New York Film Festival, September 25-October 12
The 64th New York Film Festival returns to Lincoln Center from September 25 through October 12, bringing to New York a carefully curated selection of some of the year’s most significant international cinema. Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, NYFF has occupied a distinctive position on the U.S. festival calendar since 1963: rather than functioning primarily as a marketplace or awards platform, it offers a highly selective showcase where established auteurs, emerging filmmakers and films arriving from major international festivals meet one of America’s most influential cinema audiences.
Opening Night on September 25 will feature the North American premiere of Paper Tiger, James Gray’s New York-set thriller starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson. Following its world premiere in competition at Cannes, the film marks Gray’s return to NYFF, which has showcased several of his previous works over the years. The selection carries particular resonance for the filmmaker, whose cinema has frequently explored New York, its communities and its outer boroughs. Set in Queens and Brooklyn in 1986, Paper Tiger follows two brothers whose pursuit of financial security draws them into a criminal scheme with increasingly dangerous consequences — a story rooted both narratively and visually in the city where Gray grew up.
Italy also finds a place in this year’s program through Torino Shadow, the 32-minute film by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke, included in the festival’s Spotlight Shorts program after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. An Italy-China production, the film is co-produced by Turin’s Museo Nazionale del Cinema with the Jia Zhang-Ke Art Center. Starring Jia’s longtime collaborator Zhao Tao, it follows a woman traveling from southern China to Turin to visit her husband, only to embark on a more personal journey of rediscovery and an encounter with cinema itself. Turin is more than a backdrop: the film moves through locations including the Mole Antonelliana and the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, turning the city and its cinematic heritage into part of the narrative.
Torino Shadow was developed within Torino Encounters, an initiative launched by Turin’s Museo Nazionale del Cinema to commission original works by international filmmakers inspired by the Museum, its collections and the city itself. For Museum director Carlo Chatrian, Jia’s film — a story built around geographical distance and the forces that connect people, including cinema — embodies the initiative’s broader ambition: to position the Museo not only as a place that preserves film history, but also as a source of inspiration for new cinematic work. Torino Shadow is the second Torino Encounters title to be presented at the New York Film Festival, following Heinz Emigholz’s Ecce Mole, a cinematic portrait of Turin’s landmark Mole Antonelliana, which had its world premiere at NYFF in 2025.
For more information and the full program, visit the official New York Film Festival website
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SeriesFest 2025 | April 29- May 4 | Sie FilmCenter, DenverRelated Posts
The 64th New York Film Festival returns to Lincoln Center from September 25 through October 12, bringing to New York a carefully curated selection of some of the year’s most significant international cinema. Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, NYFF has occupied a distinctive position on the U.S. festival calendar since 1963: rather than functioning primarily as a marketplace or awards platform, it offers a highly selective showcase where established auteurs, emerging filmmakers and films arriving from major international festivals meet one of America’s most influential cinema audiences.
Opening Night on September 25 will feature the North American premiere of Paper Tiger, James Gray’s New York-set thriller starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson. Following its world premiere in competition at Cannes, the film marks Gray’s return to NYFF, which has showcased several of his previous works over the years. The selection carries particular resonance for the filmmaker, whose cinema has frequently explored New York, its communities and its outer boroughs. Set in Queens and Brooklyn in 1986, Paper Tiger follows two brothers whose pursuit of financial security draws them into a criminal scheme with increasingly dangerous consequences — a story rooted both narratively and visually in the city where Gray grew up.
Italy also finds a place in this year’s program through Torino Shadow, the 32-minute film by Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke, included in the festival’s Spotlight Shorts program after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. An Italy-China production, the film is co-produced by Turin’s Museo Nazionale del Cinema with the Jia Zhang-Ke Art Center. Starring Jia’s longtime collaborator Zhao Tao, it follows a woman traveling from southern China to Turin to visit her husband, only to embark on a more personal journey of rediscovery and an encounter with cinema itself. Turin is more than a backdrop: the film moves through locations including the Mole Antonelliana and the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, turning the city and its cinematic heritage into part of the narrative.
Torino Shadow was developed within Torino Encounters, an initiative launched by Turin’s Museo Nazionale del Cinema to commission original works by international filmmakers inspired by the Museum, its collections and the city itself. For Museum director Carlo Chatrian, Jia’s film — a story built around geographical distance and the forces that connect people, including cinema — embodies the initiative’s broader ambition: to position the Museo not only as a place that preserves film history, but also as a source of inspiration for new cinematic work. Torino Shadow is the second Torino Encounters title to be presented at the New York Film Festival, following Heinz Emigholz’s Ecce Mole, a cinematic portrait of Turin’s landmark Mole Antonelliana, which had its world premiere at NYFF in 2025.
For more information and the full program, visit the official New York Film Festival website
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SeriesFest 2025 | April 29- May 4 | Sie FilmCenter, Denver
