Ang Lee’s LIFE OF PI will open the fiftieth annual New York Film Festival
Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway at 65th St.
Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center: Francesca Beale Theater, Howard Gilman Theater, Amphitheater, 144 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
Bruno Walter Auditorium, 111 Amsterdam Ave. between West 64th & 65th Sts.
September 28 – October 14
212-875-5601
www.filmlinc.com
The New York Film Festival is paying tribute to a pair of milestones this year, as 2012 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the festival, and longtime program director Richard Peña is stepping down after a quarter century of inspired service at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, leaving behind quite a legacy. This year’s festival begins on September 28 with the world premiere of Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, adapted from Yann Martel’s novel, and closes on October 14 with the world premiere of Robert Zemeckis’s Flight, starring Denzel Washington, Melissa Leo, and Don Cheadle. The centerpiece selection is the world premiere of David Chase’s hotly anticipated Not Fade Away, reuniting him with his Sopranos star, James Gandolfini. Other films, by some of the greatest directors from around the globe, include Michael Haneke’s Amour, Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills, the Taviani brothers’ Caesar Must Die, Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, Sally Potter’s Ginger and Rosa, Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love, Raúl Ruiz’s Night Across the Street, Brian De Palma’s Passion, Olivier Assayas’s Something in the Air, Alain Resnais’s You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, and Lee Daniels’s The Paperboy, part of the Gala Tribute to Nicole Kidman.
Peter O’Toole’s eyes should shine even more in 4K restoration of David Lean’s LAWRENCE OF ARABIA at the New York Film Festival
The Masterworks section reexamines such films as Amos Gitai’s Field Diary, Bob Rafelson’s The King of Marvin Gardens, Laurence Olivier’s Richard III, Federico Fellini’s Fellini Satyricon, a 4K restoration of David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, and Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, with Cimino on hand to talk about one of Hollywood’s most famous financial disasters. (Was the film really that bad?) Among the special events are Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States, theater legend Richard Foreman’s Once Every Day, and a twenty-fifth-anniversary screening of the cult classic The Princess Bride, with a reunion bringing together director Rob Reiner and stars Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, Carol Kane, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, and Robin Wright. The Convergence section looks at cutting-edge technology in cinematic storytelling, with keynote conversations, works-in-progress, and the live multimedia presentation Whispers in the Dark. The annual Views from the Avant-Garde sidebar features works by Ruiz, Peter Kubelka, Chris Marker, Luke Fowler, Nathaniel Dorsky, and others. There will also be a daily talk show, NYFF Live, taking place at 7:00 in the evening in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Amphitheater with various actors, directors, critics, and other insiders discussing the state of modern cinema.