The 64th New York Film Festival has announced a 32-film main slate, and it stretches across all five boroughs. The festival, run by Film at Lincoln Center and founded in 1963, runs September 25 through October 12, with screenings at Lincoln Center plus BAM, the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on Staten Island, and AMC Bay Plaza Cinema in the Bronx (Variety).

Four world premieres anchor the lineup. Tony Gilroy's Behemoth!, starring Pedro Pascal, holds the Centerpiece slot on October 2 — a film previously announced by multiple trade outlets in late July (Deadline, The Wrap). Ava DuVernay's documentary 14th closes the festival at Alice Tully Hall. Mani Haghighi's I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies and Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus Zero, the latter serving as the Spotlight Gala selection, round out the premieres (Variety; Film at Lincoln Center).

The festival opens with James Gray's period thriller Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, screening as a North American premiere (Variety).

Cannes casts a long shadow over the selection. The main slate includes Grand Prix winner Minotaur by Andrey Zvyagintsev, best director winner Fatherland by Paweł Pawlikowski, best screenplay winner A Man of His Time, Jury Prize winner The Dreamed Adventure, and All of a Sudden by Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, whose stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the best actress prize. Sandra Wollner's Everytime, winner of the Un Certain Regard prize, and Marine Atlan's La Gradiva, winner of the Critics' Week Grand Prize, are also on the bill (Variety).

Beyond the Cannes contingent, the slate spans names familiar and new. Mike Leigh's Tender Loving Care, Pedro Almodóvar's Bitter Christmas, Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love, Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter, Chris Rock's Misty Green, and Ira Sachs' The Man I Love with Rami Malek all make the cut. Hong Sangsoo is the only director with two films: his 34th feature The Day She Returns and his 35th, Nowhere To Lay My Eyes, starring Kim Min-hee (Variety).

Seventeen directors arrive in the main slate for the first time, among them Gilroy, Rock, Haghighi, Atlan, and Zvyagintsev — a striking figure given Zvyagintsev's stature on the international circuit. The selection committee is chaired by artistic director Dennis Lim, alongside Florence Almozini, Justin Chang and Rachel Rosen (Variety).

For audiences, the five-borough footprint widens access considerably. A festival-goer in the Bronx or Staten Island can catch a main-slate screening without crossing into Manhattan, a shift that reflects Lincoln Center's push to reach viewers across the city.

The full festival schedule launches in late August, with talent appearances announced in early September (Film at Lincoln Center).