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2024 New York Film Festival opens with star-filled lineup
The 62nd New York Film Festival opened at Lincoln Center on Friday, the return of what may be the best curated international film festival, featuring new works by such esteemed directors as Pedro Almodóvar, Mike Leigh, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Steve McQueen, and Luca Guadagnino.
The festival, which runs through Oct. 14 at venues across New York City, showcases more than 100 films from 41 countries, including prize winners from the Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, Toronto and Locarno film festivals. Among the stars featured are Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”), Daniel Craig (“Queer”), Richard Gere and Uma Thurman (“Oh, Canada”), Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore (“The Room Next Door”), Saoirse Ronan (“Blitz”), Cate Blanchett (“Rumours”), and Naomi Watts and Bill Murray (“The Friend”).
Angelina Jolie stars as opera diva Maria Callas in the biopic “Maria,” directed by Pablo Larrain (“Jackie,” “Spencer”). “Emilia Perez,” a crime thriller/musical, won the best actress award at Cannes for its four lead performers: Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz. “A Traveller’s Needs” stars the great Isabelle Huppert as a French teacher in South Korea whose unconventional teaching methods involve speaking hardly any French words.
Gala screenings
Friday’s opening night presentation, “Nickel Boys,” is an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a young Black student unjustly sent to a reform school in Florida, where he witnesses the cruel hypocrisies of the Jim Crow era. Directed by RaMell Ross (the Oscar-nominated documentary “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”), the film takes a subjective view of the characters’ journey into adulthood. It stars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, and Deveed Diggs.
To watch a trailer for “Nickel Boys” click on the video player below:
Other gala screenings include the festival’s centerpiece, “The Room Next Door.” Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature, which won best film at the Venice Film Festival, stars Tilda Swinton and Julienne Moore as two old friends who reconnect over one’s desire to end her own life.
The festival’s closing night screening is Steve McQueen’s “Blitz,” starring Saoirse Ronan as a single mother separated from her child during the Germans’ bombing of London in World War II.
Other notable entries in the festival lineup include “Queer,” based on William S. Burroughs’ book and directed by Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name”). It stars Daniel Craig as a gay American expatriate in 1940s Mexico City who begins a love affair with a preppy newcomer (Drew Starkey).
“All We Imagine As Light” (a grand prize-winner at Cannes) tells the story of the emotional bonds of a trio of nurses in Mumbai. Iranian emigree filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” explores the political divisions within the family of an Iranian judge. “Transamazonia” is centered on a woman who survived a plane crash in the Amazon jungle as a child and grows into a faith healer.
Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” (which won a screenwriting award at Sundance) stars Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin as cousins reconnecting during a trip to the Polish hometown of their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. In “The Friend,” Naomi Watts gains an unexpected inheritance from her deceased neighbor Bill Murray: a giant Great Dane.
Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste (an Oscar nominee for “Secrets & Lies”) as a working-class woman struggling with physical and mental health problems. Guy Maddin, whose past films have been phantasmagorical flights of fantasy, returns to the festival with “Rumours,” in which world leaders at the G-7 Summit face an unusual brand of apocalypse.
Also playing: “The Damned,” a Civil War drama of Union soldiers in the Northwest frontier; “Jimmy,” which reimagines the life of writer-activist James Baldwin when he moves from the United States to Paris in 1948; from Japan, the dystopian drama “Happyend,” which examines the surveillance of citizens in a Tokyo high school; and Miguel Gomes, behind the 2015 triptych “Arabian Nights,” directs “Grand Tour,” an immersive, time-shifting trip across Southeast Asia.
Documentaries
Among the non-fiction films on tap are “Dahomey,” which traces the repatriation to Africa of cultural treasures that had been plundered by French colonial troops; “Suburban Fury,” which looks at the radicalization of Sara Jane Moore, a 45-year-old California woman and former FBI informant who attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford; and the U.S. premiere of “Elton John: Never Too Late,” which explores the life and career of the pop-rock icon.
In “My Undesirable Friends,” Soviet Union-born filmmaker Julia Loktev returned to Moscow to make a documentary on independent journalism under Putin, just in time for the launch of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Brett Story and Stephen Maing’s “Union” documents the formation of the Amazon Labor Union, following an historic vote at the company’s Staten Island warehouse.
Revivals and restorations
The festival will screen 4K restorations of the Clive Barker horror film “Hellraiser,” featuring Pinhead; Robert Bresson’s “Four Nights of a Dreamer”; Marguerite Duras’ film debut, the 1966 “La Musica”; John Hanson and Rob Nilsson’s 1978 indie film “Northern Lights,” about the rise of a populist movement in North Dakota in the early 20th century; and Frederick Wiseman’s 1981 documentary “Model,” which, at two hours, is short compared to Wiseman’s recent films.
Also being screened, from 1977, is Marva Nabili’s “The Sealed Soil,” the earliest surviving film directed by an Iranian woman.
