The 54th New York Film Festival was held September 30 - October 16, 2016.
The lineup consisted of eight sections:
The Festival also included various talks and free screenings. The "Explorations" section was a new addition in 2016, described by the Festival as: "This new section is devoted to work from around the world, from filmmakers across the spectrum of experience and artistic sensibility. […] The one quality that they share is that they are adventurous and exploratory, in the very best sense of the word."[1] The primary selection committee included Kent Jones (chair), Dennis Lim, Florence Almozini, Amy Taubin, and Gavin Smith as a consultant. The Shorts Programs were selected by Dilcia Barrera, Laura Kern, Dennis Lim, Gabi Madsen and Dan Sullivan. Projections was programmed by Dennis Lim and Aily Nash. The Revivals and Retrospective sections were programmed by Kent Jones, and Convergence was curated by Matt Bolish.[2]
| Program | Title | Original Title | Director | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program 1: Narrative | The Girl Who Danced with the Devil | A moça que dançou com o Diabo | João Paulo Miranda Maria | Brazil | |
| Program 1: Narrative | Be Good for Rachel | Ed Roe | USA | ||
| Program 1: Narrative | Univitellin | Terence Nance | France | ||
| Program 1: Narrative | Little Bullets | Küçük Kurşunlar | Alphan Eseli | Turkey | |
| Program 1: Narrative | Dobro | Marta Hernaiz Pidal | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico | ||
| Program 1: Narrative | Land of the Lost Sidekicks | Roger Ross Williams | USA | ||
| Program 1: Narrative | And The Whole Sky Fit In The Dead Cow’s Eye | Y todo el celo cupo en el ojo de la vaca muerta | Francisca Alegria | Chile, USA | |
| Program 2: International Auteurs | A Brief History of Princess X | Gabriel Abrantes | Portugal, France | ||
| Program 2: International Auteurs | Sarah Winchester, Phantom Opera | Sarah Winchester, Opera Fantôme | Bertrand Bonello | France | |
| Program 2: International Auteurs | The Hedonists | Jia Zhangke | China | ||
| Program 2: International Auteurs | From the Diary of a Wedding Photographer | Myomano Shel Tzlam Hatonot | Nadav Lapid | Israel | |
| Program 3: Genre Stories | The Signalman | Daniel Augusto | Brazil | ||
| Program 3: Genre Stories | Can’t Take My Eyes Off You | Johannes Kizler, Nik Sentenza | Germany | ||
| Program 3: Genre Stories | New Gods | Jack Burke | UK | ||
| Program 3: Genre Stories | Quenottes (Pearlies) | Pascal Thiebaux, Gil Pinheiro | Luxembourg, France | ||
| Program 3: Genre Stories | What Happened to Her | Kristy Guevara-Flanagan | USA | ||
| Program 3: Genre Stories | Imposter | Adam Goldhammer | Canada | ||
| Program 4: New York Stories | Kitty | Chloë Sevigny | USA | ||
| Program 4: New York Stories | I Turn to Jello | Andrew T. Betzer | USA | ||
| Program 4: New York Stories | Dramatic Relationships | Dustin Guy Defa | USA | ||
| Program 4: New York Stories | This Castle Keep | Gina Telaroli | USA | ||
| Program 4: New York Stories | Los Angeles Plays New York | John Wilson | USA | ||
| Program 4: New York Stories | The Honeymoon | Tommy Davis | USA | ||
| Program 5: Documentaries | Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy | Lewie Kloster | USA | ||
| Program 5: Documentaries | El Buzo | Esteban Arrangoiz | Mexico | ||
| Program 5: Documentaries | Jean Nouvel: Reflections | Matt Tyrnauer | USA | ||
| Program 5: Documentaries | Rotatio | Ian McClerin | USA | ||
| Program 5: Documentaries | The Vote | Mila Aung-Thwin, Van Royko | Canada | ||
| Program 5: Documentaries | Brillo Box (3¢ off) | Lisanne Skyler | USA |
| Title | Original Title | Director | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve James | USA | |||
| The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography | Errol Morris | USA | ||
| Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens | USA | ||
| The Cinema Travellers | Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya | India | ||
| Dawson City: Frozen Time | Bill Morrison | USA | ||
| Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy | Hissein Habré, une tragédie tchadienne | Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | France, Chad | |
