“This is the weekend they didn't play golf.” The tagline for John Boorman's Deliverance (1972) has a dark humor about it once you've seen the film, but make this weekend the weekend you don't play golf. Instead of being gunned down by hillbillies in the backcountry of Georgia check out the second Saturday of the 50th New York Film Festival!
Hole 1: Amour with director Michael Haneke in person
It may not show nature as cruelly as Deliverance, or as the back nine at The Ocean Course in South Carolina, but Haneke's Palme d'Or-winning Amour is a “powerful statement about man's capacity for dignity and sensitivity when confronted with the inevitable cruelty of nature,” according to Variety. Screening at 3:00pm, Amour is an appropriate way to spend a rainy New York afternoon.
Hole 2: Abbas Kiarostami
HBO Director's Dialogue hosts award-winning director Abbas Kiarostami at 6:00pm, giving you a glimpse of the man behind the sunglasses. Kiarostami has been nominated for five Palme d'Or awards at Cannes Film Festival, winning one for his Taste of Cherry (NYFF '97). He has also won four awards at the Venice Film Festival, including the Grand Special Jury Prize for The Wind Will Carry Us. His work alone is worthy of this special Q&A between the New York Film Festival screenings of Like Someone in Love. Rush tickets available! [Note: This event is located in Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium. All in-person ticket sales are cash only. Doors open at 5:30pm.]
Barbara and Passion
Holes 3, 4, 5: Main Slate Films
Make a dent in this year's Main Slate with Barbara, Not Fade Away and Passion, all three of which have rush tickets available! Screening at 12:15pm, Cristian Petzold's Barbara is, according to Empire magazine, “the best Iron Curtain drama since The Lives Of Others.” A tense drama about a doctor (Nina Hoss) exiled to a small town from East Berlin as punishment for applying for a visa to the West, Barbara won the Silver Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival for Best Director. The world premiere of the debut feature from The Sopranos creator David Chase's, Not Fade Away, is this year's Centerpiece film. The tender coming-of-age story boasts a soundtrack of classic rock 'n roll you have to hear to believe, as well as 60s strut from James Gandolfini and a cast of spectacular young actors. See it at 6:00pm and 9:00pm. But first, start your morning with a dose of deception at our added screening of Brian de Palma's Passion starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace at 10:00am.
Hole 6: Views from the Avant-Garde — Free Amphitheater Programs
Starting at 10am check out the festival's Free Amphitheater Programs! Including, Age Is…, Stephen Dwoskin's final film about the subjective and cultural concepts of aging; Peter Bo Rappmund's Vulgar Fractions, about seven state intersections along the Nebraska border; Ponce de LeĂłn, a Ben Russell and Jim Drain film about, well, time; “EMPIRE” a remake of Andy Warhol's “Empire”; plus many more.
Holes 7, 8: Special Screenings
Screening the first three parts of Oliver Stone's 10-part documentary (which will air in November on Showtime), the director's Untold History of the United States shows events leading up to World War II, the war itself, and Vice-President Henry Wallace (an Iowa native and, appropriately, former Secretary of Agriculture). The documentary has been in the works for years and was even originally slated to show at the 49th New York Film Festival; it promises to be fascinating.
The world premiere of Richard Foreman's Once Every Day screens at 6:30pm and tells the tale of 25 people acting out behavior patterns. His first feature in 35 years, Foreman is known for annual productions of his avant-garde Ontological-Hysteric Theater in New York City.
Peggy Ahwesh's Martina's Playhouse
Hole 9: More Views from the Avant-Garde
Today's festival offerings includes works from experimental greats Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Ben Rivers, Peggy Ahwesh, Jerome Hiler, Nathaniel Dorsky, Joe Gibbons, Tsai Ming-Liang and JoĂŁo Pedro Rodrigues. Plus, Nicolas Rey will keep you guessing by showing a film in nine reels shown… in random order, and check out the late, great master RaĂşl Ruiz's 90-minute The Blind Owl, about an Arabian immigrant who works as a projectionist and falls in love with a character in one of his films.
Full Schedule:
Main Slate:

10:00am – Passion (Rush Tickets Available!)

12:15pm – Barbara (Rush Tickets Available!)

3:00pm – Amour (Standby Only)

6:00pm – Not Fade Away (Centerpiece, $25 Rush Tickets Available!)
9:00pm – Not Fade Away (Centerpiece, $25 Rush Tickets Available!)
Views from the Avant-Garde:

10:00am – 10:00pm – Free Ampitheater Programs

12:00pm – Phantom Residence (Standby Only)

1:30pm – Beyond the Borderline

2:30pm – Peggy Ahwesh & Joe Gibbons

4:15pm – Jerome Hiler: New Shores

5:00pm – Nicolas Rey
6:15pm – Nathaniel Dorsky
7:30pm – Invisible Attributes—By Sky and on Foot

8:30pm – Jeff Priess (Standby Only)
10:00pm – Raúl Ruiz
Special Screenings:

1:00pm – Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States (Standby Only)
6:30pm – Once Every Day (Rush Tickets Available!)
HBO Director's Dialogues:

6:00pm – Abbas Kiarostami (Rush Tickets Available!)
