60th New York Film Festival kicks off at Lincoln Center
NEW YORK -- Since The New York Film Festival began, the idea has always been to celebrate film as an art form.
In the ancient battle between art versus commerce, between small art films and big Hollywood blockbusters, this festival favors art for art's sake.
The event often throws a spotlight on the most adventurous movies and reviews those pictures from the past that have almost been forgotten.
The 60th NYFF is as big and bold as ever before: half a century plus a decade does not mean the event has become settled in its ways.
Artistic Director, Dennis Lim said this "is one of our most diverse lineups, very proud of that."
Lesli Klainberg, who is the President of Film At Lincoln Center where the event is headquartered, added that, "it's natural for us to work and deal within consider a wider variety of different voices."
The NYFF Executive Director, Eugene Hernandez, finds hope in the fact that he sees, "so much enthusiasm and excitement and passion for the movies from people from all different backgrounds and walks of life and interests."
Friday's diverse program shown at Lincoln Center and at various venues throughout NYC grew from humble beginnings.
Klainberg showed a program from the first New York Film Festival that shows a short list of just 21 films to be shown that first year.
Some of the world's best filmmakers have used the festival as a launching pad because, as Klainberg put it, "filmmakers consider this a great honor to be at our festival and always have."
That makes "White Noise" a fitting choice for opening night.
"It comes from Noah Baumbach," said Hernandez. "And he has such a long history with our festival."
A streaming service, Netflix, paid for Baumbach's latest, and it will soon be available to subscribers at home after a brief theatrical run.
It's ironic because the NYFF is an ode to the joys of leaving home to watch movies on a big screen with other film lovers.
"Every audience that sits down to a screening at the New York Film Festival is delighted to be there," Klainberg explained. "They're so excited for every screening."
The basics have never changed and the true believers still pack theaters, but to get to the 60th edition, the management can't stand still.
"Cinema, more than any other art form is constantly re-inventing itself," said Lim, the artistic director. "It's an art form that's dependent on technology. Technology changes, Cinema changes."
The New York Film Festival is determined to change with it.
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