| I Am Not Your Negro | Raoul Peck | USA, France, Belgium, Switzerland | ||
| I Called Him Morgan | Kasper Collin | Sweden | ||
| Karl Marx City | Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker | USA, Germany | ||
| Patria O Muerte: Cuba, Fatherland or Death | Olatz López Garmendia | Cuba, USA | ||
| Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan | Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger | USA | ||
| The Settlers | Shimon Dotan | France, Canada, Israel | ||
| Two Trains Runnin’ | Sam Pollard | USA | ||
| Uncle Howard | Aaron Brookner | UK, USA | ||
| Whose Country? | Mohamed Siam | Egypt, USA, France |
| Title | Original Title | Director | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Death of Louis XIV | La Mort de Louis XIV | Albert Serra | France, Portugal, Spain | |
| Everything Else | Todo lo demás | Natalia Almada | Mexico | |
| I Had Nowhere to Go | Douglas Gordon | Germany | ||
| Kékszakállú | Gastón Solnicki | Argentina | ||
| Mimosas | Oliver Laxe | Spain, Morocco, France, Qatar | ||
| The Ornithologist | O ornitólogo | João Pedro Rodrigues | Portugal, France, Brazil |
| Program | Title | Director | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program 1: The Spaces Between the Words | REGAL | Karissa Hahn | USA | |
| Program 1: The Spaces Between the Words | Steve Hates Fish | John Smith | UK | |
| Program 1: The Spaces Between the Words | Real Italian Pizza [1971] | David Rimmer | Canada | |
| Program 1: The Spaces Between the Words | Now: End of Season | Ayman Nahle | Lebanon | |
| Program 1: The Spaces Between the Words | See a Dog, Hear a Dog | Jesse McLean | USA | |
| Program 1: The Spaces Between the Words | Twixt Cup and Lip | Stephen Sutcliffe | UK | |
| Program 2: Beyond Landscape | Burning Mountains That Spew Flame (Montañas Ardientes Que Vomitan Fuego) | Helena Girón, Samuel Delgado | Spain | |
| Program 2: Beyond Landscape | Bending to Earth | Rosa Barba | USA, Germany | |
| Program 2: Beyond Landscape | Ten Mornings Ten Evening and One Horizon | Tomonari Nishikawa | Japan | |
| Program 2: Beyond Landscape | Canadian Pacific I [1974] | David Rimmer | Canada | |
| Program 2: Beyond Landscape | Jáaji Approx. | Sky Hopinka | USA | |
| Program 2: Beyond Landscape | Bad mama, who cares | Brigid McCaffrey | USA | |
| Program 2: Beyond Landscape | Ears, Nose and Throat | Kevin Jerome Everson | USA | |
| Program 3: The Illinois Parables | The Illinois Parables | Deborah Stratman | USA | |
| Program 3: The Illinois Parables | The Horses of a Cavalry Captain (Die Pferde des Rittmeisters) | Clemens von Wedemeyer | Germany | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Old Hat | Zach Iannazzi | USA | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Flowers of the Sky | Janie Geiser | USA | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Answer Print | Mónica Savirón | USA | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Athyrium filix-femina (for Anna Atkins) | Kelly Egan | Canada | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper [1970] | David Rimmer | Canada | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Ghost Children | João Vieira Torres | Brazil, France | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Cilaos | Camilo Restrepo | France | |
| Program 4: Fade Out | Luna e Santur | Joshua Gen Solondz | USA | |
| Program 5: Site and Sound | Indefinite Pitch | James N. Kienitz Wilkins | USA | |
| Program 5: Site and Sound | Europa, Mon Amour (2016 Brexit Edition) | Lawrence Lek | UK | |
| Program 5: Site and Sound | Strange Vision of Seeing Things | Ryan Ferko | Canada, Serbia | |
| Program 5: Site and Sound | Foyer | Ismaïl Bahri | France, Tunisia | |
| Program 6 | All the Cities of the North | Dane Komljen | Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro | |
| Program 7: Pop Culture Clash | A Boy Needs a Friend | Steve Reinke | USA | |
| Program 7: Pop Culture Clash | Spotlight on a Brick Wall | Alee Peoples, Mike Stoltz | USA | |
| Program 7: Pop Culture Clash | Return to Forms | Zachary Epcar | USA | |
| Program 7: Pop Culture Clash | Dream English Kid, 1964–1999 AD | Mark Leckey | UK | |
