiana
Dir. Frederick Wiseman
Non-Fiction
Dir. Olivier Assayas
Private Life
Dir. Tamara Jenkins
RAY & LIZ
Dir. Richard Billingham
Shoplifters
Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
Sorry Angel
Dir. Christophe Honoré
Too Late to Die Young
Dir. Dominga Sotomayor
Transit
Dir. Christian Petzold
Wildlife
Dir. Paul Dano
NYFF Special Events, Spotlight on Documentary, Retrospective, Revivals, Convergence, Shorts, and Projections sections, as well as filmmaker conversations and panels, will be announced in the coming weeks.
The 17-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent. The selection committee, chaired by Jones, also includes Dennis Lim, FSLC Director of Programming, and Florence Almozini, FSLC Associate Director of Programming.
Tickets for the 56th New York Film Festival will go on sale to the general public on September 9. Festival and VIP passes are on sale now and offer one of the earliest opportunities to purchase tickets and secure seats at some of the festival’s biggest events, including Opening and Closing Night. Learn more here.