It's just seven weeks until the opening night of the 49th New York Film Festival. That's 49 days until Roman Polanski's latest, Carnage, kicks off this year's fest at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly will open NYFF in Polanski's New York story, an adaptation of Yasmina Reza's acclaimed play, God Of Carnage. Set in a Brooklyn apartment, the film will be direct from the Venice Film Festival earlier in the month. Also already announced for this year's festival are the world premiere of Simon Curtis' My Week With Marilyn as well as a retrospective that will be quite popular this year. Velvet Bullets and Steel Kisses: Celebrating the Centennial of Nikkatsu Corporation at the NYFF will present a 37 film tribute to the famed 100 year old Japanese film studio before the series travels to the Cinémathèque Française in December and other cities next year.
“Cinema is Nicholas Ray,” Godard once wrote. New Yorkers will soon get a chance to see why as fans celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of the famed American auteur from Wisconsin. Retrospective screenings in the New York Film Festival's Masterworks section will include a restored edition of Nicholas Ray's We Can't Go Home Again, a film made in collaboration with his SUNY film students in the 1970s. Also on tap this year is a restored version of William Wyler's Ben Hur, featuring a rarely seen widescreen edition of the treasured film.
More cinematic classics and restored films will be announced next week when the festival's programmers unveil the lineup for the New York Film Festival.
Joining chair of the selection committee Richard Peña, program director at the Film Society, are Village Voice critic Melissa Anderson, Film Society associate program director Scott Foundas, Moving Image Source editor Dennis Lim and chief film critic from The Hollywood Reporter Todd McCarthy. Until recently, the group was sequestered in screening rooms around the city to consider submissions for this year's festival.
While the festival's Main Slate remains the same as prior years – a carefully curated selection of the year's essential films – the opening of the new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center offers us more ways to engage with an even larger festival audience. We plan to announce the balance of the Film Festival lineup next week.
This year we’re ushering in additional ticketing options for members and non-members alike. But, in the meantime, our most loyal constituents have an advance chance to lock in a festival plan. To get a jumpstart on buying passes and subscriptions for this year’s festival, we invite you to become a Patron of Member of the Film Society of Lincoln Center immediately.
Patrons of the Film Society are invited to buy passes and subscriptions today, while Members will have an advance purchase period that begins on Wednesday, August 17th. Patrons with questions (or to become a Patron) please email [email protected]. Existing Members (or those who would like to become a Member) can email [email protected].
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.
To join the Film Society, please visit the Support section of the website today.
