The Close-up

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast, we’re featuring a Q&A with Shaka King, director of Judas and the Black Messiah, moderated by Eugene Hernandez, Film at Lincoln Center’s Deputy Executive Director of Programs. Fred Hampton, a young, charismatic activist, becomes Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party — putting him directly in the crosshairs of the government, the FBI, and the Chicago Police. But to destroy the revolution, the authorities are going to need a man on the inside, enter William O'Neal.  Judas and the Black Messiah stars Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, and Martin Sheen. This Black History Month special event was organized by Film at Lincoln Center and Warner Bros. Pictures to provide cinema and arthouse audiences with an early preview of this timely and vital film, along with an extended conversation. Judas and the Black Messiah is now available on HBO Max.

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast we’re featuring a Q&A with the director and cast of Minari, moderated by Film at Lincoln Center’s Director of Programming Dennis Lim. A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home. Join director Lee Isaac Chung, and actors Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Yuh-Joung Youn, Alan Kim & Noel Cho for an insightful conversation about the making of this highly anticipated film. Special thanks to A24 for partnering with Film at Lincoln Center for the release of Minari.

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast we’re featuring a conversation about Pixar’s Soul with director Pete Docter and producer Dana Murray moderated by Glenn Kiser, Senior Director of the Dolby Institute. Soul introduces Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx, a band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks, and interests before they go to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with 22, a precocious soul voiced by Tina Fey, and discovers the answers to some of life’s most important questions. Disney and Pixar’s Soul is now streaming on Disney+. This conversation is presented by the Dolby Institute.

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast, we’re presenting a special conversation between filmmakers David Fincher and Kent Jones on Mank. Fincher's first film since his NYFF Opening Night selection Gone Girl follows the 1930s Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, played by Gary Oldman, as he develops the screenplay for Citizen Kane. Mank is now available on Netflix. This talk was first available to FLC members, who play such a vital role in all we do. Memberships start at just $85 and offer year-round discounts to films and festivals, exclusive invitations to sneak previews, filmmaker conversations, Film Clubs, and much more. If you're interested in supporting FLC by becoming a member, visit filmlinc.org/members for more information.

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast we’re presenting conversations on Notturno and Identifying Features, two equally impressive films, both of which are New York Times Critic's Picks and are now playing in our Virtual Cinema. The first discussion features Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Gianfranco Rosi, in conversation with New York Film Festival’s Director of Programming Dennis Lim on Rosi’s latest immersive work of nonfiction. Shot over the course of three years along the borders of Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, and Lebanon, Notturno is a nighttime ramble through a region rocked and shattered by catastrophe and violence. The second conversation centers on Identifying Features and includes director Fernanda Valadez, and co-writer and producer Astrid Rondero in a dialogue with FLC's Assistant Programmer Dan Sullivan at the 49th New Directors/New Films. The film is a suspenseful slow burn, equally constructed of moments of beauty and horror surrounding a mother's search for the truth about her son. Nationw

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast we’re featuring a conversation between filmmakers and long-time collaborators, Sam Pollard and Spike Lee. Sam Pollard's impressive career boasts collaborations with some of cinema's greatest filmmakers, including Spike Lee who has hailed Pollard as “a master filmmaker.” Timed to our Sam Pollard tribute and the release of his latest, MLK/FBI, join us for an in-depth conversation between the two legendary filmmakers. Get virtual tickets, available nationwide through 1/22, to our Sam Pollard retrospective: https://virtual.filmlinc.org The full video of this talk is also available on FLC’s YouTube channel.

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast we’re featuring a conversation between filmmakers Errol Morris and Frederick Wiseman on Morris’ new documentary My Psychedelic Love Story. Told through the lens of Joanna Harcourt-Smith, Timothy Leary’s lover, the film examines the possible CIA conspiracy and fascinating love story as Leary, the High Priest of LSD, seemingly sells out and becomes a narc in 1974. Through a series of candid interviews, Morris and Harcourt-Smith reexamine this chaotic period, resulting in a singular snapshot of the early 1970s’ cultural landscape and its profound impact on the trajectory of one woman’s life. My Psychedelic Love Story is now available digitally, courtesy of Showtime.

