The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. To make things a little easier on your wallet, we've made some special $25 tickets available for purchase online. Walter Mitty is a man who lives his life quietly, all while allowing his imagination to run wild with adventure. When Walter is thrust into real-life globetrotting adventure, his daydreams become reality. The film is dreamy and vivid and beautiful, starring and directed by Ben Stiller.
Standby tickets will also be available to 3:15pm Inside Llewyn Davis, the newest Coen brothers venture. Llewyn Davis is just trying to make it as a folk musician in 1960s New York, but talented as he is, Davis can’t seem to catch a break. The music in the film is lovingly curated by regular Coens collaborator T-Bune Burnett. The Guardian lauded Inside Llewyn Davis as being “brilliantly written, terrifically acted, superbly designed and shot; it's a sweet, sad, funny picture about the lost world of folk music which effortlessly immerses us in the period.”
Fourteen years in the making, American Promise is the story of two sets of New York City parents of color who decide to send their kids to the elite (and mostly white) Dalton School. We follow both kids’ progress and struggles in attending the prestigious school in our supposedly “post-racial” society. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson will be in person at 12:00pm for a post-screening Q&A.
For something different, why not check out today’s NYFF51 Shorts Program 1? With films ranging from 9-29 minutes, it’s a way to see fantastic works from multiple perspectives all in one sitting. From cheerleading to the horrors of apartment hunting in New York City, there's surely something for everyone. All five of the directors will be at the screening at 1:30pm today in the Walter Reade Theater, with $7 rush tickets available.
On offer later today are two very special film revivals from acclaimed director Nicholas Ray. They Live by Night is Ray’s 1948 debut, restored in 35mm for its big screen re-debut at 6:00pm, just the way it was meant to be seen. Following at 8:15pm is Ray’s 1952 film The Lusty Men. Set in the rough world of the rodeo circuit and focusing on the lust for life of the men who choose to live in that world, the film has also been restored to its original elegiacal beauty for tonight’s 35mm outing on our screen. Rush tickets are available to both screenings!
Claire Denis
Today is also a day of talks by amazing women directors! HBO Directors Dialogue with Agnieszka Holland is first today at 4:15pm, with $7 rush tickets available. Holland’s film Burning Bush is screening in the Official Selectino of NYFF51 and has been submitted by the Czech Republic as their official entry for the Foreign Language Oscar. The film follows student uprisings against the Soviet invasion after 1960’s Prague Spring, during which time the Polish director was a student in Prague and was imprisoned during a protest. Our second talk of the day is a free NYFF Live chat with Claire Denis, whose film Bastards premiered at Cannes and is also in the Official Selection here. Complimentary tickets to the 7:00pm discussion of Denis' work will be available on a first come, first serve basis!
Views from the Avant-Garde continues today with many opportunities to see some breathtaking, experimental filmmaking. Starting is Program 7, a selection of Sandro Aguilar films collectively titled Dive: Approach and Exit. Program 19 is also a concentrated view on a single filmmaker with Stom Sogo’s Eijanaika – Broken Image, Unprotected Joy. Program 20 looks at nature with filmmakers Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler presenting three films that together are Momentary Light and Seasonal Songs. That's only the tip of the iceberg, with half a dozen other programs as well as free Amphitheater screenings throughout the day and rush tickets available to many events.
Today's Schedule
12:00pm American Promise (Official Selection, ATH)
1:30pm Shorts Program 1 (Shorts, WRT) RUSH AVAILABLE
3:15pm Inside Llewyn Davis (Official Selection, ATH) STANDBY ONLY
4:15pm HBO Directors Dialogues: Agnieszka Holland (NYFF Talks, WRT) RUSH AVAILABLE
6:00pm The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Official Selection, ATH)
6:00pm They Live by Night (Revivals, WRT) RUSH AVAILABLE
8:15pm The Lusty Men (Revivals, WRT) RUSH AVAILABLE
9:00pm The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Official Selection, ATH)
All Day Views from the Avant-Garde (EBM)
