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This year’s Main Slate showcases 25 award-winning films presented to New York audiences for the first time. Among them you will find films by some of the most prominent Latino filmmakers.
By Alex Guerrero.


Selections from Cannes include Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or-winning I, Daniel Blake; Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper and Cristian Mungiu’s Graduation, which tied for Best Director; and Maren Ade’s highly acclaimed Toni Erdmann, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize. From Berlin, Gianfranco Rosi’s Golden Bear winner, Fire at Sea, will mark the director’s NYFF debut, and Mia Hansen-Løve returns to the festival with Things to Come, which won her Berlin’s Best Director award.
Other festival veterans returning to NYFF include Pedro Almodóvar, Kelly Reichardt, Hong Sangsoo, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Matías Piñeiro, Paul Verhoeven, Alain Guiraudie, Cristi Puiu, and Eugène Green. A number of celebrated filmmakers will make their NYFF debuts, such as Kenneth Lonergan with his third feature Manchester by the Sea; Kleber Mendonça Filho, presenting Aquarius, his anticipated follow-up to Neighboring Sounds; Alison Maclean with her coming-of-age story The Rehearsal; Dash Shaw, whose animated My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea is his first feature; and Barry Jenkins, with his three-part portrait of a young gay African-American man, Moonlight.



Strong female performances are a prominent focus this year, with standout turns from Isabelle Huppert in Verhoeven’s Elle and Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come; Brazilian legend Sônia Braga in Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius; Piñeiro favorite Agustina Muñoz in Hermia and Helena; and Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams, and Laura Dern in Reichardt’s triptych Certain Women, among others. The Main Slate also features two films that bring poetry to the screen: Pablo Larraín’s Neruda, a portrait of the beloved Chilean poet, and Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, which carries the spirit of William Carlos Williams through the story of a city bus driver (Adam Driver) who also writes poetry.
The New York Film Festival takes place from September 30 to October 16. More info at filmlinc.org or @TheNYFF.

The 54th New York Film Festival Main Slate, with Latino Films on top!.

* Opening Night: The 13th. Directed by Ava DuVernay
* Centerpiece: 20th Century Women. Directed by Mike Mills
* Closing Night: The Lost City of Z. Directed by James Gray