The New York Film Festival will carry on as planned this September, forging ahead in an otherwise shaky, uncertain festival season. Film at Lincoln Center, which organizes NYFF, announced the decision Friday, sharing that both in-person and digital experiences are being explored in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has hit New York harder than any other city in the country. Film at Lincoln also announced a handful of changes to the formal lineup, in addition to a brand new selection committee. (Full disclosure: the committee includes Vanity Fair film critic K. Austin Collins.)
“Our city is enduring a devastating crisis right now and there is no question that the 58th New York Film Festival will be different as a result, but New Yorkers are resilient and constraints can inspire new ideas,” said festival director Eugene Hernandez in a statement. “In planning this year’s festival we’re taking an open-minded approach, and this fall we hope to share the best of cinema with audiences safely and securely, both in person and online. Our commitment to supporting the art and elevating the craft of cinema and enriching film culture is unwavering as we plan this year’s NYFF.”
The festival’s overall structure has been tweaked, with a new lineup that includes a main slate; currents (short and feature-length contemporary cinema); spotlight (a variety of special events); revivals (restorations or rare films); and talks (free and ticketed panel discussion and conversations).
“Our goal in revising the festival’s structure was to clarify and strengthen the identity of this venerable event while also making room for discovery and surprise,” said Dennis Lim, the festival’s director of programming. “We began the work of rethinking the festival before this public health crisis, and we believe that our new template is one we can adapt for this uncertain year.”
NYFF is an important stop along the festival circuit during awards season. It traditionally follows festivals like Venice, Toronto, and Telluride, offering New York crowds (read: city-dwelling Academy voters) who didn’t make it to any of the other events a first glimpse at some of the buzziest films of the year; the 2019 lineup, for example, included Marriage Story and The Irishman. As it stands, organizers for Venice, Toronto, and Telluride say their respective festivals will still happen as planned as well. Meanwhile, festivals like SXSW, which takes place annually in April, have been forced to cease operations. Cannes, which takes place in May, has been continually delayed, to the point where it seems like the festival may not happen at all this year.
NYFF, a much more intimate operation than Cannes or Venice, might find it easier to adapt to the pandemic, but it’s still unclear what the months ahead look like for a city still grappling with the virus. Currently, the festival is still slated to take place Sept. 25 through Oct. 11.
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