The wait is over! 2025 was an incredible year for movies and, amidst change and upheaval in the industry at large, the stories told on screen remained powerful and inspiring to filmgoers worldwide. As always, moviegoing begets moviegoing and with a robust slate of new releases, festivals, retrospectives, restorations, and special events, Film at Lincoln Center was honored to be your home for new cinematic discoveries and revisiting old favorites.

Per our annual tradition, our staff publishes a selection of their top films and memorable cinematic experiences. Read on below to see our recommendations!

Florence Almozini – Vice President of Programming

The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho
The Mastermind, Kelly Reichardt
One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson
Afternoons of Solitude, Albert Serra
Who by Fire, Philippe Lesage
Resurrection, Bi Gan
Sound of Falling, Mascha Schilinski
Caught by the Tides, Jia Zhangke
April, Dea Kulumbegashvili
Father Mother Sister Brother, Jim Jarmusch

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Days and Nights in the Forest, Satyajit Ray

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? I cannot decide! Sholay, Ramesh Sippy! Christiane F., Uli Edel!

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? A tough choice, maybe The Cosmology of Peele’s Us

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Not a Talk but the Cine-Concert with Oriki collective + Woz Kaly playing live for the Dijibril Diop Mambety’s films, Le Franc and The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun, was my personal highlight.

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Paris film, the next Jordan Peele when it eventually comes out, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part 3

Dennis Lim, Artistic Director, New York Film Festival

2025 premieres:

Dry Leaf (Alexandre Koberidze)
The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
With Hasan in Gaza (Kamal Aljfari)
One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
Escape (Masao Adachi)
Father Mother Sister Brother (Jim Jarmusch)
Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes (Gabriel Azorin)
Kontinental ’25 (Radu Jude)
The Last One for the Road (Francesco Sossai)

Tyler Wilson – Senior Programmer

Theatrical releases only:

One Battle After Another
Who by Fire
The Secret Agent
Afternoons of Solitude
The Shrouds
Resurrection
Dracula
Misericordia
Pepe
The Mastermind

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first tie this year? Mary Bronstein’s Yeast

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Madeline Whittle – Programmer

1) It Was Just an Accident
2) Suburban Fury
3) My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
4) Misericordia
5) Grand Tour
6) The Secret Agent
7) Dracula
8) Peter Hujar’s Day
9) Afternoons of Solitude
10) Sinners

Manuel Santini – Assistant Director, Programming and Exhibition

In the order screened this past year:

DJ Mehdi: Made in France
Todo parecía posible
Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)
Los capítulos perdidos
Happy Birthday
Esta Isla
Sinners
Caught by the Tides
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Inherent Vice (70mm)

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? The French Connection

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Frederick Wiseman: An American Institution and L.A. Rebellion: Then and Now

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Amos Vogel Lecture: Lucrecia Martel

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Lucrecia Martel’s Nuestra Tierra (Landmarks)

Matt Bolish – Deputy Director; Managing Director, NYFF

In no particular order:

– Sinners
– No Other Choice
– Marty Supreme
– The Secret Agent
– One Battle After Another
– Weapons
– The Perfect Neighbor
– Presence
– It Was Just an Accident
– Familiar Touch

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Sholay

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? The Sting

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Night at the Movies (M. Night Retro)

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Cinema Jukebox (Coolidge Corner)

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Tyler Wilson’s Q&A w/ M. Night after The Village was great.

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? It’s got to be The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan)

Lisa Schroeder – Chief Administrative Officer

La Grazia
Sentimental Value
Sound of Falling
One Battle After Another
Jay Kelly
The Secret Agent
Familiar Touch
Souleymane’s Story
The History of Sound

1. What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? In the Mood For Love

2. What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Yi Yi

3. What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Gene Hackman: A Week with the Gene Genie

4. What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Hamnet

Katie Skelly – Assistant Director, Marketing

No particular order, and I can’t count:

The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)
One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (Kahlil Joseph)
Misericordia (Alain Guiraudie)
The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi)
The Ugly Stepsister (Emilie Blichfeldt)
28 Years Later (Danny Boyle)
Cloud (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Sirāt (Oliver Laxe)
Familiar Touch (Sarah Friedland)

I loved Pillion, Miroirs No. 3, and Dry Leaf but they haven’t released yet

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? I can’t follow orders and loved too many this year to just say one:

Splendor in the Grass (Elia Kazan)
Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
Black Narcissus (Powell & Pressburger)
The Red Shoes (Powell & Pressburger)
Nuts in May (Mike Leigh)
Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks)
The Devils (Ken Russell)
Crossing Delancey (Joan Micklin Silver)
Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt)
A Star is Born (George Cukor)

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? The Village (with a full audience at the Walter Reade followed by a Q&A with Night)

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Night at the Movies: An M. Night Shyamalan Retrospective baby!

