Acclaimed directors David Cronenberg and Pedro Almodóvar will receive special Gala Screenings of their latest films at the 49th New York Film Festival, which takes place from September 30 to October 16 at the Lincoln Center. The occasion will mark Cronenberg’s first time at the festival, with A Dangerous Method, starring Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, and Keira Knightley, on October 5. Almodóvar, an NYFF veteran who is screening his ninth film at the festival, will be back on October 12 with The Skin I Live In with Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, and Marisa Paredes.

“We’re delighted to be welcoming David Cronenberg to the festival for the first time and to be welcoming back one of the NYFF’s closest friends, Pedro Almodóvar,” said Richard Peña, Selection Committee Chair & Film Society Program Director. “It’s a special pleasure to introduce our audiences to exciting new work by two of contemporary cinema’s most challenging artists.” The two Galas at Alice Tully Hall are a new addition to the New York Film festival lineup, joining Opening Night (Roman Polanski’s Carnage), Centerpiece (My Week with Marilyn, directed by Simon Curtis), and Closing Night (to be announced) as topliners of the Festival.

A Dangerous Method is Cronenberg’s first film in four years since 2007’s Eastern Promises, marking his third consecutive collaboration with Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen plays Sigmund Freud next to Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung, whose experiences with the beautiful and deeply unbalanced Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) complicate their relationship.

Almodóvar’s dramatic thriller The Skin I Live In reunites him with Antonio Banderas, who starred in several of the director’s earlier films. Banderas stars as a world-renowned plastic surgeon who keeps a young woman (played by Elena Anaya) imprisoned in his mansion as a test subject for a series of increasingly bizarre treatments.

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For any other questions about this year's New York Film Festival or ticketing options, please contact the Film Society via email at [email protected] or during regular business hours: 212/875-5610.

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