The 59th New York Film Festival took place from September 24 to October 10, 2021.Dade Hayes, "New York Film Festival To Open With Joel Coen's ‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’ In Return To In-Person Lincoln Center Mode". Deadline Hollywood, July 22, 2021. Unlike the 2020 New York Film Festival, which was staged online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 festival returned to physical screenings at the Lincoln Center, however all screenings required masking.
Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth was the opening film.Brent Lang, "Joel Coen's ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’ With Frances McDormand, Denzel Washington Will Open New York Film Festival". Variety, July 22, 2021. Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog was the festival's centerpiece screening.Chris Lindahl, "NYFF 2021 Announces Currents Section Focused on Cutting Edge and Experimental Films — Exclusive". IndieWire, August 24, 2021. Pedro Almodóvar's Parallel Mothers was the closing film.Dade Hayes, "New York Film Festival To Close With Pedro Almodóvar's ‘Parallel Mothers’". Deadline Hollywood, August 3, 2021.
Appearing in the NYFF's "Main Slate" for the first time are Jonas Carpignano, Michelangelo Frammartino, Avi Mograbi, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Francesco Munzi, Radu Muntean, Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, Rebecca Hall, Tatiana Huezo, Julia Ducournau, Kira Kovalenko and Alexandre Koberidze.
World premieres included Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth and Avi Mograbi's The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation.
Official Selection
Main Slate English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production countryA Chiara Jonas Carpignano Italy Ahed's Knee הַבֶּרֶךְ Nadav Lapid France, Israel, Germany Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc Radu Jude Romania, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Croatia Benedetta Paul Verhoeven France, Netherlands Bergman Island Mia Hansen-Løve France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden Il buco Michelangelo Frammartino Italy, France, Germany Drive My Car ドライブ・マイ・カー Ryusuke Hamaguchi Japan The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation Avi Mograbi France, Finland, Israel, Germany Flee Jonas Poher Rasmussen Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway France Bruno Dumont France, Germany, Belgium, Italy Futura Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi and Alice Rohrwacher Italy The Girl and the Spider Das Mädchen und die Spinne Ramon Zürcher and Silvan Zürcher Switzerland Hit the Road جاده خاکی Panah Panahi Iran In Front of Your Face 당신 얼굴 앞에서 Hong Sang-soo South Korea Întregalde Radu Muntean Romania Introduction 인트로덕션 Hong Sang-soo South Korea Memoria Apichatpong Weerasethakul Colombia, Thailand, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Mexico, Qatar Neptune Frost Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman United States, RwandaParallel Mothers (closing film)Madres ParalelasPedro AlmodóvarSpain Passing Rebecca Hall United States, United Kingdom Petite Maman Céline Sciamma FranceThe Power of the Dog (centerpiece)Jane CampionNew Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia Prayers for the Stolen Noche de fuego Tatiana Huezo Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Qatar The Souvenir Part II Joanna Hogg United Kingdom Titane Julia Ducournau France The Tragedy of Macbeth (opening film)Joel CoenUnited States Unclenching the Fists Разжимая кулаки Kira Kovalenko Russia The Velvet Underground Todd Haynes United States Vortex Gaspar Noé France What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? რას ვხედავთ როდესაც ცას ვუყურებთ? Alexandre Koberidze Georgia, Germany Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy 偶然と想像 Ryusuke Hamaguchi Japan The Worst Person in the World Verdens verste menneske Joachim Trier Norway
Spotlight English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country Belle 竜とそばかすの姫 Mamoru Hosoda JapanC'mon C'mon Mike Mills United States DuneDenis VilleneuveThe French DispatchWes AndersonJane by CharlotteJane par CharlotteCharlotte GainsbourgFranceThe Lost DaughterMaggie GyllenhaalUnited States, GreeceMarx Can WaitMarx può aspettareMarco BellocchioItalyRed RocketSean BakerUnited StatesThe Souvenir (2019)Joanna HoggUnited Kingdom, United States
Currents English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country All About My Sisters Jia ting lu xiang Wang Qiong United States The Great Movement El Gran Movimiento Kiro Russo Bolivia, France, Qatar, Switzerland Haruhara-san's Recorder Haruharasan no uta Kyoshi Sugita Japan I Want to Talk About Duras Vous ne désirez que moi Claire Simon France Just a Movement Juste une mouvement Vincent Meessen Belgium, France Nature La Nature Artavazd Peleshyan France, Germany, Armenia A Night of Knowing Nothing Payal Kapadia France, India Outside Noise Ted Fendt Germany, South Korea, Austria Prism Éléonore Yameogo, An van Dienderen and Rosine Mbakam Belgium Returning to Reims Retour à Reims (Fragments) Jean-Gabriel Périot France A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces Gang-eun heuleugo, gub-ichigo, jiugo, doebichunda Shengze Zhu United States Social Hygiene Hygiène sociale Denis Côté Canada Ste. Anne Rhayne Vermette The Tale of King Crab Re Granchio Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis Italy, Argentina, France The Tsugua Diaries Diários de Otsoga Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes Portugal
