As the year draws to a close, members of our staff share their lists of the top films of 2015. These lists are of 2015 theatrical releases except where noted. Happy New Year from the Film Society of Lincoln Center!

Jeryll Adler, Director of Advertising

Alphabetical:
The Assassin 
Carol 
Les Cowboys (2016)
James White 
The Lobster (2016)
Love & Mercy 
The Martian 
The Measure of a Man (2016)
Room 
What Happened, Miss Simone?
The Wonders 

Florence Almozini, Associate Director of Programming

  1. The Assassin
  2. Saint Laurent
  3. Eden
  4. Clouds of Sils Maria
  5. Mad Max: Fury Road
  6. Arabian Nights
  7. 45 Years
  8. The Great Man
  9. Li’l Quinquin
  10. It Follows

Matthew Bolish, Director of Operations and Convergence Programmer

Ten Important Virtual Reality Experiences of 2015:
The Doghouse (Johan Knattrup Jensen & Mads Damsbo)
Evolution of Verse (Chris Milk)
The Enemy (Karim Ben Khelifa)
Clouds Over Sidra (Gabo Arora & Chris Milk)
Perspective Chapter 1: The Party (Rose Troche)
Assent (Oscar Raby)
Way to Go (Vincent Morisset)
War of Words (BDH)
Walking New York (Zach Richter, Chris Milk & JR)
The Displaced (Imraan Ismail & Ben C. Solomon)

Brian Brooks, Special Programs Coordinator

  1. Carol
  2. Spotlight 
  3. Cartel Land
  4. Brooklyn 
  5. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck 
  6. Son of Saul 
  7. Straight Outta Compton 
  8. Trainwreck 
  9. Tangerine 
  10. Amy 

Edem Dela-Seshie, Theater Staff

  1. Mad Max: Fury Road
  2. Cemetery of Splendour
  3. Entertainment
  4. The Kindergarten Teacher
  5. Clouds of Sils Maria
  6. Girlhood
  7. Mommy
  8. What Happened, Miss Simone?
  9. White God
  10. tie: Mercuriales and It Follows

Jack Glazier, Theater Staff

  1. Love & Mercy
  2. Entertainment
  3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
  4. It Follows
  5. Ex Machina 
  6. What We Do in the Shadows 
  7. Jauja 
  8. Going Clear 
  9. Bridge of Spies 
  10. Steve Jobs 

Eugene Hernandez, Deputy Director

  1. Carol
  2. Son of Saul
  3. Junun
  4. 45 Years
  5. Saint Laurent
  6. Dreamcatcher
  7. Phoenix
  8. The Wonders
  9. Mediterranea
  10. Creed

Alex Hunter, Digital Marketing Associate

  1. Listen to Me Marlon 
  2. Mad Max: Fury Road
  3. Inside Out 
  4. The Look of Silence
  5. Heaven Knows What 
  6. Carol
  7. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence 
  8. Son of Saul
  9. Li’l Quinquin
  10. World of Tomorrow 

Latrice Joefield, Human Resources Manager

  1. Sicario 
  2. Spotlight
  3. Mad Max: Fury Road
  4. Carol
  5. Ex Machina
  6. Brooklyn
  7. The Big Short 
  8. Steve Jobs
  9. Love & Mercy
  10. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Nicholas Kemp, Digital Marketing Manager

Alphabetical:
About Elly (2009, released in 2015)
Carol
Clouds of Sils Maria
45 Years
The Kindergarten Teacher
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
Mad Max: Fury Road
Magic Mike XXL
Unfriended
The Wonders

Laura Kern, Managing Editor, Film Comment :

  1. What We Do in the Shadows
  2. Spotlight
  3. While We’re Young 
  4. The Revenant 
  5. Mediterranea
  6. The Hallow 
  7. Creed
  8. Faults 
  9. Far from the Madding Crowd 
  10. The Final Girls 

Manny Lage, Theater Staff

Alphabetical:
88:88 (NYFF53 Projections)
Better Than Ever (“An Evening with” at MoMA)
Cemetery of Splendour (NYFF53)
Funny Bunny (IFP theatrical run)
Horse Money (Film Society theatrical run)
Intimations / Prelude (NYFF53)
No Home Movie (NYFF53)
Office (multiplex theatrical run)
Stinking Heaven (BAMcinemaFest)
Unfriended (multiplex theatrical run)

Dennis Lim, Director of Programming

Top 10 2015 Premieres:

  1. Arabian Nights
  2. Cemetery of Splendor
  3. The Assassin
  4. Visit, or Memories and Confessions 
  5. Lost and Beautiful 
  6. Mountains May Depart
  7. Kaili Blues 
  8. In the Shadow of Women 
  9. Neon Bull 
  10. Poet on a Business Trip 