Also need to shoutout Kōzaburō Yoshimura: Tides of Emotion with some new discoveries and can’t wait to watch more of Yoshimura’s filmography

Scary Movies made a comeback and we are THANKFUL. I was sick during it though and couldn’t experience in person 🙁

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Gotta go with Subway Cinema’s continued programming of Sunday’s on Fire at Nitehawk where it’s just a given to see some incredible gems including this year’s favorites God of Gamblers Returns and Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (both on 35mm)

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Night getting more love here but it must be done and all of his Q&As were fantastic (Shoutout to Tyler Wilson who did an amazing job moderating these) but The Village was my favorite.

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026?

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Jane Schoenbrun)
All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
Remain (M. Night Shyamalan)
I Love Boosters (Boots Riley)
Whitney Springs (Trey Parker)
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
Werwulf (Robert Eggers)
Out of This World (Albert Serra)
Untitled Frank Ocean Film
I Want Your Sex (Gregg Araki)
Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)
The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan)
Disclosure Day (Steven Spielberg)
Untitled Mike Leigh Film

Jordan Raup – Associate Director, Marketing

1. One Battle After Another
2. Caught by the Tides
3. The Mastermind
4. The Shrouds
5. Sirāt
6. BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
7. Who by Fire
8. Eephus
9. The Secret Agent
10. Black Bag

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Hatari!

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? In the Mood for Love (with In the Mood for Love 2001) at FLC

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Tie: Frederick Wiseman and M. Night Shyamalan retrospectives

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Shyamalan on The Village

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Jane Schoenbrun)

Erin Delaney – Assistant Director, Production

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (Kahlil Joseph)
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Mary Bronstein)
It Was Just An Accident (Jafar Panahi)
The Mastermind (Kelly Reichert)
Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie)
One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Resurrection (Bi Gan)
The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendoça Filho)
Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
The Virgin of Quarry Lake (Laura Casabé)

1. What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Hard Boiled (John Woo)

2. What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Daughters of Darkness

3. What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? M. Night Shyamalan on The Village

Clive Thompson – Coordinator, Community Engagement and Marketing

1. Sinners
2. Weapons
3. The Perfect Neighbor
4. It Ends
5. The Secret Agent

In any order: Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Father Mother Sister Brother, Jay Kelly

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? John Sayles’ The Brother from Another Planet

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come and Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? The Oriki Concerts and the return of Scary Movies

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Nolan’s The Odyssey, Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, and Eggers’ Werwulf

Nicole Lee – Theater Staff

(Not at all in order, but):

No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook
Lesbian Space Princess, Leela Varghese & Emma Hough Hobbs
The Wedding Banquet, Andrew Ahn
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Mary Bronstein
Happyend, Neo Sora
Ne Zha 2, Jiaozi
The Chronology of Water, Kristen Stewart
Wake Up, Dead Man, Rian Johnson
Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier
Pillon, Harry Lighton

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Linda Linda Linda, Nobuhiro Yamashita

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Leave Her to Heaven, John M. Stahl

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? I really loved Scary Movies XIII!

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? I’ve been really enjoying Metrograph’s Doona Doona Doona series.

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Probably Kamal Aljafari’s talk on With Hasan in Gaza. Powerful stuff!

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Maybe Mother Mary? That new Anne Hathaway horror. Looks really fun!

Henry Camacho – Theater Staff

Leaving Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another off this in order to highlight some other releases. Both of those movies are great, though!

(Unranked)
1. The Secret Agent
2. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
3. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
4. Caught Stealing
5. It Was Just An Accident
6. The Naked Gun
7. Weapons
8. 28 Years Later
9. Fior di Latte
10. Man With a Movie Camera (2025) (1929 Version) – This one requires some explanation: A group of filmmakers who met through Discord each created their own interpretations of different sections of the original 1929 film, mainly using footage they got off the Internet. The version I saw at Spectacle was a 4 channel iteration of the project where 3 channels of the “new” film played in sync with the original.
*Glaring Omission (because I haven’t seen it yet): No Other Choice

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? The Set-Up (1949) – A perfect movie?!!! Genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Everything in it works together so perfectly, from the acting to the shot choices to the diegetic soundtrack. The story playing out pretty much in real time is super impressive. Don’t sleep on this one!

