NYFF 59: Opening, Centerpiece, Closing Night Films

by KM, Movie Lightbox

The initial set of films that will serve as headliners for the 59th New York Film Festival has been announced. The 2021 edition of the festival will feature a combination of in-person, select outdoor, and virtual events, with a comprehensive series of health and safety policies in place. Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, the New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema.

Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth has been selected as the Opening Night Film, making its World Premiere at Alice Tully Hall on September 24. Starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, the film has been described by the festival as a boldly inventive visualization of The Scottish Play, a work of stark chiaroscuro and incantatory rage. “The New York Film Festival is a place where I’ve been watching movies as an audience member and showing them as a filmmaker for almost 50 years. It’s a real privilege and a thrill to be opening the Festival this year”, said director Joel Coen.

For the Centerpiece selection, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog will be making its New York premiere at Alice Tully Hall on October 1. Adapted from a 1967 cult novel by Thomas Savage, the film excavates the emotional torment experienced at a Montana cattle ranch in the 1920s. Featuring performances from Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Benedict Cumberbatch. “We couldn’t be happier to welcome Jane Campion back to the festival with one of her very best films. Everything about The Power of the Dog is alive with surprise: its narrative turns, its rich characterizations, its complex ideas about masculinity and repression”, said Dennis Lim, NYFF Director of Programming.

Parallel Mothers by Pedro Almodóvar has been chosen to close the festival. A film about two women who find themselves inextricably linked by their brief time together in a maternity ward, starring Penélope Cruz. “A stirring and somber exploration of secrets and hidden histories—those sometimes found in families and often buried by societies—and how those skeletons can shape the course of individual lives and entire cultures. We’re thrilled to have Pedro back at NYFF to conclude this 59th edition!”, said New York Film Festival Director Eugene Hernandez.

The 59th edition of New York Film Festival runs September 24 - October 10.

Image courtesy of NYFF