Song Fang's Memories Look at Me

There's nothing like seeing a movie on a gloomy Sunday, and trust us when we say the New York Film Festival has got a few of those.

We're keeping it fresh: Three of the four Main Slate films in Alice Tully Hall today are playing for the first time. The sole returnee is Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills at 2:30pm. The winner of a screenplay and shared actress award at Cannes, Richard Peña calls the latest by the director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days “a very rich work that will garner lots of discussion” and “a new film by someone who I think is on his way to being seen as a major figure of European and international cinema.”

At 12:00pm, see the directorial debut of Song Fang, who co-starred alongside Juliette Binoche in Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon. Programmer Scott Foundas said of her film Memories Look at Me: “a bit like an Ozu film—very gentle, very carefully observed… a really impressive first feature.” Rush tickets available!


Jun Robles Lana's Bwakaw

Later in the day we're excited to share a real gem in Jun Robles Lana's touching and hilarious Bwakaw. Filipino super-star Eddie Garcia plays a curmudgeon who has cut himself off from society because of a secret he has kept his whole life—he is gay. His only companion is a loyal dog named Bwakaw. Having let most of his life pass him by, a new-found friendship with a local tuk-tuk driver gives him the emotional jolt he needs to finally start living again. Scott Foundas calls it “the real discovery of the slate this year” and “a totally surprising, lovely film.” Rush tickets available!

To cap of the night we have the final film from Chilean master RaĂşl Ruiz, who died last year after a prolific career that included 10 previous trips to the New York Film Festival. Night Across the Street is a stunning film about life and death and a brilliant summation of Ruiz's work. Scott Foundas calls it “a kind of emotional autobiography of Ruiz himself, made seemingly as though he knew it would be his final film.” Rush tickets available!

Views fromt the Avant-Garde has been packing houses all weekend at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and today promises to be more of the same. Check out new experimental works from Nathaniel Dorsky, James Benning, Matt McCormick, Peggy Ahwesh and Kevin Jerome Everson. And in our Masterworks section, CinĂ©astes/Cinema of our Time returns with documentaries about Jean-Pierre Melville and Catherine Breillat and two rarely screened films make their returns in Field Diary (a 30th anniversary screening) and Downpour.

Finally, NYFF is feeling extra chatty today and we're prepared to show it. Check out our HBO Directors Dialogue with David Chase, the filmmaker behind last night's Centerpiece film Not Fade Away and the creator of The Sopranos. And don't miss what's sure to be an entertaining HBO On Cinema conversation between filmmakers Noah Baumbach and Brian De Palma, who are apparently great admirers of each others' work and both have films in this year's Main Slate: Frances Ha and Passion.

Full Schedule:

Main Slate:
12:00pm — Memories Look at Me (Rush Tickets Available!)
2:30pm — Beyond the Hills
6:00pm — Bwakaw (Rush Tickets Available!)
9:00pm — Night Across the Street (Rush Tickets Available!)

Masterworks:
11:30am — Jean-Pierre Melville: A Portrait in 9 Poses (Rush Tickets Available!)
3:30pm — Field Diary (Rush Tickets Available!)
8:30pm — Downpour (Rush Tickets Available!)

Special Events:
1:45pm — HBO Directors Dialogue: David Chase (Rush Tickets Available!)
6:00pm — HBO On Cinema: Noah Baumbach & Brian De Palma