This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast, join a conversation with Wong Kar Wai, cinematographer Christopher Doyle, and actress Brigitte Lin from the 46th NYFF in 2008, moderated by J. Hoberman. Watch Ashes of Time Redux in our Wong Kar Wai retrospective, available nationwide: filmlinc.org/wong A film whose complicated production took such a toll on Wong that he wrote and shot Chungking Express during its editing process, Ashes of Time Redux is a hallucinatory wuxia like no other. First released in 1994 and then re-edited and re-scored in 2008, Wong’s time-slipping picaresque takes loose inspiration from Jin Yong’s novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, focusing on a lovesick, embittered mercenary (Leslie Cheung), who acts as an agent for other swordsmen of fortune. Working with regular production designer William Chang, cinematographer Christopher Doyle, and a superb ensemble (Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, and Jacky Cheung), Wong constructs an intricate, enigmatic vision of ancient warrior

Join director Steve McQueen, cinematographer Shabier Kirchner, actors Shaun Parkes and Letitia Wright, and co-writers Courttia Newland and Alastair Siddons in a conversation about Small Axe, an anthology of five films. This talk was moderated by NYFF Director of Programming Dennis Lim, following the premiere of three films at NYFF58. All five films in the anthology are now available digitally nationwide, courtesy of Amazon Studios. Film at Lincoln Center Talks are presented by HBO.

Join a conversation with your favorite critics in anticipation of New Directors/New Films, a festival that has celebrated filmmakers who represent the present and anticipate the future of cinema, and whose daring work pushes the envelope in unexpected ways. Get tickets to this year’s NDNF, now playing through 12/20 in our Virtual Cinema, at filmlinc.org/ndnf The New Directors/New Films festival offers yearly proof of cinema's long and bright future—and this year's edition, arriving in virtual form at a fraught time in film culture, is no exception. Dig into the highlights of the 2020 lineup in this critics' preview led by Devika Girish, Assistant Editor of Film Comment and Film at Lincoln Center, featuring Clinton Krute (Digital Editor, Film Comment), Chloe Lizotte (freelance film critic), Vadim Rizov (Managing Editor, Filmmaker Magazine), and Lucía Salas (critic, curator, and filmmaker). This Film at Lincoln Center Talk is presented by HBO.

Join director Sean Durkin and actress Carrie Coon in a conversation about their latest film, The Nest, with fellow filmmaker Alex Ross Perry. The Nest stars Jude Law and Carrie Coon, who play Rory, an ambitious entrepreneur, and Allison, his American wife. In the film, Rory persuades his wife and their children to leave the comforts of suburban America and return to his native England during the 1980s. Sensing opportunity, Rory rejoins his former firm and leases a centuries-old country manor, with grounds for Allison’s horses and plans to build a stable. Soon the promise of a lucrative new beginning starts to unravel, the couple has to face the unwelcome truths lying beneath the surface of their marriage. The Nest is now available nationwide courtesy of IFC Films.

A New Directors/New Films 2020 selection and the Romanian entry for the Best International Feature Film at next year's Academy Awards, Collective begins as a seeming exposé into a tragic accident and gradually turns into something deeper and more shocking in this revelatory documentary about state neglect. As Collective continues its run in our Virtual Cinema, director Alexander Nanau sat down with FLC's Deputy Executive Director, Eugene Hernandez, to discuss the nonfiction thriller that uncovers the depths of governmental corruption. Watch Collective in our Virtual Cinema now at filmlinc.org/collective Film at Lincoln Center Talks are presented by HBO.

This week we’re featuring a preview in anticipation of Art of the Real 2020, an essential showcase for the most vital and innovative voices in nonfiction and hybrid filmmaking, rescheduled from its original dates in April for November 13-26. Join the co-programmers of Art of the Real, FLC Director of Programming Dennis Lim, FLC Programmer-at-Large Rachael Rakes and program advisor Almudena Escobar Lopez, along with FLC programmer Dan Sullivan for an in-depth preview of this year's edition, discussing all the envelope-pushing highlights, under-the-radar sleepers, and much more. Art of the Real is proud to continue its collaboration with curated streaming service MUBI for the fifth consecutive year. This Film at Lincoln Center Talk is presented by HBO. Get the most out of the festival with an unbeatable offer: access the entire slate for just $50! Start discovering with your All-Access Pass here: https://virtual.filmlinc.org/bundle/aotr-all-access/

NYFF58 Revivals highlight Smooth Talk (1985) features the work of three powerhouse women: director Joyce Chopra; actress Laura Dern, in one of her first starring roles; and author Joyce Carol Oates, whose 1966 short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” provided the inspiration for the film. To celebrate the festival premiere of the film’s new restoration, Chopra, Dern, and Oates joined Turner Classic Movies host Alicia Malone for a talk about the creative work of adaptation and the perennially resonant subject matter of a young woman’s early encounter with the powers and perils of her sexuality. Watch the new restoration of Smooth Talk, starting November 6 in our Virtual Cinema at filmlinc.org/smoothtalk This Film at Lincoln Center Talk is presented by HBO and sponsored by TCM.