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? You Were Never Really Here (2017) – Still holds up + also a great watch with headphones so that you can appreciate the great sound design/mixing. My friend’s older brother played the young fella who gets put in a sleeper hold by Joaquin in this movie.

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? FLC’s Frederick Wiseman Retrospective – I tried to watch a little bit of each film whenever I was working. Managed to catch 4, wish I could’ve seen so many others! It was also nice to see so many of my friends come by for these screenings. I can never watch a documentary the same way again.

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? MoMA’s “A Theater Near You” – A genius idea: screening the best programming from other NYC rep theaters. I only went to the American Hunter (1988) screening that Spectacle chose, but that was hands down the best theater experience of the year. Pretty much every film friend I know was there in the big theater at MoMA to see a pristine print imported from Switzerland of a super bizarre martial arts/spy flick. A wonderful reminder of the community you can find at the movies!

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Tie (both at the Walter Reade): New York Shorts during NYFF + New Directors New Films Shorts Program 2, both moderated by Katie Zwick. I also poked my head in for an M. Might Shyamalan Q&A, and he seemed like an amazing guy!

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Dune: Part 3, Coyote vs. Acme, Digger

Chloe Crawford – Theater Staff

The Ugly Stepsister
Sirat
Harvest
Roofman
Marty Supreme
The Testament of Ann Lee
Hamnet
Sound of Falling
Pillion

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Richard Benjamin’s Mermaids

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? The Other America: A Cosmology of Jordan Peeles’ Us – CHUD on 35mm baby!

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Women in Action at Film Forum

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026?The Drama

Dean Ridgeway – Theater Staff

1. Superman (James Gunn)
2. One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie (Matt Johnson)
4. Resurrection (Bi Gan)
5. Wake Up Dead Man (Rian Johnson)
6. The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson)
7. The Naked Gun (Akiva Schaffer)
8. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Mary Bronstein)
9. Eephus (Carson Lund) (If we’re calling Eephus a 2025 movie?)
10. OBEX (Albert Birney)

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? YI YI (Edward Yang)

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill)

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Monica Vitti: La Modernista

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Any of the many talks with Jafar Panahi on It Was Just an Accident.

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026?Supergirl (Craig Gillespie), Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew (Greta Gerwig), and Dune: Part Three (Denis Villeneuve)

Nick Byrne – Theater Staff

What Does That Nature Say to You – Hong Sangsoo
In the Lost Lands – Paul W.S. Anderson
Turtle Sandwich – David Cardoza
Tree Above Volvo – Hong Sang-soo

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Tony Scott’s Déjà Vu (@MoMA)

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Luc Moullet: Anarchy in the Alps, Night at the Movies: An M. Night Shyamalan Retrospective, and Kōzaburō Yoshimura: Tides of Emotion, L.A. Rebellion: Then and Now. A good year!

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us (Japan Society/Metrograph), Narrow Margin Magazine Presents: Luc Moullet And Vittorio Cottafavi (Anthology Film Archives), Shiguéhiko Hasumi: Another History of the Movie in America and Japan (Japan Society)

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Bush Mama with Haile Gerima (4/25/25)

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Whatever Hong releases.

Jim Rohner – Senior Coordinator, Venue Sales

10) Bugonia (dir. Yorgos Lanthomos)
9) Resurrection (dir. Bi Gan)
8) If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (dir. Mary Bronstein)
7) The Mastermind (dir. Kelly Reichart)
6) Reifenstahl (dir. Andres Veiel)
5) No Other Choice (dir. Park Chan-wook)
4) It Was Just An Accident (dir. Jafar Panahi)
3) Sinners (dir. Ryan Coogler)
2) The Testament of Ann Lee (dir. Mona Fastvold)
1) One Battle After Another (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? This is cheating a little bit, but seeing as the first time I saw Lost Highway was on DVD in a dingy basement of a PK’s house when I was in middle school and far too young to comprehend or appreciate it, I’ll count the 35mm print of Lost Highway with Peter Deming in this category. So, what? Wanna fight about it?

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? How are we defining “older” here? If we’re defining it as a film that came out before my emerging onto this mortal coil, then my vote would go to The Innocents, seen here during the Robert Eggers programming block and which was far superior to the film it allegedly helped to inspire. If we’re just defining it as a film that came out when I was not a fully formed human, I’ll give the vote to the Coen’s masterpiece No Country For Old Men, which looks truly stunning on its Criterion 4K release.

