Don Cheadle will make his directorial debut with “Miles Ahead,” a remarkable portrait of the artist Miles Davis. Cheadle’s presentation of the masterful musician is part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 26 films that will comprise the official selection of the 53rd New York Film Festival (Sept. 25 to Oct. 11). Tickets go on sale to the general public Sunday, Sept. 13.
New York Film Festival Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said, “I could talk about the geographical range of the films in the selection, the mix of artistic sensibilities from Hou Hsiao-hsien to Steven Spielberg to Chantal Akerman, the astonishments of Miguel Gomes’ three-part ‘Arabian Nights’ or Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s heartbreaking ‘Journey to the Shore’ or Michael Almereyda’s surprising ‘Experimenter,’ the points in common among the various titles, but the only thing that really matters is how uniformly beautiful and vital each of these movies are. If I were 17 again and I looked at this lineup from far away, I’d be figuring out where I was going to stay in New York for two weeks this autumn.”
The 2015 Main Slate will host four world premieres: Steven Spielberg’s “Bridge of Spies,” starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance in the Cold War story of the 1962 exchange of a U-2 pilot for a Soviet agent; Laura Israel’s ”Don’t Blink: Robert Frank,” a documentary portrait of the great photographer and filmmaker; and the previously announced Opening Night selection “The Walk ” and Closing Night selection of Cheadle’s “Miles Ahead.”
Award-winning films from Cannes will be presented to New York audiences for the first time, including Best Director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s “The Assassin”; Todd Haynes’ “Carol,” starring Best Actress winner Rooney Mara; Stephane Brize’s “The Measure of a Man,” starring Best Actor winner Vincent Lindon; Jury Prize winner “The Lobster”; Un Certain Regard Best Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Journey to the Shore”; and Un Certain Talent Prize winner Corneliu Porumboiu’s “The Treasure.”
Other notables among the many filmmakers returning to NYFF with new works include Michael Moore with “Where to Invade Next,” which takes a hard and surprising look at the state of our nation from a fresh perspective; NYFF mainstay Hong Sangsoo, who will present his latest masterwork, “Right Now, Wrong Then,” about the relationship between a middle-aged art-film director and a fledgling artist; and French director Arnaud Desplechin, who is back with the funny and heartrending story of young love “My Golden Days.”
Also making a directorial debut, alongside Cheadle, is Thomas Bidegain with “Les Cowboys,” a film reminiscent of John Ford’s ”The Searchers,” in which a father searches for his missing daughter across a two-decade timespan—pre- to post-9/11—from Europe to Afghanistan and back.
Several titles also add a comedic layer to this year’s lineup, including Rebecca Miller’s “Maggie’s Plan,” a New York romantic comedy starring Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph; the moving and hilarious “Mia Madre” from Nanni Moretti, starring John Turturro; and Michel Gondry’s “Microbe & Gasoline,” a comedy that follows two adolescent misfits who build a house on wheels and travel across France.
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