New work from Jacques Audiard, Pablo Larraín, Jesse Eisenberg, R.J. Cutler, Petra Costa, Walter Salles, Leos Carax and more will play in the 62nd New York Film Festival’s Spotlight section, joining the previously announced Spotlight Gala U.S. premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.” The final film by Jean-Luc Godard will also be featured in this section, alongside a documentary about the late French iconoclast.
Audiard’s musical “Emilia Pérez” won the Cannes Jury Prize and Best Actress, shared among stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Zoe Saldaña, and will play at this year’s NYFF. Angelina Jolie stars in Larraín’s “Maria” as legendary opera diva Maria Callas in her final days. Eisenberg directed and costars alongside Kieran Culkin in “A Real Pain,” playing cousins who make a pilgrimage to the hometown of their grandmother who survived the Holocaust. “Rumours,” a sci-fi political satire directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, stars Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander.
Politics also figure into two films by Brazilian filmmakers. Costa’s “Apocalypse in the Tropics” is about the rise of the far right in Brazil, while Salles’ “I’m Still Here” is a drama based on the true story of a woman’s investigation into her husband’s kidnapping by the Brazilian government.
Directed by Cutler and David Furnish, the documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late” will make its U.S. premiere at the festival, where John is expected to make an in-person appearance with the filmmakers. It is joined by two other music-related docs: Alex Ross Perry’s “Pavements,” described by the NYFF as an “irreverent anti-biodoc” about the indie rock band Pavement; and “TWST/Things We Said Today,” Andrei Ujică’s archival-footage portrait of The Beatles’ 1965 Shea Stadium concert.
Finally, the spirit of Godard will be present at the festival in several ways. First, there is the U.S. premiere of “Scénarios,” which the NYFF describes as a “quintessential, complexly layered work that concludes with a poignant appearance by the filmmaker himself the day before his death.” That will play alongside the documentary shot in 2021 by Fabrice Aragno, “Exposé du film annonce du film ‘Scenario,’” whose concept Godard came up with before passing away in 2022. Finally, Carax pays homage to the grand-père of the French New Wave with “It’s Not Me,” which will make its North American premiere.
The 62nd New York Film Festival runs Sept. 27–Oct. 14 (in, yes, New York City).
Spotlight for the 62nd New York Film Festival
Spotlight Gala
“Queer“
Luca Guadagnino, 2024, U.S./Italy, 135m
“Apocalypse in the Tropics“
Petra Costa, 2024, Brazil/U.S./Denmark, 110m
Portuguese with English subtitles
“Elton John: Never Too Late“
R.J. Cutler, David Furnish, 2024, U.S., 102m
U.S. Premiere
Featuring a special appearance by Elton John and directors R.J. Cutler and David Furnish.
“Emilia Pérez“
Jacques Audiard, 2024, France, 132m
English and Spanish with English subtitles
“The Friend“
Scott McGehee, David Siegel, 2024, U.S., 120m
“I’m Still Here“
Walter Salles, 2024, Brazil/Spain, 135m
Portuguese with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
“It’s Not Me“
Leos Carax, 2024, France, 41m
French with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Premiere screening followed by a conversation with Leos Carax.
“Maria“
Pablo Larraín, 2024, Italy/Germany/U.S., 122m
“Pavements“
Alex Ross Perry, U.S., 2024, 128m
North American Premiere
“A Real Pain“
Jesse Eisenberg, 2024, U.S./Poland, 90m
“Rumours“
Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, 2024, Canada, 104m
U.S. Premiere
“Scénarios + Exposé du Film annonce du film ‘Scénario’”
Jean-Luc Godard, 2024, France, 53m
French with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
“TWST / Things We Said Today“
Andrei Ujică, 2024, France/Romania, 87m
English, French, and German with English subtitles
North American Premiere
“Union“
Brett Story, Stephen Maing, 2024, U.S., 104m
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