New York Film Festival kicks off
NEW YORK — Films that will be touted to the Academy "for their consideration" have passed through Venice and Toronto and are now coming down the home stretch at the 51st New York Film Festival.
Held at Lincoln Center, the festival runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 13 and features 15 sections. There are full length films, shorts and honorees from across the globe.
Some films are already generating Oscar buzz including "12 Years a Slave" from director Steve McQueen starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender as well as the latest from previous winners Joel and Ethan Coen, "Inside Llewyn Davis," which screens three times over the course of the two week festival. The directors as well as some cast members will even be present for the Sept. 28 screening.
Other perennial award season favorites will be on hand as well. Alexander Payne will present "Nebraska" and the world premiere of Spike Jonze's latest film "Her" will close out the festival.
Notable actors gracing the screen include Ben Stiller, who also serves as director, in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," Tom Hanks stars as the title character in "Captain Phillips" and Tilda Swinton in the vampire love story "Only Lovers Left Alive."
There will also be tributes to "recognize the work of individuals who have made significant artistic contributions to film culture in the past and will continue to do so in the future."
This year's honorees are actress Cate Blanchett and actor/director Ralph Fiennes. A 20th anniversary screening will be held for Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused."
Up and coming filmmakers from around the world will be on display in the four shorts programs. Twenty short films, all under 30 minutes long, will be featured.
Meanwhile the "Emerging Artists" segment will "spotlight two enormously talented filmmakers near the beginning of their respective careers" Fernando Eimbcke from Mexico and Joanna Hogg from England will each be honored. Each will have three of their films screened.
The popular series, "HBO Directors Dialogues" will return as well. Appearances will be made by Paul Greengrass, Richard Curtis, Fred Wiseman and Agnieszka Holland. The Spotlight on Documentary will feature the massive undertaking "How Democracy Works Now," a series of 10 films by Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson that tell the story of immigration reform beginning in 2001 and continuing throughout the next decade.
Two other features, "Convergence," which highlights "the intersection of technology and storytelling" and "Views" from the Avant-Garde, will also make presentations.
More information is available at filmlinc.com/nyff2013 or at the New York Film Festival's twitter page.