The Streamer’s Guide To The 2018 New York Film Festival: What Non-Festgoers Can Watch At Home
By Marshall Shaffer/Sept. 28, 2018 8:00 am EST
Most of the big movies of the fall have now premiered (although a few obvious exceptions remain to be unveiled) after their bows at Venice, Telluride and Toronto. Now it’s time for smaller, regional festivals to help further sort the wheat from the chaff. The New York Film Festival (NYFF), which kicks off this week, provides a perfect bridge to this next stage of the season. The festival features no world premieres, just a tightly curated slate of what the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s programmers determine are among the year’s best.
/Film will be in attendance at the New York Film Festival catching up with some of 2018’s best festival bows. But for those who can’t make it up to the Big Apple, you can craft a miniature festival in your own living room based around the NYFF lineup. Here are 10 films you can stream to get you hyped up for some of the eventual release of the festival’s selections. (All streaming availability is accurate as of publication and subject to change.)
High Life
TIFF went crazy for Claire Denis’ High Life (/Film’s Chris Evangelista called it a “strange, surreal, often indecipherable trip”), so it makes sense that A24 picked it up out of the festival. The movie feels like something the distribution company concocted in a lab – one part high concept genre flick, another part matinee idol turned indie icon (Robert Pattinson), all brought together by a stalwart but underappreciated director (Claire Denis). And it has something called the “F***box,” apparently.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: Any chance to familiarize people with the work of director Claire Denis is a welcome opportunity. Hopefully by the time A24 gets High Life into theaters, more of her work will be available to stream. For now, start with her gripping thriller about the consequences of colonialism, White Material. (available for free to subscribers of Filmstruck)
Ash Is Purest White
Director Jia Zhangke’s movies are an invaluable projection of a changing China to the world, and his latest work shows no signs of a slowdown. His body of work is rich and varied, painting a picture of his country without ever lecturing us about it. Jia’s latest film, Ash Is Purest White, is a gangster melodrama that won raves out of Cannes and makes its U.S. bow at NYFF.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: It’s hard to go wrong with any of Jia’s films, but a personal favorite of mine has always been A Touch of Sin. This four-part omnibus shows how simmering rage and resentment boils over into outright violence in China. These isolated incidents, told in short story-like segments, illustrate just how tenuous a thread so much of the country hangs on by. (available for free through Hoopla and Kanopy)
Happy as Lazzaro
It takes a special filmmaker to have every single movie of theirs accepted by the New York Film Festival, so for that reason alone, you should be paying attention to Alice Rohrwacher. She’s a fascinating filmmaker working with non-professional actors in the Italian countryside, and her films illuminate often underrepresented human experiences with real compassion. Not that you should need the validation of a man to recognize Rohrwacher, but Martin Scorsese did just come on board Happy as Lazzaro as an executive producer. If he’s lending his name to something, you know it’s got to be special. This story of class struggle on an Italian tobacco farm won raves out of Cannes, and Rohrwacher took home the Best Screenplay prize as well.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: The first film I ever saw at the New York Film Festival was Rohrwacher’s last film, The Wonders, so it forever holds a special place in my heart. But my affection for it goes beyond mere nostalgia; it’s a truly fantastic film in its own right. Rohrwacher has a unique spin on the coming-of-age story as her protagonist, the young Gelsomina, is not only trying to span the divide between childhood and adulthood. She’s also trying to bridge an older, more rural Italy with the emerging consumerist culture. Her quest to save the family bee farm through a reality TV show makes for a drama with real resonance, both personal and political. (available to stream for free on Netflix)
The Streamer’s Guide To The 2018 New York Film Festival: What Non-Festgoers Can Watch At Home
By Marshall Shaffer/Sept. 28, 2018 8:00 am EST
Most of the big movies of the fall have now premiered (although a few obvious exceptions remain to be unveiled) after their bows at Venice, Telluride and Toronto. Now it’s time for smaller, regional festivals to help further sort the wheat from the chaff. The New York Film Festival (NYFF), which kicks off this week, provides a perfect bridge to this next stage of the season. The festival features no world premieres, just a tightly curated slate of what the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s programmers determine are among the year’s best.
/Film will be in attendance at the New York Film Festival catching up with some of 2018’s best festival bows. But for those who can’t make it up to the Big Apple, you can craft a miniature festival in your own living room based around the NYFF lineup. Here are 10 films you can stream to get you hyped up for some of the eventual release of the festival’s selections. (All streaming availability is accurate as of publication and subject to change.)