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Maddie has already been told the story, but if it weren’t for Scary Movies (the programming block, not the concept), I don’t think I’d have a job at FLC. Back in the day, it was Scary Movies that opened the gate for what FLC could offer me as a young film fan. It was through Scary Movies that I saw the NYC premiere of Paranormal Activity and the 25th anniversary edition re-release of An American Werewolf in London presented by the legally acquitted John Landis. To see Scary Movies return was an absolute thrill.

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Again, this is cheating, but this was the first year that I took advantage of reciprocity agreements with other theaters to catch Friendship at the Angelika and It Was Just An Accident at Film Forum. I also popped into Alamo for some of their Fantastic Fest programming to check out Chain Reactions, the documentary on the cultural impact of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Hearing Peter Deming talk about working on Lost Highway was edifying. It was fascinating to me to hear his yeoman-like approach to working on such an esoteric piece of art.

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Two words: Disclosure Day

Matthew Dinda – Assistant Director, Partnerships

Afternoons of Solitude
Die My Love
Familiar Touch
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
It Was Just An Accident
Marty Supreme
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? YI YI, had been waiting for the right time and it finally came.
What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? I rewatched favorite-of-all-time All About Eve. Still perfect!
What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? The return of Scary Movies!
What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? 2026 seems to contain an embarrassment of riches, but Isabel Sandoval’s Moonglow and Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Anna Robinson – Senior Coordinator, Production

In no particular order…

Resurrection
The Secret Agent
Sinners
One Battle After Another
KPop Demon Hunters
Magic Farm
The Virgin of the Quarry Lake
Sentimental Value
It Was Just an Accident
Cactus Pears
*(It breaks my heart that Wicked: For Good isn’t on here.)

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Daughters of Darkness (1971)
What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Practical Magic (1998)
What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? I have a newfound appreciation for horror after catching several films tied to The Other America: A Cosmology of Jordan Peele’s Us.
What was your favorite programming elsewhere? MoMA’s The Contenders
What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Hearing the filmmakers speak during the Q&A for It Ends reminded me how much is possible with a shoestring budget and a dream. Hats off to them.
What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Mother Mary

Michael Lieberman – Theater Staff

1. One Battle After Another
2. Sentimental Value
3. Afternoons of Solitude
4. Roofman
5. The Housemaid
6. The Secret Agent
7. Sound of Falling
8. The Love That Remains
9. Peter Hujar’s Day
10. Highest 2 Lowest

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Belly
What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Breaking Away
What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Cisco Pike for the Gene Hackman retrospective.
What was your favorite programming elsewhere? At the Low Cinema!
What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Mark Jenkin and Alexandre Koberidze on Crafting Rose of Nevada and Dry Leaf
What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Famous

Harrison Asen – Manager, Ticketing Services

Sorry, Baby
Sentimental Value
One Battle After Another
Father Mother Sister Brother
The Secret Agent Cloud
The Mastermind
Weapons
Eephus
Black Bag

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Four Nights of a Dreamer
What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Blue Velvet, A Serious Man, The Big Lebowski
What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? The History of Concrete, Flowervale Street, Possible Love, At the Middle Of Life

Walter Blum – Theater Staff

1.) One Battle After Another – Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson (70mm – Walter Reade Theater, IMAX 70mm [twice] – AMC Lincoln Square 13 IMAX, VistaVision 8 Perf 35mm [thrice] – Regal Union Square 14 – Seen w/Will, Jordan, Kevin, Kyle, David, Dan, Shelby, Julianna, Jason, Paige, Rebecca, Dean, Irene)
2.) Marty Supreme – Dir. Josh Safdie (DCP – Alice Tully Hall NYFF 63 Secret Screening, 70mm [1.2 times, one full screening and one 30 minute viewing for free merch but I had to catch a plane early the following morning so I couldn’t stay for the whole screening] – AMC Lincoln Square 13 IMAX – Seen w/Will, Jason, Paige, Kyle, Desmond, Shelby)
3.) Turtle Sandwich – Dir. David Cardoza (DCP – Walter Reade Theater NYFF 63 – Seen w/Shelby, Katie and the FLC Front of House Team)
4.) Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World – Dir. Vin Walker and Rene Zahariadis/Rene Walker (DCP – NDNF 54 Walter Reade Theater and MoMa [twice] – Seen w/Shelby and the FLC Front of House Team)
5.) No Other Choice – Dir. Park Chan Wook (DCP – Walter Reade Theater NYFF 63 – Seen w/ Nicole)
6.) If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – Dir. Mary Bronstein (DCP – Nitehawk Williamsburg – Seen w/Shelby)
7.) Sinners – Dir. Ryan Coogler (70mm – The Vista Theater, IMAX 70mm [thrice] – AMC Lincoln Square 13 IMAX + Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood [LA IMAX projected by friend Taylor!] – Seen w/Shelby, Katie, Jasmine + Jean-Paul)
8.) Good Boy – Dir. Ben Leonberg (DCP – Scary Movies XIII Walter Reade Theater – Seen w/Jóhann + Sebastian [my Golden Retrievers])
9.) Sentimental Value – Dir. Joachim Trier (DCP – Walter Reade Theater NYFF 63 – Seen w/Lillian)
10.) Bugonia – Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos (35mm – Nitehawk Prospect Park [projected by my friend Lillian!] Seen w/Shelby)

