Tired of Netflix and chill? Miss going to the movies? Maybe you just need a change of scenery? Well, good news. After more than 50 years, the New York Film Festival is finally coming to the boroughs. But you’ll need to gas up your wheels, book your Zipcar, or lock down a rental to attend.
The 58th NYFF runs September 17-October 11, and with theaters still closed due to COVID-19 prevention orders organizers had to get creative to create a communal viewing experience. Their solution: bring the festival to the drive-in.
The bygone way of seeing movies has had a resurgence this summer, even in a public-transit-first city like New York. In July, Rooftop Films opened the Brooklyn Drive-In at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, with help from the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The Queens Drive-In at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a partnership with the New York Hall of Science and the Museum of the Moving Image, followed a month later.
The locations have hosted a mix of new movies (Tesla, She Dies Tomorrow, John Lewis: Good Trouble) and old favorites (2001: A Space Odyssey, Mad Max: Fury Road, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial), but for the month of the NYFF they’ll be home to the buzziest films of the season. The festival’s Main Slate programming includes 25 new films from directors like Steve McQueen (40 Years a Slave), Chloé Zhao (The Rider), and Frederick Wiseman (In Jackson Heights), while Spotlight and Currents programming includes new work by filmmakers such as Pedro Almodóvar, Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee, and Orson Welles. (Yes, that Orson Welles.)
“Movies are neither made nor experienced in a vacuum, and while the works in our program predate the current moment of crisis, it’s striking to me just how many of them resonate with our unsettled present, or represent a means of transcending it,” Dennis Lim, NYFF Director of Programming, said in a statement. “It has been a joy and a privilege to work with a brilliant, tireless programming team—the newly composed selection committee and our new team of advisors—and we are truly excited for audiences to discover and discuss these films.”
Tickets for NYFF screenings go on sale September 11. Summer drive-in screenings have routinely sold out, so plan ahead if you want to see a movie not from the comfort of your couch.
More info on the 58th New York Film Festival, its screening schedule, and ticket information can be found online at tilmlinc.org/nyff2020.