/Film will be in attendance at the New York Film Festival catching up with some of 2018’s best festival bows. But for those who can’t make it up to the Big Apple, you can craft a miniature festival in your own living room based around the NYFF lineup. Here are 10 films you can stream to get you hyped up for some of the eventual release of the festival’s selections. (All streaming availability is accurate as of publication and subject to change.)
The Favourite (Opening Night)
At Eternity’s Gate (Closing Night)
High Life
TIFF went crazy for Claire Denis’ High Life (/Film’s Chris Evangelista called it a “strange, surreal, often indecipherable trip”), so it makes sense that A24 picked it up out of the festival. The movie feels like something the distribution company concocted in a lab – one part high concept genre flick, another part matinee idol turned indie icon (Robert Pattinson), all brought together by a stalwart but underappreciated director (Claire Denis). And it has something called the “F***box,” apparently.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: Any chance to familiarize people with the work of director Claire Denis is a welcome opportunity. Hopefully by the time A24 gets High Life into theaters, more of her work will be available to stream. For now, start with her gripping thriller about the consequences of colonialism, White Material. (available for free to subscribers of Filmstruck)
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: Any chance to familiarize people with the work of director Claire Denis is a welcome opportunity. Hopefully by the time A24 gets High Life into theaters, more of her work will be available to stream. For now, start with her gripping thriller about the consequences of colonialism, White Material. (available for free to subscribers of Filmstruck)
If Beale Street Could Talk
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Her Smell
Wildlife
Ash Is Purest White
Director Jia Zhangke’s movies are an invaluable projection of a changing China to the world, and his latest work shows no signs of a slowdown. His body of work is rich and varied, painting a picture of his country without ever lecturing us about it. Jia’s latest film, Ash Is Purest White, is a gangster melodrama that won raves out of Cannes and makes its U.S. bow at NYFF.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: It’s hard to go wrong with any of Jia’s films, but a personal favorite of mine has always been A Touch of Sin. This four-part omnibus shows how simmering rage and resentment boils over into outright violence in China. These isolated incidents, told in short story-like segments, illustrate just how tenuous a thread so much of the country hangs on by. (available for free through Hoopla and Kanopy)
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: It’s hard to go wrong with any of Jia’s films, but a personal favorite of mine has always been A Touch of Sin. This four-part omnibus shows how simmering rage and resentment boils over into outright violence in China. These isolated incidents, told in short story-like segments, illustrate just how tenuous a thread so much of the country hangs on by. (available for free through Hoopla and Kanopy)
Shoplifters
Happy as Lazzaro
It takes a special filmmaker to have every single movie of theirs accepted by the New York Film Festival, so for that reason alone, you should be paying attention to Alice Rohrwacher. She’s a fascinating filmmaker working with non-professional actors in the Italian countryside, and her films illuminate often underrepresented human experiences with real compassion. Not that you should need the validation of a man to recognize Rohrwacher, but Martin Scorsese did just come on board Happy as Lazzaro as an executive producer. If he’s lending his name to something, you know it’s got to be special. This story of class struggle on an Italian tobacco farm won raves out of Cannes, and Rohrwacher took home the Best Screenplay prize as well.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: The first film I ever saw at the New York Film Festival was Rohrwacher’s last film, The Wonders, so it forever holds a special place in my heart. But my affection for it goes beyond mere nostalgia; it’s a truly fantastic film in its own right. Rohrwacher has a unique spin on the coming-of-age story as her protagonist, the young Gelsomina, is not only trying to span the divide between childhood and adulthood. She’s also trying to bridge an older, more rural Italy with the emerging consumerist culture. Her quest to save the family bee farm through a reality TV show makes for a drama with real resonance, both personal and political. (available to stream for free on Netflix)
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home: The first film I ever saw at the New York Film Festival was Rohrwacher’s last film, The Wonders, so it forever holds a special place in my heart. But my affection for it goes beyond mere nostalgia; it’s a truly fantastic film in its own right. Rohrwacher has a unique spin on the coming-of-age story as her protagonist, the young Gelsomina, is not only trying to span the divide between childhood and adulthood. She’s also trying to bridge an older, more rural Italy with the emerging consumerist culture. Her quest to save the family bee farm through a reality TV show makes for a drama with real resonance, both personal and political. (available to stream for free on Netflix)
