Barry Jenkins and Coen brothers among U.S. debuts at the New York Film Festival
While other festivals in the crowded fall circuit proudly tout their world premiere titles, the New York Film Festival prefers to cherry-pick from what others have to offer. And between Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, Venice, Telluride and Toronto, it has a particularly strong inventory to choose from this year.
Highlighting new work from Barry Jenkins to Claire Denis, the 2018 lineup, announced Tuesday, seems to perfectly encapsulate the NYFF’s reputation for a purposefully curated boutique selection of arthouse faves laced with fresh names.
Partly a point of superstition and tradition, where a film premieres, and where it goes next, has recently become a more important part of a film’s overall strategy, in particular for awards season. And with the complete lineups of Canada’s Toronto International Film Festival and Colorado’s secretive Telluride festival yet to be revealed, the NYFF announcement provides a few clues about certain films’ festival trajectory.
For example, the hotly anticipated Coen brothers title “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” will apparently bypass Toronto and Telluride to make its North American premiere in New York, following a Venice bow.
It’s one of four prominent Netflix titles in New York’s lineup, also including Tamara Jenkins’ marital drama “Private Life,” which premiered at Sundance, and the previously announced centerpiece screening of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” which will premiere in Venice and then play Toronto and, presumably, Telluride.
But Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk,” adapted from the work of James Baldwin, will have its U.S. premiere in New York, following a world premiere in Toronto. That means the “Moonlight” filmmaker appears to be passing over his old stomping ground in Telluride this year (unless festivals are redefining the meaning of “premiere,” which would not be unprecedented).
The 56th edition of the New York Film Festival is presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and this year runs Sept. 28–Oct. 14. Previously announced titles include the opening night selection Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” (which may play Telluride and Toronto) and the closing night pick Julian Schnabel’s “At Eternity’s Gate” (which seems bound directly from Venice).
The NYFF lineup also includes a number of award winning titles from Cannes earlier this year, including the Palme d’Or recipient “Shoplifters” from Hirokazu Kore-eda, and the Netflix acquisition “Happy as Lazzaro” from Alice Rohrwacher, which will have its North American premiere in New York. Jean-Luc Godard’s “The Image Book,” Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” and Jafar Panahi’s “Three Faces” also head to New York with Cannes prizes to their name.
In addition to Barry Jenkins and the Coens, other filmmakers returning to the festival include Denis with “High Life,” Olivier Assayas with “Non-Fiction,” Hong Sangsoo with “Grass” and “Hotel by the River,” Frederick Wiseman with “Monrovia, Indiana,” Alex Ross Perry with “Her Smell,” Ulrich Kohler with “In My Room,” Lee Chang-dong with “Burning,” Jia Zhangke with “Ash is Purest White” and Christian Petzold with “Transit.”
Tamara Jenkins is set for her first NYFF, as are Paul Dano with “Wildlife,” Richard Billingham with “RAY & LIZ,” Louis Garrel with “A Faithful Man,” Dominga Sotomayor with “Too Late to Die Young,” Chrisophe Honoré with “Sorry Angel,” Mariano Llinas with “La Flor,” Ying Liang with “A Family Tour,” Bi Gan with “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi with “Asaki I & II.”
In a statement, NYFF director and selection committee chair Kent Jones said, “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.”
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