The 55th New York Film Festival took place September 28th and will run through – October 15th, 2017 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Why Watch That was there to cover it.

The Florida Project

Set over one summer, the film follows precocious 6-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Disney World.

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Kimberly Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, Caleb Landry Jones
Written by: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
Directed by: Sean Baker
Produced by: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou
Cinematography: Alexis Zabe
Distributed by: A24
Runtime: 115 minutes

Spoor (Polish: Pokot)

The film is set in a remote mountainous region of the Kłodzko Valley in south-western Poland, where an elderly woman, Janina Duszejko, turns witness to a violent and mysterious death of several hunters. She is convinced she knows who the murderer is, but nobody believes her story

Starring: Agnieszka Mandat, Jakub Gierszal, Katarzyna Herman, Andrzej Grabowski, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc, Miroslav Krobot, Marcin Bosak, Patrycja Volny
Directed by: Agnieszka Holland
Produced by: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou
Written by: Agnieszka Holland, Olga Tokarczuk
Cinematography: Jolanta Dylewska, Rafal Paradowski
Runtime: 128 minutes

BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Early 1990s. With AIDS having already claimed countless lives for nearly ten years, Act up-Paris activists multiply actions to fight general indifference. Nathan, a newcomer to the group, has his world shaken up by Sean, a radical militant, who throws his last bits of strength into the struggle.

Starring:Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel, Antoine Reinartz
Directed by: Robin Campillo
Produced by: Hugues Charbonneau, Marie-Ange Luciani, Jacques Audiard
Written by: Robin Campillo, Philippe Mangeot
Distributed by: Memento Films
Runtime: 140 minutes

Last Flag Flying

Thirty years after serving together in the Vietnam War, Larry “Doc” Shepherd, Sal Nealon and the Rev. Richard Mueller reunite for a different type of mission: to bury Doc’s son, a young Marine killed in Iraq. Forgoing burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Doc and his old buddies take the casket on a bittersweet trip up the coast to New Hampshire. Along the way, the three men find themselves reminiscing and coming to terms with the shared memories of a war that continues to shape their lives.

Starring: Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Produced by: Ginger Sledge, John Sloss
Cinematography by: Shane F. Kelly
Distributed by: Amazon Studios, Lionsgate
Runtime: 124 minutes

THE MEYEROWITZ  STORIES

An estranged family gathers together in New York for an event celebrating the artistic work of their father.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson
Directed by: Noah Baumbach
Produced by: Eli Bush, Noah Baumbach, Scott Rudin, Lila Yacoub
Written by: Noah Baumbach
Distributed by: Netflix
Runtime: 110 minutes

Call Me by Your Name

It’s the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. He soon meets Oliver, a handsome doctoral student who’s working as an intern for Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of their surroundings, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.

Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois
Screenplay by: ames Ivory, Luca Guadagnino, Walter Fasano
Directed by: Luca Guadagnino
Produced by:Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, James Ivory, Marco Morabito, Howard Rosenman, Peter Spears, Rodrigo Teixeira
Cinematography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Distributed by: Sony Pictures
Runtime: 130 minutes