The 61st New York Film Festival has announced its lineup and, as usual, it’s filled with Cannes titles, 16 of them. That’s half the program.
Of interest, a decent indication of quality, the Venice titles going to New York are Lanthimos, Hamaguchi, Bonello, Holland, Mann and S. Coppola. Peculiarly absent are Larrain, Miyazaki, Cooper, Payne and Fincher.
A great surprise comes in the inclusion of Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers,” and Annie Baker’s “Janet Planet.” It does look as though, along with Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” all three of these films will be going to Telluride.
I’ve also been hearing great things about Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast,” so I’m absolutely not surprised by its inclusion here. Will it win the Golden Lion at Venice? It’d be my odds on favorite at this point in time.
A lot of the missing titles might get added to the Premieres section, announced, maybe, next week. For now, NYFF has given us a stellar lineup of films. Even Radu Jude’s film, which just premiered at Locarno, is there. I’ll share my thoughts on that provocatively amusing film later this week.
Here’s the Main Slate lineup for the 61st New York Film Festival, which will take place from September 29th to October 15th.
“About Dry Grasses,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“All Salt Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” Raven Jackson
“All of Us Strangers,” Andrew Haigh
“Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet
“The Beast,” Bertrand Bonello
“La Chimera,” Alice Rohrwacher
“Close Your Eyes,” Víctor Erice
“The Delinquents,” Rodrigo Moreno
“Do Not Expect Too Much” Radu Jude
“Eureka,” Lisandro Alonso
“Evil Does Not Exist,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
“Fallen Leaves,” Aki Kaurismäki
“Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland
“Here,” Bas Devos
“In Our Day,” Hong Sangsoo
“In Water,” Hong Sangsoo
“Janet Planet,” Annie Baker
“Kidnapped,” Marco Bellocchio
“Last Summer,” Catherine Breillat
“Music,” Angela Schanelec
“Orlando, My Political Biography,” Paul B. Preciado
“Perfect Days,” Wim Wenders
“Pictures of Ghosts,” Kleber Mendonça Filho
“Poor Things,” Yorgos Lanthimos
“La Práctica,” Martín Rejtman
“The Settlers,” Felipe Gálvez
“The Shadowless Tower,” Zhang Lu
“Youth (Spring),” Wang Bing
“The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer
I can confirm that Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades” is based on Frances Frederica Montrésor’s 1901 novel “The Alien: A Story of Middle Age.” It’s a ghost story. A gothic mystery.