Honorable Mentions:

(in no particular order): *The Odyssey (Prologue) – Dir. Christopher Nolan (IMAX 70mm [thrice] + IMAX DCP [once] – AMC Lincoln Square 13 IMAX Seen w/Shelby, Eric, Kyle)
*Weapons – Dir. Zac Kreeger (DCP – Regal Times Square [first OCAP screening ever] – Seen by Myself)
*F1 – Dir. Joseph Kosinski (IMAX DCP – AMC Lincoln Square 13 IMAX – Seen w/Jordan)
*Fixed – Dir. Genndy Tartakovsky (Netflix – at Home – Seen by Myself and technically with Jóhann + Sebastian when they entered the room for a couple of minutes…maybe it was too real for them, tis why they exited)

*28 Years Later – Dir. Danny Boyle (Regal UA Farmingdale Stadium 10 – Seen by Myself)
*Barrio Triste – Dir. Stillz (Howard Gilman Theater EBM NYFF 63 – Seen w/Manuel)
*The Smashing Machine – Dir. Benny Safdie (IMAX DCP – AMC Lincoln Square 13 – Seen by Myself)
**Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair – Dir. Quentin Tarantino (70mm – AMC Lincoln Square 13 IMAX – Seen w/Matt) **Technically a 2006 release but it was publicly screened in the year 2025 with a Fortnite short no less (that was printed on 35mm and 70mm film prints)

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year?
It’s a mix between three films:
The French Connection – Dir. William Friedkin (35mm – Walter Reade Theater)
The Royal Tenenbaums – Dir. Wes Anderson (35mm – Walter Reade Theater)
This Is Spinal Tap – Dir. Rob Reiner (DVD – New Mexico Vacation – rented from Video Library, Santa Fe)

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year?
Some Like It Hot – Dir. Billy Wilder (DVD – New Mexico Vacation – rented from Video Library, Santa Fe)
The Dark Knight Trilogy – Dir. Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins 35mm – Nitehawk Prospect Park
The Dark Knight + The Dark Knight Rises IMAX 70mm – IMAX Theatre in the Indiana State Museum)
What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Gene Hackman: A Week with the Gene Genie
What was your favorite programming elsewhere? There are two different Favorite Programing Elsewhere answers I have.

First, I’ve mentioned in my list for 2023 that my Girlfriend and I went to Indiana to go see Interstellar in IMAX 70mm. Well, we flew out to Indiana yet again in December of 2025 to watch The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX 70mm! It was her first time seeing both films in this format and The Dark Knight Rises for the first time ever. It was a great double feature for both of us but we looked at The Dark Knight differently this time because we went to Chicago at the end of the summer and we were able to go to a few locations where the film was shot. It felt very special this time around! Second, I flew out to Los Angeles (yes…again for films) to the TCM Film Festival for the first time. I had a wonderful time with the programming out there from seeing Ben-Hur (Dir. William Wyler) and Heat (Dir. Michael Mann) for the first time ever at the TLC Chinese Theater to watching a double 70mm feature of 2001: A Space Odyssey (Dir. Stanley Kubrick) and Apocalypse Now (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola) at the Egyptian Theater.

Just when you thought that all of that couldn’t be topped off, the cream of the crop for TCM in 2025 was that two films programmed in the festival would be screened in VistaVision for the first time in 64 years since One-Eyed Jacks (Dir. Marlon Brando); We’re No Angels (1955 – Dir. Michael Curtiz) and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957 – Dir. John Sturges) were the two films presented in the 8 perf 35mm format. When I heard that this format would be screened for the first time in that long, I purchased festival and plane tickets immediately! Around March-April 2025, most people in the film world were aware that Paul Thomas Anderson was shooting One Battle After Another in VistaVision and the year prior we had Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist (NYFF 62), a film that shot mostly in the VistaVision format. The Brutalist was released theatrically in 35mm and 70mm, there was no VistaVision print and projection equipment hadn’t been used in so long that most of us were assuming that One Battle After Another would not get a VistaVision release, even with the rumors at the time saying that there was a small chance it could get released in the format. Everyone was so excited in the TLC Chinese Theater that evening for the double feature, we had two good films play before our eyes in such rich color and sharpness that it was unlike anything else; we even got a little treat before each feature which the public audience wasn’t aware until the end of the intro, it was announced that an 8 perf 35mm VistaVision trailer of One Battle After Another would play before the feature! The trailer was the same first trailer we all saw in theaters at the time but roughly about 1864 audience members got to see what the new PTA film would look like in the format with two archival VistaVision features afterwards. We were small audience compared to the rest of the world and we all left with something special that night! One of the best film trips I ever went on EVER!

