While American-made films like David Fincher’s Gone Girl, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, and Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher are getting the most attention from cinephiles dying to know if any of the Oscar hopefuls deserve recognition at the end of the year, Latino films, too, are making an impact at the 52nd annual New York Film Festival from Sept. 26 – Oct. 12.
Along with screenings of feature films from countries like Argentina and Portugal, this year’s NYFF will feature other events like panels, workshops, interactive presentations, and director discussions. Speaking of directors, let’s not forget about Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s newest movie Birdman, which stars Michael Keaton (Batman) as a washed-up TV superhero making a comeback, and is the fest’s closing night gala centerpiece.
Los Sures
Director: Diego Echeverría
Country: USA
1984
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A 1984 documentary about the challenges residents faced living in the South Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood known as Los Sures, director Diego Echeverría celebrates the Puerto Rican and Dominican community where drugs, gangs, crime, and racial tension were on some of the problems in everyday life. The film has been restored for its 30th anniversary. Echeverría and many people from the original film will be on hand for the screening. UnionDocs will present their documentary project Living Los Sures, inspired by Echeverria’s film, earlier in the day at 1:30pm.
8:00pm on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Howard Gilman Theater
Jauja
Director: Lisandro Alonso
Country: Argentina
2014
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Set during the Argentinian army’s Conquest of the Desert in the late 19th century, this critically-acclaimed drama stars Oscar nominated actor Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) as Gunnar Dinesen, a Danish military engineer who travels in search of his daughter Ingeborg (Villbjørk Agger Malling) who has eloped. At the at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Jauja won the FIPRESCI Prize and director Lisandro Alonso was nominated for Un Certain Regard Award. Alonso, along with Mortensen, will be in attendance for a Q&A.
9:00pm on Tuesday, Oct 7 at Alice Tully Hall, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
6:00pm on Thursday, Oct 9 at the Francesca Beale Theater
The Princess of France
La princesa de Francia
Director: Matías Piñeiro
Country: Argentina
2014
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In preparation for a new radio production of William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, Victor (Julián Larquier Tellarini), an Argentinean actor, returns to Buenos Aires after his father’s death where he keep the show from falling apart amidst personal struggles in his relationship with his girlfriend and lover. The film was nominated for the Golden Leopard Award at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival. Director Matías Piñeiro will be in attendance for a Q&A.
12:00pm on Sunday, Oct 5 at the Walter Reade Theater
6:00pm on Monday, Oct 6 at the Francesca Beale Theater
Two Shots Fired
Dos disparos
Director: Martín Rejtman
Country: Argentina
2014
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After somehow surviving shooting himself once in the stomach and once in the head, 16-year-old Mariano (Raphael Federman) recruits a woman to join his wind ensemble. The film, which is the first in a decade for director Martín Rejtman, was nominated for the Golden Leopard Award at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival.
8:45pm on Monday, Sep 29 at the Walter Reade Theater
3:00pm on Tuesday, Sep 30 at the Francesca Beale Theater
Horse Money
Cavalo Dinheiro
Director: Pedro Costa
Country: Portugal
2014
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Director Pedro Costa turns his camera on the immigrants of Cape Verdean and the Fountainhas neighborhood and set his story in the 1970s during the Carnation Revolution. At the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival, Horse Money won the Best Director Award and the Don Quixote Award for Costa. It was also nominated for the Golden Leopard Award. Costa will discuss the film during a free HBO Directors Dialogues event on Oct. 8.
6:00pm on Tuesday, Oct 7 at Alice Tully Hall, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
3:30pm on Wednesday, Oct 8 at the Francesca Beale Theater
Birdman
The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Country: USA
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In Iñárritu’s big, bold, and beautifully brash new movie, one-time action hero Riggan Thomson (a jaw-dropping Michael Keaton), in an effort to be taken seriously as an artist, is staging his own adaptation of Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. As Thomson tries to get his perilous undertaking in shape for the opening, he must contend with a scene-hogging narcissist (Edward Norton), a vulnerable actress (Naomi Watts), and an unhinged girlfriend (Andrea Riseborough) for co-stars; a resentful daughter (Emma Stone); a manager who’s about to come undone (Zach Galifianikis)… and his ego.
The 52nd annual New York Film Festival runs September 26 – October 12.