The 57th New York Film Festival which runs September 27 to October 13 will host the eighth edition of free talk series NYFF Live and additional free events. NYFF Live features actors, directors, writers, critics, and other industry insiders participating in daily evening discussions from September 28 to October 9 in the Amphitheater at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.
Highlights of NYFF Live include conversations with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Young Ahmed), Kelly Reichardt (First Cow), Michael Apted (63 Up), Nadav Lapid (Synonyms), and cinematographer Denis Lenoir (Wasp Network), as well as a deep-dive into the making of NYFF57 selection Uncut Gems.
Other NYFF live events include a panel of filmmakers from this year’s Spotlight on Documentary section; a conversation about cinematography with The Irishman DP Rodrigo Prieto joined by cinematographers Ashley Connor (Madeline’s Madeline) and Chris Teague (Obvious Child); discussions with the innovative creative teams behind two NYFF57 Convergence selections, Holy Night and The Raven; and the annual trio of Film Comment talks: State of the Nation, Filmmakers Chat, and Festival Wrap.
In addition, two free events have been added to the NYFF57 lineup: a tribute to the late producer and distributor Ben Barenholtz with Eamonn Bowles, Ethan Coen, and John Turturro, moderated by Annette Insdorf, as well as a screening of Lynne Ramsay’s latest short film, Brigitte, which centers around the life and work of influential portrait photographer Brigitte Lacombe, with both in person for a conversation with NYFF Director Kent Jones.
Free tickets to NYFF Live events will be distributed at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center box office (144 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam) on a first-come, first-served basis starting one hour prior to the talks. Limit one ticket per person, subject to availability. For those unable to attend, video from these events will be available online.
Cinematography Now: Ashley Connor, Rodrigo Prieto, and Chris Teague
In this show-and-tell session, some of the greatest working cinematographers discuss their work, offering an insider’s view of the field today. The special guests are Rodrigo Prieto, whose credits include Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Silence, and The Wolf of Wall Street, as well as Brokeback Mountain and Amores Perros; Ashley Connor, one of the best emerging cinematographers, whose films include Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline, Thou Wast Mild and Lovely, ;and Butter on the Latch, and Sundance-winner The Miseducation of Cameron Post; and Chris Teague, whose work includes the TV series Russian Doll, GLOW, and Broad City, and the independent films The Mend and Obvious Child. Moderated by David Schwartz, former Chief Curator, Museum of the Moving Image.
Film Comment: State of the Nation
How do filmmakers grapple with the challenge of portraying current events and recent history on screen? And how successfully are movies reflecting the political complexities of an ever-changing world? In the first of Film Comment’s NYFF Live talks, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold leads a discussion spanning the globe and cinema with Scott Z. Burns, writer-director of The Report and writer of The Laundromat; Jamsheed Akrami, professor at William Paterson University, director of Friendly Persuasion: Iranian Cinema After the 1979 Revolution, and author of the Jafar Panahi interview feature in the March/April issue of Film Comment; and Devika Girish, critic and Assistant Editor of Film Comment.
NYFF Documentary Talk
Lesli Klainberg, Film at Lincoln Center’s Executive Director, as well as a documentary filmmaker and producer, once again sits down for a conversation with the directors of some of the documentaries screening at this year’s festival. Participants include Ric Burns (Oliver Sacks: His Own Life), Tania Cypriano (Born to Be), Ivy Meeropol (Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn), and Lynn Novick (College Behind Bars).
Producers on Producing: Hosted by Producers Guild of America
Producers Emma Tillinger Koskoff (The Irishman, Joker, The Wolf of Wall Street) and David Hinojosa (First Reformed, Vox Lux, Beatriz at Dinner) will join us for a frank discussion about their journeys becoming producers. Koskoff is President of Production for Sikelia Productions, working alongside Academy Award–winning director Martin Scorsese on all aspects of his film and television projects; Hinojosa is an independent producer and, for the last four years, a producing partner at Killer Films. “Producers on Producing” is part of PGA’s One Guild initiative supporting inclusive membership, employment, content, and depictions.
In Conversation with Nadav Lapid
Israeli director Nadav Lapid studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University and later earned his degree at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem. Lapid’s debut feature, Policeman, won the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 Locarno International Film Festival. Since then, he has gone on to direct the features The Kindergarten Teacher, released by Kino Lorber and later remade in English; and Synonyms, which won the prestigious Golden Bear award at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival and is making its U.S. Premiere in this year’s NYFF. Lapid will join us to discuss Synonyms and his life as a filmmaker.
Lynne Ramsay’s Brigitte
We are pleased to present a free talk and screening of the latest film from acclaimed director Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), the half-hour documentary Brigitte, about portrait photographer Brigitte Lacombe. Commissioned by Miu Miu for the Venice Film Festival, this elegant black-and-white film utilizes still images and footage from Lacombe’s photo shoots to create an intimate depiction of her work. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Ramsay and Lacombe.
In Conversation with the Dardenne Brothers
Young Ahmed, the latest from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors of Rosetta, L’enfant, and The Kid with a Bike, will have its North American Premiere at this year’s NYFF. Another intimate portrayal-in-furious-motion of a protagonist in crisis, it earned the Belgian filmmaking duo this year’s Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival. Join them as they sit down to discuss the film and their career.