Free talks
The festival will host free discussions with filmmakers. Among those scheduled are “Nickel Boys” director RaMell Ross and Barry Jenkins (Sept. 29); Alex Ross Perry and Andrei Ujică, director of the documentary “TWST/Things We Said Today” (Oct. 3); Sigrid Nunez, author of the source novels “The Friend” and “The Room Next Door” (Oct. 5); director Zeinabu Irene Davis and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, of “The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire” (Oct. 6); “Grand Tour” director Miguel Gomes and Payal Kapadia (Oct. 9); and Julia Loktev and Roberto Minervini (Oct. 9).
The festival runs through Oct. 16 at Lincoln Center, with additional screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on Staten Island, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Bronx Museum, and the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.
Early highlights
Of festival entries screened at press time, a few highlights are reviewed below. [More reviews will be published as the festival continues.]
A24
“The Brutalist” (U.S. premiere)
Director and co-writer Brady Corbet’s taut post-war drama of a Hungarian architect trying to reinvent himself in America is a tale of refugees adrift in a so-called land of opportunity, where antisemitism lurks behind every welcome. Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) plays László Tóth, whose arrival in Pennsylvania, and a chance commission through his assimilated cousin’s furniture business, sets him on a new path, one that plays like a dark, psychological character study from the 1970s. Tóth’s modern, brutalist style (which meets with much criticism), and his dogmatic beliefs in his own independence, both inflate and undermine his abilities to see the gargantuan project through to completion.
The 3.5-hour film (with intermission) is epic in its emotional weight, as Tóth sacrifices his family and personal ties in the service of his static, monumental vision. Matching Brody in the strength of performance is Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”), excellent as Tóth’s wife, Erzsébet, whose physical infirmity only reinforces her steely temperament; and Guy Pearce (“Memento,” “The Hurt Locker”), magnetic as Harrison Lee Van Buren, a wealthy businessman and patron who views a Tóth commission as a worthy monument to his ideals and, ultimately, his corruption. It’s a film of big ideas and oversized egos, and of a society ready to crush both.
Shot in VistaVision, the picture screens Oct. 12 in 70mm, and Sept. 28 and Oct. 11 in 35mm. 215 mins., including 15-minute intermission. In English, Hungarian, Hebrew, Yiddish and Italian and English subtitles. An A24 release. Opens in theaters Dec. 20.
Neon
At first, Sean Baker’s sly and at times uproarious comic-drama of a Brooklyn sex worker who enters into a Cinderella romance and marriage with the flighty son of Russian oligarchs seems a slight choice for top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. (Recent Palme d’Or winners have included the comparatively heavy “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Triangle of Sadness” and “Parasite.”) But Baker, whose previous films include “The Florida Project” and “Tangerine,” consistently upends our expectations. In part this is due to the performance of Mikey Madison, who plays Anora (preferred name Ani) as a woman older than her 25 years, but still young enough to believe in the sanctity of elopement. Baker also twists what we’d expect of movie Russian oligarchs; here, the brute Brighton Beach muscle they bring are little match against a street-smart girl who has a romantic core but isn’t averse to using hardball tactics. With Mark Eydelshteyn as Ani’s love, Ivan; Karren Karagulian as Ivan’s intemperate godfather; and Vache Tovmasyan as an Armenian enforcer who is not terribly effective at his job, aided by the standoffish and brooding Igor (Yura Borisov).
Screens Sept. 28, 29, Oct. 8. 138 mins. In English and Russian with English subtitles. A Neon release. Opens in theaters Oct. 18.
Rachel Szor
For years, Basel Adra, a videographer and son of Palestinian activists, has documented the ongoing efforts of Israeli military and settlers to drive Palestinian residents out of the West Bank villages of Masafer Yatta. His camera records bulldozers brought in to knock down houses and schools, forcing those who refuse to leave to erect homes in caves. Meanwhile, visiting journalist Yuval Abraham writes articles on the displacement at Masafer Yatta that, he hopes, people will actually read. But witnessing the destruction prompts depression, and a reassessment of the patience needed to overcome systemic injustice, and the limits of journalism. “No Other Land” was shot before Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, so it plays like a prelude to further horror. But just before a recent screening, Basel posted on social media that his father had been kidnapped and detained by the Israeli military. The distressing story never really ends. Directed by Adra, Abraham, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, the film won the Documentary Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
Screens Sept. 29, Oct. 1, 5, 6. 95 mins. Arabic, English, and Hebrew with English subtitles. No distributor or release date has been announced.
Directed by Petra Costa (“The Edge of Democracy,” “Elena”), this engrossing documentary traces the growing influence of the Dominionist evangelical movement in Brazil, which in recent years has grown to 30% of the population — a voting block that has proved impossible for Brazilian politicians to ignore. Front-and-center of the film is televangelist Silas Malafaia, a charismatic pastor (with a thriving publishing business on the side) who has the ear of Jair Bolsonaro, a hard-right politician riding his faithful fans to the presidency. But the Brazilian government’s failures during the COVID pandemic — characterized by Bolsonaro dismissing his country’s high mortality rate by saying, “We will all die one day” — weakens the evangelicals’ hold on the nation’s top office. Costa dissects how the theology of apocalypse aimed at bringing forth the end times suits the agenda of some — hence the disturbingly familiar scenes of insurrection as rioters overtake Brazil’s Congress and Supreme Court after Bolsanaro loses his 2022 reelection bid.
