The 63rd annual New York Film Festival is set to begin on September 26th and running through October 13th. This celebration of film will present new and important cinematic works from around the world, many we will be able to see in local theaters over the next few months.
The fest opens with the latest from Luca Guadagnino with "After The Hunt", a psychological drama with Julia Roberts as a Yale professor whose privileged life is turned upside down after her protégée (Ayo Edebiri) accuses her longtime colleague and friend (Andrew Garfield) of sexual assault. The Centerpiece selection is "Father Mother Sister Brother" which just won director, Jim Jarmusch this year's Venice Film FestivalGolden Lion award. The film is set up in three chapters concerning the relationships between adult children reconnecting or coming to terms with their aging or lost parents. And the Closing Night film is the third film by Bradley Cooper as a director, "Is This Thing On?". This comedy-drama involves Will Arnett as a man whose marriage is unraveling, causing him to have an unpredictable midlife crisis which leads him to become a stand-up comic.
With so many films to be screened at the fest, Vulturehas put together a list of a few of the most anticipated films that have made it to NYFF, some after premiering at other well-known festivals earlier in the year.
Please click below to see the twenty-six films that have been highlighted:
Robert Redford, the handsome and charismatic actor who moved behind the camera to become an Oscar-winning filmmaker, has passed away in his sleep on September 16th at the age of eighty-nine. Not only did Redford become one of the biggest movies stars on the planet but he was a political activist who used his fame to bring attention to several causes that were important to him like environmentalism and indigenous people's rights. He also went on to help create the Sundance Film Festival which became one of the first and largest festivals that focused on independent cinema.
From the beginning after deciding to become an actor, Redford sought out roles that would challenge him, never wanting to be typecast in parts that focused on his looks. He appeared in numerous television dramas and small roles in feature films before getting his first big break on stage in 1963 after being cast in Neil Simon's latest Broadway show, "Barefoot in the Park", a romantic-comedy directed by Mike Nichols. The show was a hit, helping to create some buzz around the fledgling actor. In 1965, Redford was given a supporting role in "Inside Daisy Clover", a Hollywood-set drama starring Natalie Wood. It wasn't much of a critical or box-office success but they appeared together again the following year as co-stars in "This Property Is Condemned", directed by Sydney Pollack, that managed to achieve some acclaim. Redford also appeared for the first time with Jane Fonda that year in the all-star flop, "The Chase" (that included Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall and Angie Dickinson in the cast) before they starred together in the film version of "Barefoot in the Park" in 1967. This became a smash hit, helping to create Redford as a true film star.
But what made Redford go from a popular movie actor to an international cinema superstar began with George Roy Hill's western, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in 1969. Paired with another major star, Paul Newman, the film followed these Wild West outlaws on the run from a posse after their string of train robberies. The film went on to earn over one hundred million dollars at the box-office and won four Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay for William Goldman and Best Original Song for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head". This was followed by a string of popular films starring Redford: "The Way We Were" (with Barbra Streisand), "The Sting" (which reteamed him with Newman), "Jeremiah Johnson", "The Great Waldo Pepper", "Three Days of the Condor" and "All the President's Men"
Redford soon began to look for a new challenge which lead him to sit in the director's chair. The 1980 drama, "Ordinary People", based on the novel by Judith Guest, follows the disintegration of a wealthy family following the accidental death of one of their two sons and the attempted suicide of the other. Another box-office hit, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards, taking home four which included Best Director and Best Picture. Redford would go on to direct "The Milagro Beanfield War", "A River Runs Through It", "Quiz Show", "The Legend of Bagger Vance", "Lions for Lambs" "The Horse Whisperer" and "The Company You Keep"
He was born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18th in Santa Monica, California of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. He had suffered from a mild case of polio when he was eleven but recovered and excelled in sports during high school. But Redford also had an interest in the creative arts. After graduating from high school in 1954, he attended the University of Colorado but spent too much time partying and ended up getting expelled from the school. He then went off to Europe to travel for a period before coming back home with a clear focus on trying to become an actor.
Redford remained a sought after performer throughout the 1980's to well into the twenty-first century. He would appear in the baseball drama "The Natural", the 1985 Best Picture winner, "Out of Africa", "Indecent Proposal", "Up Close & Personal", "Sneakers" and Marvel superhero film, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". The last major film Redford starred in before retiring in 2018 was "The Old Man & the Gun", a crime-drama directed by David Lowery.
With Outfest imploding two years ago, Los Angeles was left without a film festival that celebrates the LGBTQ+ communities. But that seems to be over with the announcement of the inaugural CinePride Film Festival which will be held on September 11-14 at the Landmark Theatres Sunset in West Hollywood. This four-day event will feature a mix of feature films, documentaries and shorts that displays a wide range of thrilling queer cinema from across the globe.
For the complete listing of films and events, please click below:
The close of this year's Venice Film Festival brought an awards ceremony with the winner of the Golden Lion was given to the latest from Jim Jarmusch, "Father Mother Sister Brother". The drama-comedy, with a starry cast led by Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver, is about the complicated relationships between parents and their children involving three sets of families. The runner-up Grand Jury prize of the Silver Lion went to "The Voice of Hind Rajab", a political docudrama from Kaouther Ben Hania that details the killing of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was trapped in a car during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip last year.
For his first feature film without his brother, Josh, Benny Safdie received the Silver Lion Best Director prize for his sports biopic "The Smashing Machine" based on the life of mixed-martial arts fighter, Mark Kerr. Best Screenplay went to the director, Valérie Donzelli for her drama, "At Work (À pied d'œuvre)" and shares the prize with co-writer, Gilles Marchand. Based on a true story, a successful photographer at the peak of his career decides to pursue writing but he faces financial hardship and personal struggles during this dubious transition.
Here are the winners in the Main Competition of the 2025 Venice Film Festival:
Golden Lion: "Father Mother Sister Brother"
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: "صوت هند رجب (The Voice of Hind Rajab)"
Silver Lion Best Director: Benny Safdie, "The Smashing Machine"
Best Screenplay: Valérie Donzelli and Gilles Marchand, "A Pied d’oeuvre (At Work)"
Best Actress: Xin Zhilei, "日掛中天 (The Sun Rises on Us All)"
Best Actor: Toni Servillo, "La Grazia (The Pardon)"
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Luna Wedler, "Silent Friend"
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film: Nastia Korkia, "Short Summer"
Special Jury Prize: Gianfranco Rosi, "Sotte le Nuvole (Below the Clouds)"
"Wuthering Heights", the only novel by the British author, Emily Brontë, has captivated readers since it's publication back in 1847 and has endured as true classic of English language literature. This story about the passionate relationship between Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a poor orphan taken in by her family and the destruction he causes after she chooses to marry a wealthy neighbor instead of him has been adapted for film and television numerous times since the very beginning of cinema.
The latest version of "Wuthering Heights" is from the provocative filmmaker, Emerald Fennell who was behind the controversial and polarizing dramas, "Promising Young Woman" and "Saltburn". The just released teaser trailer of Fennell's interpretation, that will feature Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Cathy, makes it clear that this will not be a tradtional rendition of Brontë's acclaimed story. With a bold, experimental style and surreal imagery, this film is almost certain to stir intense debate over what the director has done with this timeless narrative.
"Wuthering Heights" is due in US theaters on February 14, 2026