*Epilogue, I purchased a VistaVision shirt from the TCM Film Festival. I wore it at a preview screening for One Battle After Another at the Walter Reade Theater with PTA + Cast in person. During the intro, PTA saw me in the audience with my shirt on and gave a little shout out! I felt very special that night!

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Frederick Wiseman in conversation with John Wilson

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? The Odyssey – Dir. Christopher Nolan (IMAX 70mm version, GO SEE THIS IN IMAX 70MM! This will be the first feature film completely filmed and presented in the full IMAX 1:43 aspect ratio. IMAX 70mm tickets have been on sale since 7/17/2025, I got tickets to two separate shows already!)

Sarah Eaton – Vice President, Marketing and Communications

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Hearts of Darkness

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Three Days of the Condor

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? New Directors/New Films

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Why would I go anywhere else?

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Too many to choose from…

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Umm…Dune Part 3?

Bobby Kanter – Theater Staff

In release order:
In the Lost Lands (Paul W S Anderson)
Misericordia (Alain Giuraudie)
The Woman in the Yard (Jaume Collet-Serra)
Drop (Christopher Landon)
The Shrouds (David Cronenberg)
Until Dawn (David F. Sandberg)
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Mary Bronstein)
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (Emma Tammi)
Ella McCay (James L. Brooks)
Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie)

*Honorable Mention for reasons of professional courtesy:
The Alto Knights (Barry Levinson)

*Special Citation for Advances in 4DX technology: Flight Risk (Mel Gibson)
28 Years Later (Danny Boyle)
A Minecraft Movie (Jared Hess)

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year?
Junior War (Ryan Trecartin, 2013) at Roxy Cinema
Brewster McCloud (1970) & Popeye (1980)
All About Altman at Nitehawk Prospect Park
Vagabond (Agnes Varda, 1985) at Anthology Film Archives
The Eve of Ivan Kupalo (Yuri Illienko, 1968) at Walter Reade theater for Conjuring Nosferatu
The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973) at Metrograph
Antichrist (Lars Von Trier, 2009) at Anthology Film Archives
Ana (1982) & Rosa de Areia (1989) – Peasants of the Cinema: António Reis & Margarida Cordeiro by the Theater of the Matters at Metrograph
The German Chainsaw Massacre (Christopher Schlingensief, 1990)
Conquest (Lucio Fulci, 1983) at Nitehawk Prospect Park
Working Girls (Lizzie Borden, 1986) & Girl 6 (Spike Lee, 1996) – WOMEN, WORKERS, AND WHORES ON FILM at Anthology Film Archives
The Ladies Man (Reginald Hudlin, 2000), Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, and Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs – programmed by Elizabeth Purchell for Weird Wednesday at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn
Little Buddha (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1993) at IFC Center
Ma (Tate Taylor, 2019) at Regal Repertory Cinema
Union Square Popcorn (Dr. Darren Paul Fisher, 2007) at Roxy Cinema
Becky Sharp (Rouben Mamoulian, 1935
La Ronde (Max Ophuls, 1950), The Crucial Two Minutes (Hans Fischerkoesen, 1938), Wife! Be Like a Rose (Mikio Naruse, 1935), and Mother Joan of the Angels (Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1961) in the Dryden Theater at the George Eastman Museum for the 9th Nitrate Picture Show
Glen or Glenda (Ed Wood, 1953) at Nitehawk Williamsburg (afterwards I fell and broke my glasses)
L’Amour (Paul Morrissey, 1973) at Anthology Film Archives
Lilith (Robert Rossen, 1964) at The Jeff Carny (1980) at Roxy Cinema
The Cool World (Shirley Clarke, 1963) with Hampton Clanton at Anthology Film Archive
Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey, 1935) at Anthology Film Archives
American Hunter (Arizal, 1989) + Spectacle Trailer Reel at the Museum of Modern Art
Wind Across the Everglades (Nicholas Ray, 1958) – The Theater of the Matters at Metrograph
America, Land of the FREEKS (Ulli Lommel, 2018) at Roxy Cinema
The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999) & Timecode (2000) – Directed by Mike Figgis at Roxy Cinema
Shipwrecked on Route D17 (2002) – Luc Moullet at Film at Lincoln Center
Kaboom (Gregg Araki, 2010) at IFC Center
Children of Chaos (Yannick Bellon, 1989) and Gentille (Sophie Fillières, 2005) at the Florence Gould Theater at L’Alliance Francaise
White White Storks (1966) and I Remember You (1985) with Ali Khamraev at Asia Society
Hovering over the Water (João César Monteiro, 1986) at the Museum of Modern Art
Boarding Gate (Olivier Assayas, 2007) at Metrograph
These Encounters of Theirs (Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, 2006) at BAM
The Theater of the Matters Psycho (1998) at Roxy Cinema for Gus Van Sant Redux
The Strangers (2008) on Netflix on my phone the morning that the merger was announced