An Evening with Beatrice Gibson:
Presented by Bar Laika and Projections
As a kickoff event for this year’s Projections section, filmmaker Beatrice Gibson will present two short portrait films about poets: CAConrad and Eileen Myles, both of whom were subjects of her recent film I Hope I’m Loud When I’m Dead, presented in Projections in 2018. These films are part of a larger project that includes her latest film, Two Sisters Who Are Not Sisters (2019), which will have its U.S. premiere on October 4th in Shorts Program 3: Signs of Life.
In Conversation with Michael Apted
Those of us who have devotedly followed Michael Apted’s one-of-a-kind British film series for the past several decades anticipate with great warmth- and more than a little poignant anxiety – returning every seven years to the lives of Tony; Nicholas; Suzy; Symon and Paul; Jackie, Sue, and Lynn; Andrew and John; Neil and Peter; and Bruce. The series’ ninth installment, 63 Up, as its New York Premiere at NYFF, and its committed, eclectic director, Michael Apted, will discuss it and the series as a whole in this on-stage discussion.
In Conversation with Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy, Certain Women) once again trains her perceptive and patient eye on the Pacific Northwest, this time evoking an authentically hardscrabble early 19th-century way of life in First Cow, making its New York premiere in NYFF’s Main Slate. Join Reichardt as she discusses this new film, in which she again shows her distinct talent for depicting the peculiar rhythms of daily living and ability to capture the immense, unsettling quietude of rural America.
Film Comment: Filmmakers Chat
For the fourth edition of our much-loved event, Film Comment invites NYFF filmmakers into dialogue with one another about the art, craft, and angst of making movies. FC Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold moderates a discussion with four directors: Luise Donschen (Entire Days Together and last year’s Art of the Real feature Casanova Gene); Akosua Adoma Owusu (Pelourinho: They Don’t Really Care About Us); Corneliu Porumboiu (The Whistlers); and Justine Triet (Sibyl).
Making Uncut Gems
Uncut Gems, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is an electrifying crime thriller from acclaimed filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie (Heaven Knows What, Good Time). Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a charismatic New York City jeweler is always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win. The Safdie Brothers (another NYFF Live fraternal duo, following the Dardennes), will be on hand to detail the process of making this New York City film, and will be joined by co-writer and editor Ronald Bronstein, producer Sebastian Bear McClard, composer Daniel Lopatin, and casting director Jen Venditti.
Denis Lenoir in Conversation with Kent Jones
The French cinematographer Denis Lenoir has been shooting since the seventies, and has worked on films from around the world, including the U.S. and UK. His most fruitful collaboration has been with director Olivier Assayas: Lenoir was the DP on his very first feature, Disorder (1986), and he has now shot his latest film, the character-driven spy thriller Wasp Network, starring Pénelope Cruz and Edgar Ramírez. Lenoir will set down with NYFF Director Kent Jones to discuss his work.
Writing New York: Hosted by Writers Guild of America, East
Join the Writers Guild of America, East for a celebration of writers who understand that New York City is more than the quintessential urban landscape, more even than a state of mind: it’s a supporting character in the stories these writers tell. New York is also a foil for their other characters—an object of affection, consternation, fear, and inimitable beauty. Panelists include JC Chandor (A Most Violent Year), Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious), Elisabeth Holm (Landline), Steven Zaillian (The Irishman), and Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child, Landline).
Tribute to Ben Barenholtz
An exhibitor, producer, and distributor, Ben Barenholtz was a titan of independent cinema who died earlier this year. Film at Lincoln Center pays tribute to him with a panel of New Yorkers who knew him well. Moderated by Columbia University film professor Annette Insdorf, the talk will include his collaborators Ethan Coen, John Turturro, and film distributor Eamonn Bowles.
We <3 Agnès
When Agnès Varda died earlier this year at age 90, the world lost one of its most inspirational cinematic radicals. Her final film, the documentary Varda by Agnès, sheds light on her experiences as a director, photographer, and installation artist, bringing personal insight into the method she called “cinécriture” (“cinematic writing”). Join her daughter and frequent collaborator Rosalie Varda and other special guests for an in-depth conversation that will pay tribute to Varda before the film has its New York premiere in NYFF’s Main Slate.
Film Comment: Festival Wrap
For the festival’s final week, contributing critics and editors gather together for a spirited discussion with Film Comment’s Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold about the movies they’ve seen in the NYFF57 lineup. Panelists include K. Austin Collins of Vanity Fair; programmer and FC contributing editor Nellie Killian; Michael Koresky of Film Comment and Reverse Shot; and Amy Taubin of Film Comment and Artforum.
Holy Night: Meet the Makers
In Holy Night, creators Casey Stein and Bernard Zeiger blend story and system to create an interactive film that is both haunting and beautiful. Though it’s built from a clever interactive technology that allows viewers to shift freely among points of view, the story of three people struggling through their personal hells of the opioid crisis is never overwhelmed by the technology. Join Stein and Zeiger for an immersive presentation about developing the piece, the power of interactive filmmaking, and the many possible futures of storytelling.
The Raven: Meet the Makers
Edgar Allan Poe requests your presence for an intimate gathering: his own wake. Premiering as part of NYFF Convergence, this interactive show invites audiences to immerse themselves in the mystery of Poe’s life and death. It’s an experience that blends groundbreaking theater with cutting edge augmented reality technology. This talk, featuring the creative team behind The Raven, will pull back the curtain on this unique piece of theater and explore the creative process that brought together filmmakers, theater practitioners, game designers, and more to reimagine Poe’s world through a modern lense. Featuring Lance Weiler, Ava Lee Scott, Nick Fortungo, and Nick Childs.