2021 NEWFEST FILM FESTIVAL

This year, NewFest, the 33rd annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival, will be a virtual and in-person event. After being forced to be largely an online fest, Newfest welcomes back audiences to celebrate queer stories and storytellers. There are four locations for the in-person screenings; SVA Theatre, The LGBT Community Center, BAM Rose Cinemas and Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn.

The Opening Night film will be "Mayor Pete", an intimate documentary about Pete Buttigieg’s campaign to be the first openly gay U.S. president. The film from Jesse Moss (who recently won an Emmy for his last documentary feature, "Boys State") follows the former South Bend, Indiana Mayor from the early days of his campaign, examining all of the challenges and triumphs he faced throughout his run for the highest office in the land.

The International Centerpiece is "A Distant Place" from South Korean director, Park Kun-Young. This drama involves a local farmer living with his adventurous young daughter. When his city-dwelling lover comes to visit, he begins to imagine their future as a family. But the unplanned arrival of his twin sister threatens to complicate his dream.



The New York Centerpiece is "Passing", the actress, Rebecca Hall's directorial debut that she adapted from Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel. This in-person only screening features Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson in the story of two childhood friends who reunite and the discovery that one has changed her racial identity. The US Centerpiece will be "Potato Dreams of America", writer/director Wes Hurley’s semi-autobiographical dramatic-comedy. With a love for old Hollywood movies and concerned for her son’s future in 1980's USSR, Lena becomes a mail-order bride and moves to the United States. But as her young son begin to explore his sexuality and her American husband is deeply homophobic, this creates problems within this family.

There will be a 30th anniversary screening of Madonna's groundbreaking documentary, "Truth or Dare" which chronicles the pop superstar's 1990 "Blond Ambition" tour and introduced us to her openly queer back-up dancers; the 10th anniversary of "Pariah", Dee Rees’ influencial debut feature that is a moving exploration in to the life of a Black, queer 17-year-old poet trying to make her way in to the world. And "Shortbus", John Cameron Mitchell’s exuberant exploration of life, sex and happiness in New York City, will be shown in honor of it's 15th Anniversary with a 4K Restoration.



And the Closing Night film is "Flee" from director Jonas Poher Rasmussen. This winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance combines animation and emotional narrative to tell the harrowing ordeal of how Amin Nawabi and his family escaped from Afghanistan before re-settling in Denmark.

For a complete list of films and to purchase tickets and passes, please click below:

Newfest 2021

2021 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL

The 2021 New York Film Festival is set to begin today (and running through October 10th) and it is a welcome return to in-person attendance with a partnership with local arthouse theaters in an attempt to bring film selections to a new, wider audience. In addition to regular screenings at their home at the Alice Tully Hall, the NYFF is working with with Anthology Film Archives in the East Village, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Jacob Burns Film Center in Westchester and Harlem's Maysles Documentary Center to screen a selection of films during the festival.

The artist, Kara Walker has designed the poster for the 59th edition of the fest and it features her distinctive cut-paper Black figures silhouetted against a pale backdrop, making a statement with the image depicting a counterpoint to the legacy of cinema involving amateur filmmakers with their cell phones critically filming the world around them.

The Opening Night film will be "The Tragedy of Macbeth", the world premiere of the first solo feature directed by Joel Coen of the Coen brothers. This bold, filmed in black & white, adaptation of the classic Shakespeare play features the inspired pairing of Denzel Washington as the man who would be king and Frances McDormand (Coen's wife) as his devious Lady.



There are thirty-two films from across the globe featured in the Main Slate. Some highlights that have made some significant buzz during screenings at other fests include Jane Campion's "The Power of the Dog"; Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's "Drive My Car"; Paul Verhoeven's "Benedetta"; Todd Haynes' "THe Velvet Underground"; Jonas Poher Rasmussen's "Flee"; Céline Sciamma's "Petite Maman"; Joanna Hogg's "The Souvenir Part II"; Joachim Trier's "The Worst Person in the World"; Julia Ducournau's "Titane" and Rebecca Hall's "Passing".









The Spotlight section will showcase the season’s most hotly anticipated films. This will feature some new works that have already made the rounds at other festivals that includes from Mike Mills ("C'mon C'mon"), Sean Baker ("Red Rocket"), Charlotte Gainsbourg ("Jane by Charlotte"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Lost Daughter"), Denis Villeneuve ("Dune") and Wes Anderson ("The French Dispatch").





And "Parallel Mothers", the latest melodrama from Pedro Almodóvar which already made a big splash at this year's Venice Film Fest with star Penelope Cruz winning Best Actress there, will be the Closing Night film.

Proof of vaccination will be required for all attendees to the fest's venues as well as face coverings during screenings. For a complete list of films and to purchase tickets and passes, please click below:

NYFF 2021