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang, 1939) in the Dryden Theater at the George Eastman Museum for the 9th Nitrate Picture Show
What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Luc Moullet, Kira Muratova, LA Rebellion, Frederick Wiseman, and the NYFF Revivals!

What was your favorite programming elsewhere?
The Theater of the Matters at Anthology, BAM, and Metrograph! Illienko at Metrograph!
Khamraev at Asia Society & Anthology (thank you to Inney Prakash and Vadim Rizov)!
Willem Dafoe & Barbara Loden at Anthology!
BEACH PARTY madness at Weird Wednesday!

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Luc Moullet & Adntonietta Pizzorno, M Night Shyamalan for Lady in the Water, and Fred Murphy on Hoosiers!

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? The Odyssey, perhaps the greatest feat of international shipping coordination since the days of the Roman Empire.

Benjamin Goff – Theater Staff

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? The Three From the Filling Station (dir. Thiele, 1930), Tears of the Black Tiger (dir. Sasanatieng, 2000), Mildred Pierce, (dir. Curtiz, 1945)

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Groundhog Day (dir. Ramis, 1993): After reading a short note from Stanley Cavell where he claimed Groundhog Day would be one of the most remembered movies from the 20th Century, my classmates and I decided to revisit it. I was completely knocked off my horse. Cavell doesn’t expand on his bold claim, but watching the film again after over 15 years from first viewing showed just how fit for philosophy it is. There is a connection to be made between Thoreau’s $28.12½ spent at Walden Pond, Clark Gable’s $39.60 restitution in It Happened One Night, and Andie McDowell’s “purchase” of Bill Murray for $339.88.

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Monica Vitti Retrospective

What was your favorite programming elsewhere?I plan all my trips to London around The BFI’s “Philosophical Screens” ongoing series.

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? NYFF Baumbach and Trier

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Is this the year for Way of the Wind? If not, then Ruben Östlund’s new movie

Manny Lage-Valera Senior Manager, Theater Operations

1. In the Lost Lands (Paul W.S. Anderson) – Avatar: Fire and Ash (James Cameron)
2. Dry Leaf (Alexandre Koberidze) – Drop (Christopher Landon) – What Does that Nature Say to You? (Hong Sangsoo)
3. The Strangers: Chapter 2 (Renny Harlin) – The Fishing Place (Rob Tregenza) – Flight Risk [in 4DX] (Mel Gibson)
4. Fire of Wind (Marta Mateus) – Ella McCay (James L. Brooks)
5. Eddington (Ari Aster) – Hurry Up Tomorrow (Trey Edward Shults) – The Woman in the Yard (Jaume Collet-Serra) – The Housemaid (Paul Feig)
6. The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
7. Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force [in 4DX] (Wuershan)
8. In Whose Name? (Nico Ballesteros)
9. Game Changer (Shankar) – Charge (Rosa Barba)
10. Lilo & Stitch (Dean Fleischer Camp)
– Barrio Triste (Stillz)

Shorts: Tulsa (Scott Stark), Turtle Sandwich (David Cardoza), FELT (Blake Williams), Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (Kevin Walker, Irene Zahariadis), Toward a Fundamental Theory of Physics (Victor Van Rossem), Maidenhair (Julia Sipowicz), Preface to the Little Dialogue (Matías Piñeiro), tree above volvo (Hong Sangsoo), The Fastest Boxer in the World (Griffin Conner)

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Nothing quite topped seeing Luc Moullet in person for so many Q&As/intros while watching the majority of his oeuvre at the Walter Reade. A close second was, of course, the M. Night Shyamalan retrospective during which everyone found out that not only is M. Night one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time but also the sweetest person in the world. L.A. Rebellion was another very special series with some incredible Q&As with Haile Gerima. And we closed off the year beautifully with a bunch of rare and stunning 35mm prints for our Yoshimura retrospective.