Screens Sept. 29, 30. 110 mins. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Distributor and release date to be announced.
Watch a trailer for the 62nd New York Film Festival:
Legislation to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans passed the U.S. Senate early Saturday and is now headed to the desk of President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers and others with a public pension, from collecting their full Social Security benefits. The legislation has been decades in the making, as the Senate held its first hearings into the policies in 2003.
“The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake,” proclaimed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, after senators approved the legislation at 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
The bill’s passage is “a monumental victory for millions of public service workers who have been denied the full benefits they’ve rightfully earned,” said Shannon Benton, executive director for the Senior Citizens League, which advocates for retirees and which has long pushed for the expansion of Social Security benefits. “This legislation finally restores fairness to the system and ensures the hard work of teachers, first responders and countless public employees is truly recognized.”
The vote came down to the wire, as the Senate looked to wrap up its current session. Senators rejected four amendments and a budgetary point of order late Friday night that would have derailed the measure, given the small window of time left to pass it.
Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio was among the 24 Republican senators to join 49 Democrats to advance the measure in an initial procedural vote that took place Wednesday.
“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. You pay into it for 40 quarters, you earned it, it should be there when you retire,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost his seat in the November election, told the chamber ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “All these workers are asking for is for what they earned.”
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that reduce Social Security payments to nearly 3 million retirees.
That includes those who also collect pensions from state and federal jobs that aren’t covered by Social Security, including teachers, police officers and U.S. postal workers. The bill would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members. The WEP impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO nearly 800,000 retirees.
The measure, which passed the House in November, had 62 cosponsors when it was introduced in the Senate last year. Yet the bill’s bipartisan support eroded in recent days, with some Republican lawmakers voicing doubts due to its cost. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed legislation would add a projected $195 billion to federal deficits over a decade.
Without Senate approval, the bill’s fate would have ended with the current session of Congress and would have needed to be re-introduced in the next Congress.
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Saturday is the winter solstice and 2024’s shortest day. Here’s what to know about the official start of winter.
The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice is the day each year that has the shortest period of daylight between sunrise and sunset, and therefore the longest night. It happens when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that circles the globe south of the equator, the National Weather Service explains.
The farther north you are, the shorter the day will be, and in the Arctic Circle, the sun won’t rise at all.
How is the day of the winter solstice determined?
The winter solstice occurs because of the Earth’s tilt as it rotates around the sun.
When the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, the nights last longer. The longest night happens on the solstice because the hemisphere is in its furthest position from the sun. That occurs each year on Dec. 21 or 22.
This year, it falls on Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m ET, to be precise.
On the summer solstice, when the northern tilt is closest to the sun, we have the longest day, usually June 20 or 21.
National Weather Service
The solstices are not always exactly on the 21st every year because the earth’s rotation around the sun is 365.25 days, instead of 365 even.
Will days start getting longer after the winter solstice?
Yes. Each day after the solstice, we get one minute more of sunlight. It doesn’t sound like much, but after just two months, or around 60 days, we’ll be seeing about an hour more of sunlight.
When will winter officially be over in 2025?
The meteorological winter ends on March 20, 2025. Then, spring will last until June 20, when the summer solstice arrives.
How is the winter solstice celebrated around the world?
Nations and cultures around the world have celebrated the solstice since ancient times with varying rituals and traditions. The influence of those solstice traditions can still be seen in our celebrations of holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Britannica notes.
The ancient Roman Saturnalia festival celebrated the end of the planting season and has close ties with modern-day Christmas. It honored Saturn, the god of harvest and farming. The multiple-day affair had lots of food, games and celebrations. Presents were given to children and the poor, and slaves were allowed to stop working.
Gatherings are held every year at Stonehenge, a monumental circle of massive stones in England that dates back about 5,000 years. The origins of Stonehenge are shrouded in mystery, but it was built to align with the sun on solstice days.
Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images
The Hopi, a Native American tribe in the northern Arizona area, celebrate the winter solstice with dancing, purification and sometimes gift-giving. A sacred ritual known as the Soyal Ceremony marks the annual milestone.
In Peru, people honor the return of the sun god on the winter solstice. The ancient tradition would be to hold sacrificial ceremonies, but today, people hold mock sacrifices to celebrate. Because Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere, their winter solstice happens in June, when the Northern Hemisphere is marking its summer solstice.
Scandinavia celebrates St. Lucia’s Day, a festival of lights.
The “arrival of winter,” or Dong Zhi, is a Chinese festival where family gathers to celebrate the year so far. Traditional foods include tang yuan, sweet rice balls with a black sesame filling. It’s believed to have its origins in post-harvest celebrations.
Researchers stationed in in Antarctica even have their own traditions, which may include an icy plunge into the polar waters. They celebrate “midwinter” with festive meals, movies and sometimes homemade gifts.