Short films English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Country 38 Daniel Chew, Micaela Durand United States All of Your Stars Are But Dust on My Shoes Haig Aivazian Lebanon Blind Body Allison Chhorn Australia The Canyon Zachary Epcar United States The Capacity for Adequate Anger Vika Kirchenbauer Germany Cutting the Mushroom Mike Crane United States Day Is Done Zhang Dalei China Do Not Circulate Tiffany Sia Hong Kong Dog Star Descending Aykan Safoğlu Turkey, Germany Dreams Under Confinement Christopher Harris United States earthearthearth Daïchi Saïto Canada Elle Luise Donschen Germany Estuary Ross Meckfessel United States Fictions Manuela de Laborde Mexico, Germany Grandma's Scissors Erica Sheu Taiwan, United States Here Is the Imagination of the Black Radical Rhea Storr United Kingdom Homage to the Work of Philip Henry Gosse Pablo Martín Weber Argentina Home When You Return Carl Elsaesser United States A Human Certainty Morgan Quaintance United Kingdom If I Could Name You Myself (I Would Hold You Forever) Hope Strickland United Kingdom In and Out a Window Richard Tuohy United States In Flow of Words Eliane Esther Bots Netherlands Kindertotenlieder Virgil Vernier France May June July Kevin Jerome Everson United States Night Colonies Apichatpong Weerasethakul Thailand No Subject Guillermo Moncayo France, Colombia Personality Test Justin Jinsoo Kim South Korea, United States Reach Capacity Ericka Beckman United States Six Seventy-Two Variations, Variation 1 Tomonari Nishikawa South Morgan Quaintance United Kingdom Strange Object Miranda Pennell United States Sycorax Lois Patiño, Matías Piñeiro Spain, Portugal To Pick a Flower Shireen Seno Philippines Tonalli Los Ingrávidos Mexico What Is It That You Said? Shun Ikezoe Japan
Revivals English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production countryAdoption (1976)ÖrökbefogadásMárta MészárosHungaryAssault on Precinct 13 (1976)John CarpenterUnited StatesBluebeard's Castle (1963)Herzog Blaubarts BurgMichael PowellGermanyChameleon Street (1989) Wendell B. Harris, Jr. United States James Baldwin: From Another Place (1973)Sedat PekayTurkeyHester Street (1975)Joan Micklin SilverUnited States Kummatty (1979) Govindan Aravindan IndiaMississippi Masala (1991)Mira NairUnited Kingdom, United StatesRadio On (1979)Chris PetitUnited Kingdom, West GermanyRatcatcherLynne RamsayUnited Kingdom, FranceThe Round-Up (1966)Miklós JancsóHungaryRude Boy (1980)Jack Hazan & David MingayUnited KingdomSambizanga (1972)Sarah MaldororAngola, FranceSongs for Drella (1990)Ed LachmanUnited StatesSweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)Melvin Van PeeblesWho Killed Vincent Chin? (1987)Christine Choy
Amos Vogel Centenary Retrospective English titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Production country The Lead Shoes (1949) Sidney Peterson United StatesUnconscious Motivation (1949) Lester F. Beck The Battle of San Pietro (1949)John HustonStudy No. 11 (1932), Allegretto (1936-43), and Motion Painting No. 1 (1947)Oskar FischingerGermanyBarraventoGlauber RochaBrazilPearls of the Deep (1965)Perličky na dněJiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, and Jaromil JirešCzechoslovakiaThe Flicker (1966)Tony ConradUnited StatesEchoes of Silence (1965)Peter Emanuel GoldmanMalcolm X: Struggle for Freedom (1964)Lebert BethuneFranceNow (1965)Santiago ÁlvarezCubaBlack NatchezDavid Neuman and Ed PincusUnited StatesThe Jungle (1966)12th and Oxford Street Film MakersFilm Club (1968)Jaime BarriosWR: Mysteries of the Organism (1971)Dušan MakavejevYugoslavia, West GermanyNebula II (1971)Robert FrerckUnited States
Free talks Section SpeakersNotes Ref.The 2023 Amos Vogel LectureAlbert Serra The filmmaker spoke about his career and legacy Deep Focus The Making of Mississippi Masala A discussion between director Mira Nair, cinematographer Edward Lachman, and actress Sarita Choudhury. Jane Campion Campion talked about The Power of the Dog and her career with moderator and director Sofia Coppola. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi The auteur talked about his Drive My Car with moderator and filmmaker Matías Piñeiro. Saul Williams & Anisia Uzeyman The filmmakers talked about cinema as a means of realizing new and better futures with moderator Maya Cade. Apichatpong Weerasethakul The director talked about their latest film Memoria with novelist Katie Kitamura.Cross Cuts Mia Hansen-Løve & Joachim Trier The filmmakers talk about their latest films, Bergman Island and The Worst Person in the World respectively. Silvan Zürcher & Alexandre Koberidze The two talked about their films The Girl and the Spider and What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?. Maggie Gyllenhaal & Kira Kovalenko The female filmmakers discussed feminism, heroines, transcending the status quo.
References