At the tail end of the year’s film festival season, New York’s own kicked off with a few mafiosos. That is, of the fictional kind.
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) launched its 64th edition on Sept. 25 with the North American premiere of Paper Tiger. James Gray’s latest drew a starry call sheet of attendees to Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall for the tale of two brothers set upon by the Russian mafia. Rolex, a longtime patron of the annual festival, likewise opened the doors to its NYFF Filmmaker Lounge in the East Room of Lincoln Ristorante.
The Location: Lincoln Center’s iconic address set the scene for the night, with a showing of Paper Tiger in the warm, wooden theater of Alice Tully Hall. But, before the lights went down, guests toasted to the festival’s opening in Rolex’s plush NYFF Filmmaker Lounge, open through Oct. 9. Overlooking Lincoln Center, the lounge invites filmmakers and festival VIPs alike to kick back while immersing themselves in the work of the festival’s staples and standouts—including Martin Scorsese, Jia Zhangke, and Ava DuVernay. (Rolex is also set to present the NYFF screenings of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1950 Technicolor masterpiece Gone to Earth, restored in 4K by Disney and the Film Foundation under supervision of Scorsese and his longtime collaborator, editor Thelma Schoonmaker.)
The Entertainment: Starring Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller, and Adam Driver, the Queens-set Paper Tiger follows two brothers caught in the city’s underbelly after a scheme with Russian mobsters goes awry. Shot on 35mm, the project made its victory lap in New York after a warm reception at Cannes earlier this year.
The Guest List: All of Paper Tiger’s leading cast and crew were in attendance, including Gray, Johansson, Teller, and Driver, as well as a crowd of filmmakers and supporters, including directors Ari Aster, Mike Leigh, Andre Gregory, Julia Loktev, and Paul Schrader; President of Film at Lincoln Center Daniel Battsek; NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim; Sundance Film Festival director Eugene Hernandez; British Film Institute CEO Ben Roberts; actor Marion Bailey; and comedian Colin Jost.
Memorable Moment: A post-screening Q&A, moderated by Lim, featured Johansson, Teller, Driver, and Gray. The next day, Gray continued the conversation after a reprisal screening with filmmaker and musician Jim Jarmusch.
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