The full schedule of the 46th annual New York Film Festival was released today. indieWIRE has the scoop.
The big showcase I’m looking forward to is, of course, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” (which I touched on yesterday). But also landing in the Big Apple will be Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Che.”
Time will tell if the latter remains distribution-less after a North American bow. Something tells me, given Soderbergh’s tenacity, that it will.
I’m also interested in Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah” (with an “h” this time), which was a considerable favorite at this year’s Cannes fest, as well as Wong Kar-Wai’s “Ashes of Time Redux.” Despite a personal distaste for the Chinese helmer, this project has a special something keeping my interest piqued. Ari Folman’s Canne fave “Waltz with Bashir” will also make the trip.
And then there is Steve McQueen’s “Hunger,” a meditation on the IRA hunger strike that made Bobby Sands a national hero in Northern Ireland. I spent a weekend in Belfast while I was overseas this summer and remember coming across a giant wall mural of Sands, part of a guided tour with one of his former compatriots who also participated in the protest.
I’ve been hearing fantastic things about Michael Fassbender’s performance in the film. He dropped an amount of weight that supposedly makes Christian Bale look obese in “The Machinist.” It might be one of the lowest flying turns on the awards radar so far, and if IFC Films can spin a valiant campaign around the actor, watch out.
Check out the full roster of NYFF titles here. The festival begins September 26 and runs through October 12.