The 2021 New York Film Fest has unveiled its main slate and will require proof of vaccination for all audiences, filmmakers and staff members at venues for the annual fall event.

The NYFF, presented by Film at Lincoln Center, will screen 32 films, produced in 31 different countries, as its main slate, including Cannes Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau’s Titane; Cannes award winners Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World; Cannes selections like Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta, Todd Haynes’ Velvet Underground doc; and Rebecca Hall’s Sundance title Passing.

 

“Taken together, the movies in this year’s main slate are a reminder of cinema’s world-making possibilities,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF director of programming and chair of the main slate selection committee. “They open up new ways of seeing and feeling and thinking, and whether or not they refer to our uncertain present, they help us make sense of our moment. I’m in awe of the sheer range of voices, styles, ideas, and images contained in this lineup, which includes many returning filmmakers but also more new names than we’ve had in some time, and I’m eager to welcome audiences back to our cinemas to experience these films as live, communal events.”

These titles join opening night selection Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, centerpiece film Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog and closing night title Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers.

The NYFF, set to take place from Sept. 24-Oct. 10, will feature in-person screenings, as well as select outdoor and virtual events. It was previously announced that the festival’s opening, centerpiece and closing night screenings would take place at the festival’s longtime home of Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, suggesting that a return to an in-person festival reminiscent of its 2019 edition was being eyed after the 2020 edition of the festival featured a mix of virtual and drive-in screenings throughout New York City.

The festival also announced that, “in response to distributor and filmmaker partners and in light of festivals returning and theaters reopening across the country,” it will not offer virtual screenings for this year’s edition.

With its vaccination requirement, further details of which will be revealed in the coming weeks, the festival joins the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and Broadway in requiring proof of vaccinations for all attendees and seems to be complying with New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s vaccination requirement for those attending indoor entertainment in the city, including movie theaters, which is set to be enforced starting September 13.

While fellow fall film festivals Toronto and Telluride have yet to reveal a vaccination policy, the Venice Film Festival is requiring all attendees to show an official certificate proving they are fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 or have a negative test. Italian health authorities last week announced that the country will recognize COVID-19 vaccination cards, negative test results or recovery certificates issued by the European Union, U.S., Canada, Japan, Israel and the U.K.