| Program 8: Dorsky and Hiler | Autumn | Nathaniel Dorsky | USA | |
| Program 8: Dorsky and Hiler | The Dreamer | Nathaniel Dorsky | USA | |
| Program 8: Dorsky and Hiler | Bagatelle II | Jerome Hiler | USA | |
| Program 9: Event Horizons | Há Terra! | Ana Vaz | Brazil, France | |
| Program 9: Event Horizons | Kindah | Ephraim Asili | USA, Jamaica | |
| Program 9: Event Horizons | In Titan’s Goblet [1991] | Peter Hutton | USA | |
| Program 9: Event Horizons | An Aviation Field(Um Campo de Aviação) | Joana Pimenta | Portugal, USA, Brazil | |
| Program 9: Event Horizons | Electrical Gaza | Rosalind Nashashibi | UK | |
| Program 9: Event Horizons | Event Horizon | Guillermo Moncayo | France | |
| Program 10: From the Notebook of… | From the Notebook of… [1971/1998] | Robert Beavers | Italy, Switzerland | |
| Program 10: From the Notebook of… | For Christian | Luke Fowler | UK, USA | |
| Program 11 | The Human Surge(El auge del humano) | Eduardo Williams | Argentina, Brazil, Portugal |
| Title | Director | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened | Lonny Price | USA | |
| Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk | Ang Lee | USA | |
| Gimme Danger | Jim Jarmusch | USA | |
| Hamilton’s America | Alex Horwitz | USA | |
| Jackie | Pablo Larraín | USA, Chile, France | |
| A Quiet Passion (Film Comment Presents) | Terence Davies | UK, Belgium |
| Title | Original Title | Director | Country | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L’argent | Robert Bresson | France | 1983 | ||
| Aux quatre coins | Jacques Rivette | France | 1949 | ||
| The Battle of Algiers | La battaglia di Algeri | Gillo Pontecorvo | Italy, Algeria | 1966 | |
| Le divertissement | Jacques Rivette | France | 1952 | ||
| Harlan County USA | Barbara Kopple | USA | 1976 | ||
| The Living Idol | Albert Lewin | USA | 1957 | ||
| Memories of Underdevelopment | Memorias del subdesarrollo | Tomás Gutiérrez Alea | Cuba | 1968 | |
| One-Eyed Jacks | Marlon Brando | USA | 1961 | ||
| Panique | Julien Duvivier | France | 1947 | ||
| Le quadrille | Jacques Rivette | France | 1950 | ||
| Taipei Story | Qing mei zhu ma | Edward Yang | Taiwan | 1985 | |
| Ugetsu | Ugetsu Monogatari | Kenji Mizoguchi | Japan | 1953 |
The 2016 Retrospective contained two programs, both inspired by Bertrand Tavernier. “A Brief Journey Through French Cinema” screened Tavernier’s My Journey Through French Cinema along with several titles cited in the film. The second program focused on Henry Hathaway, a director Tavernier particularly admires.
| Title | Original Title | Director | Country | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| My Journey Through French Cinema | Voyage à travers le cinéma français | Bertrand Tavernier | France | 2016 | |
| Angels of Sin | Les anges du péché | Robert Bresson | France | 1943 | |
| Antoine and Antoinette | Antoine et Antoinette | Jacques Becker | France | 1947 | |
| Deadlier Than the Male | Voici le temps des assassins | Julien Duvivier | France | 1956 | |
| Les enfants terribles | Jean-Pierre Melville | France | 1950 | ||
| La Marseillaise | Jean Renoir | France | 1938 | ||
| Safe Conduct | Laissez-passer | Bertrand Tavernier | France | 2002 |
| Title | Director | Country | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Paces to Baker Street | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1956 | |
| The Dark Corner | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1946 | |
| Down to the Sea in Ships | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1949 | |
| Fourteen Hours | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1951 | |
| From Hell to Texas | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1958 | |
| Garden of Evil | Henry Hathaway | USA, Mexico | 1951 | |
| Kiss of Death | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1947 | |
| Niagara | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1953 | |
| North to Alaska | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1960 | |
| Rawhide | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1951 | |
| The Shepherd of the Hills | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1941 | |
| Spawn of the North | Henry Hathaway | USA | 1938 |