Saturday, September 30---The first full day of screenings and events at the New York Film Festival, following last evening's gala premiere of THE QUEEN, was a full program of diverse delights, with something for every cinematic taste. Following its enthusiastic reception last evening, and amidst glowing reviews upon its theatrical release today, THE QUEEN director Stephen Frears was in high spirits at the HBO Films Directors Dialogue , held this afternoon at the Kaplan Penthouse, high atop th...

Helen Mirren Saturday, September 30----The stars were out last evening, both in the night sky and on the red carpet at Avery Fisher Hall, as the New York Film Festival held its Gala Opening Night with the premiere screening of THE QUEEN. Spotted on the red carpet were luminaries from the world of film, music and Broadway, including directors Brian De Palma and Taylor Hackford, musician Phil Collins, indie filmmakers Mira Nair, Mike White and Lodge Kerrigan, and Broadway luminaries Frances Ster...

Friday, September 29----With the exception of devotees of certain specific bars in Chelsea, it is rather rare for someone to be hailed, not once but twice, as a "real queen". Well, that is the case for admired actress Helen Mirren, whose portrayal of two different English monarchs this year have industry insiders wagging about an Oscar sweep. Following her triumphant turn as Queen Elizabeth I in the HBO television mini-series ELIZABETH, a role for which she recently won an Emmy, Mirren can no...

Stephen Frears Friday, September 29---One of the more popular recent additions to the venerable New York Film Festival, which opens its 44th edition this evening, has been the Directors Dialogues series, sponsored again this year by HBO Films. Cinephiles have the rare opportunity to hear from some of the most celebrated directors on the planet in the intimate atmosphere of the Kaplan Penthouse, atop the Lincoln Center arts complex. This year, three directors, with films premiering at the Festi...

Thursday, September 28---It was one of the more audacious projects ever produced for a major studio. REDS, the politically-charged epic story of American radicals in the early years of the 20th century, was an unlikely film for Hollywood to have produced, especially at the dawn of the conservative Reagan era. The fact that it ever saw the light of day, and in fact become a critical and public success d'estime, is due entirely to the force of personality of its director/producer/star Warren Bea...

Wednesday, September 27---The official Film Poster of the 44th edition of the New York Film Festival, which opens on Friday, has been unveiled. The poster captures the iconic image of legendary film director Federico Fellini on the set, directing his masterpiece FELLINI SATYRICON in 1969. The photograph is one of the best known and most celebrated of world renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark . For almost four decades, she has produced pictures that reflect a high level of humanism and worl...

Wednesday, September 27----Magical realism meets gothic fairy tale in Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro's most ambitious film yet, PAN'S LABYRINTH, which has been chosen to close the 44th edition of the New York Film Festival . The film mixes surrealistic fantasy with harsh reality in the tale of a young girl who travels with her mother and adoptive father to a rural area in northern Spain during the first years of the repressive Franco regime. To cope with the hardships of everyday life, th...

Tuesday, September 26---One of the iconic images in international cinema is the sight of the Grim Reaper, the devil who seperates the spirit from the body of men, playing a strategic game of chess with a Knight during the Black Plague in Ingmar Bergman's landmark 1957 film THE SEVENTH SEAL. A new 35mm film print of this venerable film classic will be screened as part of the 50 Years of Janus Films celebration at this year's New York Film Festival. Legendary actor Max Von Sydow, one of the acto...

Tuesday, September 26---The newest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, the hugely anticipated VOLVER, will be presented as the Centerpiece Film of the New York Film Festival, which launches its 44th edition this Friday with the North American Premiere of the UK film THE QUEEN, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Helen Mirren. VOLVER, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, was honored on the Croisette with a Best Screenplay award for its writer/director Pedro Alm...

When the New York Film Festival's salute to 50 Years of Janus Films begins on September 30th with the screening of a pristine 35mm film print of the Jean Renoir classic THE RULES OF THE GAME, it will begin a month-long celebration of 30 cinematic gems that can only be described as "essential cinema". Renoir's film, set in a French country estate on the eve of World War II, not only is illustrative of its particular time and place, but serves as a kind of coda for the instability and restlessne...

The 44th edition of the New York Film Festival opens on a royal note with the North American premiere of THE QUEEN, the latest film from UK director Stephen Frears (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, THE SNAPPER, HIGH FIDELITY, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE). The film stars Oscar nominee Helen Mirren in a tour-de-force performance as Queen Elizabeth II. Also featured are James Cromwell as Prince Phillip, Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and Sylvia Syms as the Queen Mother, in a revealing and often acidly funny portrai...

The New York Film Festival has announced that its Retrospective program this year is devoted to a celebration of 50 Years of Janus Films, the pioneering arthouse distribution company, who singlehandedly brought the films of such film titans as Bergman, Kurosawa, Truffaut and Fellini to the attention of American film audiences. The program, which opens on September 30th with the screening of a new 35mm film print of the Jean Renoir humanist classic THE RULES OF THE GAME, will showcase over 30 c...

The New York Film Festival, the grande dame of New York film events, has announced that its 44th edition will be held at New York's Lincoln Center from September 29 to October 15, 2006. The Festival, which is presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, continues an extraordinary tradition of showcasing the newest and most important cinematic works by directors from around the world. Over its long history, the Festival has introduced such singular talents as Francois Truffaut, Bernardo Ber...