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Margarida Cordeiro, António Reis Retrospective (Metrograph), Volker Spengler Retrospective (Anthology Film Archives), René Clair Retrospective (Film Forum), Larry Gottheim Retrospective (MoMA), The Nitrate Picture Show (George Eastman Museum), The Deuce (Nitehawk), Alfred Hitchcock Retrospective (The Paris Theater), Mikio Naruse Retrospective (Japan Society and Metrograph), Jean-Claude Rousseau Retrospective (Anthology Film Archives), Weird Wednesday (Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn), Yannick Bellon Retrospective (L’Alliance New York), Interceptions: Yugoslavia in the Image World (Anthology Film Archives), Avant-Garde Ads (Anthology Film Archives), Everything Spins: Experimental Film in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, 1960s-1980s (Anthology Film Archives), Bradley Eros/Jordan Belson (Spectacle Theater), Pre-Code Parade (Nitehawk Cinema), João César Monteiro Retrospective (MoMA), Sophie Fillières Retrospective (L’Alliance New York), Arturo Ripstein Retrospective (BAM Rose Cinemas), Marta Mateus Selects (Anthology Film Archives), Ali Khamraev Retrospective (Asia Society and Anthology Film Archives)

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Send Help [in 3D 4DX] (Sam Raimi); The Strangers: Chapter 3 (Renny Harlin)

Michael Blair – Assistant Editor, Film Comment

1. The Secret Agent
2. By the Stream
3. The Mastermind
4. 7 Walks with Mark Brown
5. Caught by the Tides
6. Misericordia
7. Afternoons of Solitude
8. The Shrouds
9. You Burn Me
10. Dracula

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? La Commune (Paris, 1871) (Peter Watkins, 2000)

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? The Lusty Men (Nicolas Ray, 1952)

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Luc Moullet: Anarchy in the Alps

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Tomonari Nishikawa tribute at Anthology Film Archives

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Luc Moullet on The Comedy of Work

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach)

Eva Tooley – Publicist

NOT RANKED: One Battle After Another; Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk; It Was Just an Accident; Final Destination Bloodlines; Jay Kelly; Marty Supreme; The Naked Gun; Good Boy; Sentimental Value; Sorry, Baby

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? The Vanishing (1988)

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? Outside of NYFF63, the 2025 edition of New Directors/New Films, the returning edition of Scary Movies, and the Frederick Wiseman series were a few of my favorites of the year.

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year?The Q&A with M. Night Shyamalan following a screening of The Village on 35mm was unforgettable!

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger

Arin Sang-urai Senior Coordinator – Digital Content Producer

28 Years Later, Bob Trevino Likes It, Who by Fire, Lurker, Black Bag, F1, Cloud, Highest 2 Lowest, Splitsville

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? The Lost Weekend, Night of the Juggler, and basically all of the Wiseman series

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? Interiors (1978)

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? The Wiseman series was one of all-time FLC favorite series. M.Night Shyamalan also very much of note.

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? The Hong Kong Cinema Classics series at IFC Center

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? All of M. Night’s Q&As were so fun.

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour

Chelsea Tomasi – Theater Staff

Rabbit Trap
Turtle Sandwich
What Does That Nature Say to You
With Hasan in Gaza

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Sphere (1998) or The Innocents (1961)

What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? The Village, in a whole new light

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? M. Night Shyamalan coming to FLC was AND will always be the greatest.

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? Popcorn and Mary Jane’s Not A Virgin Anymore at the Roxy!!

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? M Night’s for Signs & Glass 🥹

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Sam Raimi’s Send Help

Cameron Bartell Director, Events

One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
It Was Just an Accident
Sirat
Sentimental Value
Sorry, Baby
Sinners
Marty Supreme
Blue Moon
Black Bag

What’s the best older movie you saw for the first time this year? Body & Soul
What’s the best older movie you saw again this year? The Happening – M Night

What was your favorite programming at FLC this year? One Battle After Another – 6 days before NYFF63

What was your favorite programming elsewhere? IMAX 70mm One Battle After Another and/or Sinners

What was the best Q&A/talk you watched that FLC conducted this year? Tyler’s Q&As with M. Night!

What’s your most anticipated movie of 2026? Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day