Tom McCarthy’s ‘A Statement’, Jonathan Glazer Documentary ‘Joy Of Joys’ To World Premiere At New York Film Festival
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- Tom McCarthy's "A Statement" world premieres at NYFF as an ensemble piece set at a 1980 Florida beachside resort, where 20 experts convene to address CO2 emissions' climate effects, starring Paul Rudd, Evan Peters, Amy Ryan, Paul Giamatti, John Turturro, Tatiana Maslany, and Jason Clarke.
- Jonathan Glazer's "Joy of Joys" world premieres as a 38-minute documentary following the recording of War Child Records' benefit album HELP(2) at Abbey Road, with London school kids documenting the sessions; Mica Levi collaborated.
- Takashi Yamazaki's "Godzilla Minus Zero" anchors the Spotlight Gala as a world premiere, set in 1949 post-WWII Japan and continuing the Shikishima family story from the 2023 Oscar-winning "Godzilla Minus One," with a GKIDS release.
- Cristian Mungiu's "Fjord" brings his second Cannes Palme d'Or to NYFF, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian Pentecostal immigrants in Norway facing child-abuse allegations; a NEON release.
- Maiken Baird's "Edward Said: Between Worlds" makes its U.S. premiere as a documentary tracing the Palestinian-American Columbia professor's life from his 1948 displacement with the founding of Israel through his advocacy and battles with leukemia.
- The 64th NYFF runs September 25 through October 12 with 13 Spotlight features and 10 Spotlight shorts, the latter including world premieres from Kleber Mendonça Filho and Charlotte Wells.
Why it matters: The Spotlight lineup mixes pedigrees rarely seen together — Oscar winners (Glazer, Yamazaki's VFX team), a two-time Palme d'Or director (Mungiu), and prestige indies (A24's Firstman and Eisenberg) — and three world premieres anchor the section as programming rather than North American rehashes. McCarthy's period piece staged 45 years before climate change entered mainstream policy gives the slate a pointed thematic spine running through a lineup otherwise defined by tonal range.
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