This year’s edition will mark the second time the festival has offered a virtual arm: the festival’s original March 2020 dates were postponed when pandemic shutdowns took hold, with the series eventually opting to go virtual for its 49th edition, rolling out last December. For its 50th anniversary, ND/NF will screen both virtually (April 28 – May 8) and in-person at Film at Lincoln Center (April 28 – May 13).
In addition to its robust lineup of new films, the festival will also celebrate its anniversary with a free virtual retrospective looking back on the festival’s history. The retrospective boasts major names who have screened at ND/NF in the past, including Christopher Nolan, Chantal Akerman, Charles Burnett, and Lee Chang-dong, among others. Both lineups are available below. “From intimate, personal tales to political, metaphysical, and spiritual inquiries, the films in the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films embody an inexhaustible curiosity and a fearless desire for adventure,” said La Frances Hui, Curator of Film at The Museum of Modern Art and 2021 New Directors/New Films Co-Chair, in an official statement. “They prove that cinema will continue to illuminate and inspire the way we live, and make art.” The complete 2021 New Directors/New Films feature film lineup is as follows:
“Aleph,” dir. Iva Radivojević “All Light, Everywhere,” dir. Theo Anthony “All the Light We Can See,” dir. Pablo Escoto Luna “Apples,” dir. Christos Nikou “Azor,” dir. Andreas Fontana “Bebia, à mon seul désir,” dir. Juja Dobrachkous “Bipolar,” dir. Queena Li “Dark Red Forest,” dir. Jin Huaqing “Destello Bravío,” dir. Ainhoa Rodríguez “Eyimofe (This Is My Desire),” dir. Arie & Chuko Esiri “Faya Dayi,” dir. Jessica Beshir “Friends and Strangers,” dir. James Vaughan “Gull,” dir. Kim Mi-jo “Liborio,” dir. Nino Martinez Sosa “Luzzu,” dir. Alex Camilleri “Madalena,” dir. Madiano Marcheti “Moon, 66 Questions,” dir. Jacqueline Lentzou “Pebbles,” dir. P.S. Vinothraj “El Planeta,” dir. Amalia Ulman “Radiograph of a Family,” dir. Firouzeh Khosrovani “Rock Bottom Riser,” dir. Fern Silva “Short Vacation,” dir. Kwon Min-pyo & Seo Han-sol “Stop-Zemlia,” dir. Kateryna Gornostai “Taming the Garden,” dir. Salomé Jashi “We (Nous),” dir. Alice Diop “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” dir. Jane Schoenbrun “Wood and Water,” dir. Jonas Bak The complete New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective lineup is as follows: “Duvidha,” dir. Mani Kaul “Following,” dir. Christopher Nolan “The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick,” dir. Wim Wenders “The Living End,” dir. Gregg Araki “Lucía,” dir. Humberto Solás “My Brother’s Wedding,” dir. Charles Burnett “Peppermint Candy,” dir. Lee Chang-dong “Playing Away,” dir. Horace Ové “Les Rendez-vous d’Anna,” dir. Chantal Akerman “Sleepwalk,” dir. Sara Driver “Twenty Years Later,” dir. Eduardo Coutinho The New Directors/New Films selection committee is made up of members from both presenting organizations. The 2021 feature committee comprises Florence Almozini (Co-Chair, FLC), La Frances Hui (Co-Chair, MoMA), Rajendra Roy (MoMA), Josh Siegel (MoMA), Dan Sullivan (FLC), and Tyler Wilson (FLC), and the shorts were programmed by Brittany Shaw (MoMA) and Madeline Whittle (FLC). Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