Alisha Neumaier, Graphic Designer

  1. Mad Max: Fury Road
  2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  3. Sanjay’s Super Team 
  4. Brooklyn
  5. The Martian
  6. Inside Out
  7. Steve Jobs
  8. Bridge of Spies
  9. Avengers: Age of Ultron 
  10. Goosebumps 

Patrick Ng, House Manager

  1. Carol
  2. Mad Max: Fury Road
  3. Steve Jobs
  4. Sicario
  5. Inside Out
  6. Clouds of Sils Maria
  7. Straight Outta Compton
  8. Bridge of Spies
  9. The Martian
  10. Ex Machina

Michael Odmark, Producer, The Close-Up

  1. Inside Out
  2. It Follows
  3. Love & Mercy
  4. Clouds of Sils Maria
  5. Spy 
  6. Buzzard 
  7. Entertainment
  8. Mad Max: Fury Road
  9. Faults
  10. Ex Machina

John Oursler, Major Gifts Associate

  1. The Tribe 
  2. Listen to Me Marlon
  3. Carol
  4. Inside Out
  5. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
  6. The Duke of Burgundy 
  7. Heart of a Dog
  8. Jauja
  9. Tangerine
  10. Phoenix

Rachael Rakes, Programmer at Large

  1. Arabian Nights
  2. Hard to Be a God
  3. Songs from the North
  4. Phoenix
  5. When Evening Falls on Bucharest, or Metabolism
  6. Carol
  7. Mad Max: Fury Road
  8. Li’l Quinquin
  9. It Follows
  10. Queen of Earth

Nicolas Rapold, Senior Editor, Film Comment Magazine

Alphabetical:
Anomalisa
The Assassin
Carol
Clouds of Sils Maria
Hard to Be a God
In Jackson Heights
The Kindergarten Teacher
Mad Max: Fury Road
No Home Movie
Spotlight

Ben Seretan, House Manager

Top 10 I saw in theaters this year:

  1. Nasty Baby (IFC Center, rainy night)
  2. A Poem is a Naked Person (Film Forum, beautiful summer day)
  3. Cemetery of Splendour (New York Film Festival, went to a 24-hour diner after)
  4. Love & Mercy (BAM, midday solo)
  5. Mad Max: Fury Road (Court Street, 3-D and a big popcorn)
  6. Carol (Angelika, trains rattling)
  7. Everything in the Dorsky/Hiler retrospective (NYFF53, mostly watched during tech)
  8. The Last Angel of History (BAM, during their excellent Afrofuturism series)
  9. Entertainment (Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, midday solo before work)
  10. The Forbidden Room (NYFF53, press screening)

Dan Sullivan, Assistant Programmer

Favorite 35mm prints I saw for the first time in 2015 (alphabetical):
Duelle (Jacques Rivette, 1976)
Ganja and Hess (Bill Gunn, 1973)
Going Out (Ted Fendt, 2014)
Great Day in the Morning (Jacques Tourneur, 1956—original Technicolor Superscope print)
Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)
In Vanda’s Room (Pedro Costa, 2000)
La Marge (Walerian Borowczyk, 1976)
The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998—dye-transfer Technicolor print)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958—original VistaVision print)
Visit, or Memories and Confessions (Manoel de Oliveira, 1982/2015)

Lisa Thomas, Publicist

Top 5 2015 Releases:

  1. Magic Mike XXL
  2. The Assassin
  3. Mad Max: Fury Road
  4. Carol
  5. Tangerine

Top 5 Repertory:

  1. The Apu Trilogy (Film Forum)
  2. Out 1: Noli me Tangere (BAMcinématek)
  3. Losing Ground (Film Society of Lincoln Center, part of Tell It Like It Is)
  4. A Face in the Crowd (BAMcinématek, part of Bamboozled in Context)
  5. The Night of the Hunter (Anthology Film Archives, part of One Film Wonders)

Ted Vasquez, Chief Financial Officer

  1. The Martian
  2. The Big Short
  3. Spotlight
  4. The Revenant
  5. Straight Outta Compton
  6. Son of Saul
  7. Carol
  8. Creed
  9. What Happened, Miss Simone?
  10. Room

Rebecca Williamson, Events Manager

  1. Mad Max: Fury Road
  2. Listen to Me Marlon
  3. Carol
  4. Brooklyn
  5. Mommy
  6. Saint Laurent
  7. Creed
  8. Clouds of Sils Maria
  9. Victoria 
  10. Spotlight

Tyler Wilson, Programming Coordinator

In no particular order:
The Assassin
It Follows
Li’l Quinquin
Jauja
Entertainment
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
The Tribe
Horse Money
Digging for Fire 
The Forbidden Room