As part of their nationwide virtual retrospective, directors Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman joined FLC programmer Dan Sullivan for a career-spanning conversation. Watch their essential work, featuring new restorations, through November 5 in our Virtual Cinema at filmlinc.org/tellingpics For more than 30 years, Oscar-winning directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have borne powerful witness to gay life, creativity, and activism — documenting lost aspects of LGBTQ+ history and chronicling unfolding events with humor, compassion, and fierce urgency. In their films, extraordinary interviews make the political personal and unforgettable. With Paragraph 175 and The Celluloid Closet, Epstein and Friedman examined the persecution of gay men in Nazi Germany and Hollywood’s history of hidden homophobia. Their documentaries The AIDS Show, Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, The Times of Harvey Milk, and Where Are We? have both chronicled and helped change history. Starting October 23, we look at their essential

For the 58th New York Film Festival’s final week, a group of critics gathered together for a spirited discussion with Devika Girish, Assistant Editor of Film Comment and Talks programmer for the NYFF, about the movies they saw in this year's lineup and their tales from the trenches of the pandemic-era festival. Participants included Molly Haskell (author, From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies), Eric Hynes (curator of film, Museum of the Moving Image), Ela Bittencourt (freelance critic & curator), Monica Castillo (arts and culture reporter, CPR News), and Clinton Krute (digital editor, Film Comment). Their discussion covered a wide selection of films, including Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock and Mangrove, Hong Sang-soo's The Woman Who Ran, Victor Kossakovsky's Gunda, Marie-Claude Treilhou's Simone Barbes or Virtue, Dea Kulumbegashvili's Beginning, Chloé Zhao's Nomadland, Philippe Garrel's The Salt of Tears, and many others. All NYFF58 Free Talks are presented by HBO.

Welcome to a new episode of the Film at Lincoln Center podcast. Today, we're featuring a conversation with Pietro Marcello, whose NYFF favorite Martin Eden opens in our Virtual Cinema today along with a weeklong four-film retrospective. This Q&A is from the 57th New York Film Festival, featuring Marcello in conversation with programmer Florence Almozini and interpretation by Michael Moore. Get tickets for Martin Eden and our retrospective here: https://virtual.filmlinc.org/ One of world cinema’s most exciting working directors, he has spent the last 15 years crafting a filmography that straddles past and present, documentary and fiction, folklore and political intervention. His idiosyncratic use of archival materials paired with his penchant for capturing, enlarging, and exalting the sensuous details of the physical world yields films that have distinguished themselves within today’s Italian cinema, or indeed, world cinema at large. In Marcello’s work, history, mythology, and the political situation of today

In this special 58th New York Film Festival edition of the Film at Lincoln Center podcast, NYFF Programmer Florence Almozini is joined by director Azazel Jacobs and actors Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges to discuss French Exit. In the Closing Night selection, Pfeiffer is entirely bewitching as an imperious, widowed New York socialite who, facing financial insolvency, relocates to a friend’s empty apartment in Paris with her dyspeptic son, Malcolm (Lucas Hedges), and their mercurial cat, and begins to grimly plan for an impossible future. Azazel Jacobs’s adaptation of the best-selling novel by Patrick deWitt is a rare American film of genuine eccentricity, with a brilliant central performance. French Exit is sponsored by Campari. There's only a few virtual nationwide tickets remaining for tonight's premiere at 8pm ET. Get yours here: https://virtual.filmlinc.org/

In this special 58th New York Film Festival edition of the Film at Lincoln Center podcast, NYFF Director of Programming Dennis Lim connects with director Christian Petzold to discuss Undine, the latest from the filmmaker behind Phoenix and Transit, among others. In his new film, the German director injects a mythological element into a lush melodrama about a pair of star-crossed lovers—Undine (Paula Beer), a historian and museum tour guide specializing in urban development, and Christoph, an industrial diver—linked by an affinity for the water. Get nationwide virtual tickets, premiering tonight at 8pm ET: https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2020/films/undine/

In this special 58th New York Film Festival edition of the Film at Lincoln Center podcast, NYFF programmer Tyler Wilson is joined by co-directors Paul Felten & Joe DeNardo and star Stephanie Hayes of the funny and alluring Slow Machine. Featuring an intriguingly eclectic cast—including experimental theater performers Hayes and Scott Shepherd, the musician Eleanor Friedberger, and Chloë Sevigny—Slow Machine follows an actress whose intimate relationship with a shadowy NYPD-affiliated operative ends abruptly and disastrously, leading her to hide out in a country house otherwise occupied by a band preparing their new record. The film explodes and reassembles the thriller genre, producing a work on paranoia, surveillance, and performance. Get nationwide virtual tickets here: https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2020/films/slow-machine/