By Roger Costa
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, the 62nd New York Film Festival runs September 27 thru October 14 featuring the most celebrated movies of the year, from new and established filmmakers from all over world. Besides shaping up the Awards season, NYFF also presents experimental films, shorts, revivals, Live Talks with directors and special events. Check out the Must-See films:
THE ROOM NEXT DOOR
Pedro Almodovar’s Venice’s Golden Lion winner marks his feature-length English-debut and brings Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore and John Turturro in tour-de-force performances that will certainly land them an Oscar nod each. A beautiful and tragic melodrama, it follows the special bond between two writers who re-connect in New York City after one of them is diagnosed with a terminal cancer. As they revisit memories and situations that marked their lives and careers, an unexpected final wish brings them to terms with moral dilemmas regarding the human condition and the right to decide whether to live or to die with dignity. Almodovar scores a provocative and thoughtful drama confirming him as a master of the feminine universe.
PEPE
Seen though the perspective of a Hippopotamus, at the moment of his death, this fascinating, strange and immersive look at ecological and political issues is simply one of the most authentic and unique films ever made. Stunningly shot with aerial views on glorious landscapes throughout Namibia, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, director Nelson Carlos de los Santos Arias delivers a powerful meditation on the relationship between men, nature and animals, calling for awareness and preservation. Pepe was among the animals Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar kept in his estate. When the criminal died, his animals were transported to zoos around the globe, but some hippos escaped and created a habitat for themselves, reproducing, and becoming a major discussion within the authorities. Original, exquisite and metaphorical, Arias, who was named Best Director at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, composes an impactful and eye-opening eco-political statement.
BY THE STREAM
With two films at the Festival this year, prolific Korean master Hong Sangsoo continues to examine human emotions, desires and artistic aspirations with his pleasant elegance and intimate observations. Starring the directors’ regulars Kim Min-hee and Kwon Haehyo, Sangsoo takes us through the tumultuous and emotionally-stirred process of adapting a short theater piece while a niece tries to reconnect with her estranged uncle amidst romantic scandals. Winner of the Locarno’s Best Performance Award for its star Min-hee, it’s a bittersweet, deeply sensitive and humane look at uncontrollable emotions and the creative process of collaboration.
(Tickets are Now on Sale for the 2024 New York Film Festival. Visit https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2024/ for details and full schedule.)
Comments