New York Film Festival


The New York Film Festival is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF is one of the longest-running and most prestigious film festivals in the United States. It is a non-competitive festival centered on a "Main Slate" of typically 20–30 feature films, with additional sections for experimental cinema and new restorations.
Dennis Lim is the Artistic Director for NYFF. Kent Jones was the festival director from 2013 to 2019.

Sections

the festival program is divided into the following sections:

Main Slate

The Main Slate is the Festival's primary section, a program typically featuring 25–30 feature-length films, intending to reflect the current state of cinema. The program is a mix of major international art house films from the festival circuit, new discoveries, and studio releases targeting awards season. The studio films are often selected as Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night presentations.

Currents

Currents complements the Main Slate, tracing a more complete picture of contemporary cinema with an emphasis on new and innovative forms and voices. This section is the only one at the festival which presents short films.
The selection team of Currents section consists of Dennis Lim, Aily Nash, Rachael Rakes, and Tyler Wilson.

Spotlight

Spotlight is showcase of the season's most anticipated and significant films.

Revivals

The Revivals section showcases important works from renowned filmmakers that have been digitally remastered, restored, and preserved with the assistance of generous partners.

Talks

Talks features in-depth conversations with filmmakers, critics, curators, and more.

History

Founding the Festival

The NYFF's first programmer, Richard Roud, was recruited by Lincoln Center President William Schuman in 1962. Boston-born Roud was 33 years old at the time and based in London where he worked as a film critic for The Guardian and programmed the London Film Festival. Though Roud maintained his home base in London, he recruited Amos Vogel of the legendary Cinema 16 film club as his New York–based co-programmer. The first edition of the festival opened on September 10, 1963, with Luis Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel and closed on September 19. It was a success and almost all screenings nearly sold out. The festival also included films screened at the Museum of Modern Art that had not been shown in the United States previously, including Akira Kurosawa's I Live in Fear and Point of Order. In 1966, Roud and Vogel formed the festival's first selection committee, consisting of Arthur Knight and Andrew Sarris; Susan Sontag was added the next year. Vogel resigned from his position as Festival Director in 1968. Though Roud was previously designated Program Director, he presided over the festival from 1969 to 1987.
Roud's 25 years at the festival were characterized by a focus on the European art cinema of the postwar years and the rise of auteurism.

The Richard Peña era

Richard Peña, then 34, took over as lead programmer in 1988. The Queens native was already an accomplished film historian, academic, and programmer. Prior to his work with NYFF, he worked at the Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Peña came to NYFF as a seasoned festival-goer who held Roud in high esteem. During his stint as programmer, Peña honored the festival's traditions and unique character – retaining the selection committee process, the non-competitive format, the post-screening director Q&As, and the festival's strict selectivity – while also working to expand NYFF's somewhat Eurocentric focus. Filmmakers like Hou Hsiao-hsien, Manoel de Oliveira, Leos Carax, Raúl Ruiz, and Krzysztof Kieślowski were introduced to NYFF audiences during the Roud era, and became regulars under Peña. After 25 years as Program Director and head of the NYFF selection committee, Peña led his final year at NYFF in 2012, during the festival's 50th presentation.

NYFF today

After Richard Peña's departure, Robert Koehler briefly took over year-round programming duties, while Kent Jones, who left The Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2009 to serve as Executive Director of the World Cinema Foundation, returned to lead NYFF. Jones began his programming career at Film Forum and the Rotterdam Film Festival, before joining The Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1998 as Associate Director of Programming and a member of the NYFF programming committee.
As of 2022, Dennis Lim is the Artistic Director of NYFF.

Opening Night films

YearTitleDirectorProduction Country
1963The Exterminating AngelLuis BuñuelMexico
1964HamletGrigori KozintsevSoviet Union
1965AlphavilleJean-Luc GoddardFrance
1966Loves of a BlondeMilos FormanCzechoslovakia
1967The Battle of AlgiersGillo PontecorvoItaly, Algeria
1968Capricious SummerJiří MenzelCzechoslovakia
1969Bob & Carol & Ted & AlicePaul MazurskyUnited States
1970The Wild ChildFrançois TruffautFrance
1971The BeginningGleb PanfilovSoviet Union
1972Chloe in the AfternoonÉric RohmerFrance
1973Day for NightFrançois TruffautFrance
1974Don't Cry With Your Mouth FullPascal ThomasFrance
1975Conversation PieceLuchino ViscontiItaly
1976Small ChangeFrançois TruffautFrance
1977One Sings, the Other Doesn'tAgnès VardaFrance
1978A WeddingRobert AltmanUnited States
1979LunaBernardo BertolucciItaly, United States
1980Melvin and HowardJonathan DemmeUnited States
1981Chariots of FireHugh HudsonUnited Kingdom
1982Veronika VossRainer Werner FassbinderWest Germany
1983The Big ChillLawrence KasdanUnited States
1984CountryRichard PearceUnited States
1985RanAkira KurosawaJapan
1986Down by LawJim JarmuschUnited States
1987Dark EyesNikita MikhalkovItaly
1988Women on the Verge of a Nervous BreakdownPedro AlmodóvarSpain
1989Too Beautiful for YouBertrand BlierFrance
1990Miller's CrossingJoel CoenUnited States
1991The Double Life of VeroniqueKrzysztof KieślowskiFrance
1992Olivier, OlivierAgnieszka HollandFrance
1993Short CutsRobert AltmanUnited States
1994Pulp FictionQuentin TarantinoUnited States
1995Shanghai TriadZhang YimouChina
1996Secrets & LiesMike LeighUnited Kingdom
1997The Ice StormAng LeeUnited States
1998CelebrityWoody AllenUnited States
1999All About My MotherPedro AlmodóvarSpain
2000Dancer in the DarkLars von TrierDenmark, Sweden, France
2001Va savoirJacques RivetteFrance
2002About SchmidtAlexander PayneUnited States
2003Mystic RiverClint EastwoodUnited States
2004Look at MeAgnès JaouiFrance
2005Good Night, and Good LuckGeorge ClooneyUnited States
2006The QueenStephen FrearsUnited Kingdom
2007The Darjeeling LimitedWes AndersonUnited States
2008The ClassLaurent CantetFrance
2009Wild GrassAlain ResnaisFrance
2010The Social NetworkDavid FincherUnited States
2011CarnageRoman PolanskiFrance, Poland
2012Life of PiAng LeeUnited States
2013Captain PhillipsPaul GreengrassUnited States
2014Gone GirlDavid FincherUnited States
2015The WalkRobert ZemeckisUnited States
201613thAva DuVernayUnited States
2017Last Flag FlyingRichard LinklaterUnited States
2018The FavouriteYorgos LanthimosIreland, United Kingdom, United States
2019The IrishmanMartin ScorseseUnited States
2020Lovers RockSteve McQueenUnited Kingdom
2021The Tragedy of MacbethJoel CoenUnited States
2022White NoiseNoah BaumbachUnited States
2023May DecemberTodd HaynesUnited States
2024Nickel BoysRaMell RossUnited States
2025After the HuntLuca GuadagninoItaly, United States