Film at Lincoln Center announced today that Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland will be featured as the Centerpiece film at the 58th New York Film Festival. Nomadland will be released in theaters this fall domestically by Searchlight Pictures.

Zhao adapted Nomadland from journalist Jessica Bruder’s 2017 nonfiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century following Frances McDormand and producer Peter Spears’ acquisition of the literary adaptation rights shortly after publication. The film follows Fern (McDormand), a woman who, after the economic collapse of her company town in rural Nevada, packs her van and sets off on the road to explore a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad.

Nomadland is produced by Frances McDormand (HBO’s Olive Kitteridge), Peter Spears (Call Me by Your Name), Mollye Asher (The Rider), Dan Janvey (Beasts of the Southern Wild), and Chloé Zhao (The Rider). In addition to McDormand, the film includes real nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades, as well as actor David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck). Zhao reunites with her cinematographer from The Rider, Joshua James Richards (God’s Own Country). The film features compositions by celebrated Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Maria Enrico Einaudi and film editing by Zhao. At Searchlight, the film was overseen by Presidents of Production Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum and Vice President of Production Taylor Friedman. Zhao is a film director, screenwriter, editor, and producer known for her work on her debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her second feature film, The Rider (2017), was a NYFF55 selection and received several accolades including nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director. In addition to Nomadland, Zhao also directed the upcoming Marvel Studios release Eternals, set for release in 2021 by Walt Disney Studios.

“We knew that Chloé Zhao’s masterful film, Nomadland, deserved a central spot at the New York Film Festival as soon as we saw it,” said Eugene Hernandez, Director of the New York Film Festival. “We’re elated to share Chloé and Fran’s remarkable achievement with New York audiences this fall.”

“We are honored to have Chloé back at the festival with her most ambitious and moving work to date,” said New York Film Festival Director of Programming Dennis Lim. “Anchored by Frances McDormand’s indelible performance, Nomadland is a road movie for our precarious times, and it establishes Chloé as one of the most clear-eyed and humane observers of life on the American margins.”

“I’m very excited and proud that Nomadland will screen at NYFF. I learned how to make films in New York City, at NYU. This wonderful, brave, and inspiring city means a lot to me. I’m so thankful for NYFF to invite me back to connect with its audiences,” said Chloé Zhao.

The NYFF Main Slate selection committee, chaired by Dennis Lim, also includes Eugene Hernandez, Florence Almozini, K. Austin Collins, and Rachel Rosen. 

In an unprecedented collaboration between the festivals this year, Nomadland will also screen at the 77th Venice International Film Festival and the 45th Toronto International Film Festival on September 11th. The Telluride Film Festival will also host a special “Telluride from Los Angeles” drive-in screening in Southern California on September 11th.

Since 1963, the New York Film Festival has been a centerpiece of New York’s arts scene: an annual bellwether of the state of cinema that has shaped film culture in the city and beyond. Festival organizers will keep this tradition alive while adapting as necessary to the current health crisis. 

As the festival dates approach, Film at Lincoln Center will share additional New York Film Festival programming updates. 

Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, the New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema. The 58th edition continues a more than 50-year tradition of introducing audiences to bold and remarkable works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent. 

ABOUT SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
Searchlight Pictures is a specialty film company that both finances and acquires motion pictures. It has its own marketing and distribution operations and is part of the Walt Disney Studios. Searchlight Pictures recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and released Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, which was nominated for six Academy Awards—including Best Picture—and won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Upcoming releases include Scott Cooper’s Antlers, Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye, David Bruckner’s The Night House, Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, and Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER

Film at Lincoln Center is dedicated to supporting the art and elevating the craft of cinema and enriching film culture.

Film at Lincoln Center fulfills its mission through the programming of festivals, series, retrospectives, and new releases; the presentation of podcasts, talks, and special events; and via its artist initiatives. Since its founding in 1969, this nonprofit organization has brought the celebration of American and international film to the world-renowned Lincoln Center arts complex, making the discussion and appreciation of cinema accessible to a broad audience and ensuring that it remains an essential art form for years to come.

Support for the New York Film Festival is generously provided by Official Partners HBO and Campari, Benefactor Partner Netflix, Supporting Partners Radeberger Pilsner and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Contributing Partners Harken Wine and Hudson New York-an SBE Hotel, and Media Partner WNET New York Public Media. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Film at Lincoln Center.

Film at Lincoln Center receives generous, year-round support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. For more information, follow @TheNYFF on Twitter and Instagram.