Film at Lincoln Center Announces Currents for the 58th New York Film Festival

Film at Lincoln Center announces Currents for the 58th New York Film Festival (September 17 - October 11).

"Throughout its history the New York Film Festival has made room for work that challenges the cinematic status quo, from the thematic showcases of the early years to recurring programs like Views From the Avant-Garde and, most recently, Projections," said Dennis Lim, NYFF Director of Programming. "Currents is the latest-and the largest-incarnation of this category of programming. It takes a bigger-tent approach to encompass different forms of experimentation and innovation, and it represents our belief that the most vital work in any art form is often to be found among its most daring risk-takers."

The new Currents section includes 14 features and 46 short films, representing 28 countries, and complements the Main Slate, tracing a more complete picture of contemporary cinema with an emphasis on new and innovative forms and voices. The section presents a diverse offering of short and feature-length work by filmmakers and artists working at the vanguard of the medium. Opening Night of Currents is Projections alum Ephraim Asili's first feature, The Inheritance, a powerfully dynamic hybrid film that documents the history of Philadelphia-based Black liberation group MOVE alongside dramatizations of the filmmaker's own experiences in an activist collective. Asili has also selected Ivan Dixon's seminal satire The Spook Who Sat by the Door, about a Black nationalist who infiltrates the CIA, to be added to NYFF58's Revivals section.

Feature highlights include a pair of films by the unfailingly original Heinz Emigholz-The Last City and The Lobby, making its World Premiere; John Gianvito's Her Socialist Smile, a multimedia meditation on Helen Keller's often overlooked activism around labor rights and progressive causes, also making its World Premiere; The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror, legendary Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz's previously unfinished fever dream, completed by his widow, Valeria Sarmiento; Luis López Carrasco's Hi-8-shot The Year of the Discovery, a critical reconstruction of a pivotal year in Spanish history; Nicolás Zukerfeld's There Are Not Thirty-Six Ways of Showing a Man Getting on a Horse, also a World Premiere, which uses a collage of images from the work of Raoul Walsh to reflect on memory and the medium of cinema; and Allison Chhorn's deeply personal The Plastic House, about processing LIFE AFTER death and the healing power of nature.

Shorts highlights include new work by NYFF Main Slate alumni Jafar Panahi, Sergei Loznitsa, Guy Maddin, and Dominga Sotomayor, as well as Akosua Adoma Owusu, the recipient of FLC's 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist award; and the return of the popular New York Stories program, showcasing short work from local voices including program regulars Ricky D'Ambrose, Sarah Friedland, Jay Giampietro, and Lewie and Noah Kloster, whose Shots IN THE DARK with David Godlis is a tender portrait of the beloved NYFF house photographer and his CBGB street photography roots. Other festival alumni debuting new shorts include Ayo Akingbade, Ute Aurand, Ismaïl Bahri, Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, Mary Helena Clark, Alexandra Cuesta, Kevin Jerome Everson, Riccardo Giacconi, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Phạm Ngọc Lân, Laida Lertxundi, Simon Liu, Steve Reinke, Ben Rivers, Sylvia Schedelbauer, Ana Vaz, and Andrew Norman Wilson.

The Currents selection committee, chaired by Dennis Lim, includes Florence Almozini, Aily Nash, and Tyler Wilson. Nash and Wilson are THE HEAD shorts programmers for NYFF. Shelby Shaw and Madeline Whittle are programming assistants for short films, and Almudena Escobar López, Marius Hrdy, and Steve Macfarlane are submissions assistants. Violeta Bava, Michelle Carey, Leo Goldsmith, Rachael Rakes, and Gina Telaroli serve as NYFF program advisors.

Since 1963, the New York Film Festival has been a centerpiece of New York's arts scene: an annual bellwether of the state of cinema that has shaped film culture in the city and beyond. Festival organizers will keep this tradition alive while adapting as necessary to the current health crisis. The safety of audiences and staff is the first priority. The 58th edition of NYFF will focus on outdoor and virtual screenings, as directed by state and health officials.

In May, organizers unveiled a reimagined festival structure under the leadership of new NYFF Director Eugene Hernandez and NYFF Director of Programming Dennis Lim. The festival's offerings have been streamlined into five sections, including the previously announced Main Slate and Revivals. Spotlight and Talks will be announced in the coming weeks.

Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, the New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema. The festival continues a long-standing tradition of introducing audiences to bold and remarkable works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent.

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