New York Film Festival (NYFF)

Overview

The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a non-competitive, curated festival presented by Film at Lincoln Center. The 64th edition runs September 25 to October 12, 2026, with screenings at Alice Tully Hall and additional venues on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The festival programs approximately 30 features in its Main Slate and accepts short film submissions of 40 minutes or less via FilmFreeway at a $60 entry fee.

Unlike Sundance or SXSW, NYFF is not a marketplace or a discovery festival. The selection committee, chaired by Dennis Lim and including Florence Almozini, Justin Chang, and Rachel Rosen, actively curates films from Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, and Toronto. For 2026, the Opening Night selection is James Gray's Paper Tiger (Neon, North American premiere), and the Closing Night is the world premiere of Ava DuVernay's 14th (Netflix).

For filmmakers, NYFF selection places a film in front of the most concentrated block of New York film critics and cultural commentators in North America. Reviews from NYFF screenings directly shape awards season discourse and year-end best-of lists. There is no market component: no industry badges, no market screenings, no co-production platform. Distributors use NYFF as a prestige launchpad, not a deal-making venue.

Key Sections

• Main Slate - the core program of approximately 25 to 30 features, selected by the programming committee from international festival circuit titles and direct submissions
• Currents - a sidebar for formally adventurous work in short, medium, and feature-length formats; short films submitted via FilmFreeway are considered primarily for this section
• Spotlight - special screenings and events outside the main program, including the New York Shorts program
• Revivals - restored classics presented in partnership with preservation organizations
• Talks and Events - filmmaker conversations, panels, and retrospectives

Submission Details

NYFF accepts only short films (40 minutes or less) through open submission via FilmFreeway. Feature films are not accepted through open submission; the selection committee curates features through relationships with sales agents, distributors, producers, and festival circuit scouting.

Eligibility Rules

• Films must not have screened publicly in the greater New York area or at any festival operating within New York state
• Films that have shown theatrically in New York, broadcast on television, or are available on home entertainment formats (Blu-ray, DVD, TVOD, VOD) are ineligible
• Films publicly exhibited before the 2025 NYFF edition (September 26, 2025) are ineligible
• Non-English films must be subtitled in English
• The applicant is responsible for copyright clearance of all material in the film

What Filmmakers Should Know

NYFF does not operate as a market. There are no industry badges, market screenings, or co-production platforms. The festival exists as a curatorial showcase. Distributors and sales agents use NYFF to position films for awards season, not to close deals.

For short filmmakers, the FilmFreeway submission is the only open entry point. Submitted shorts are considered primarily for the Currents section, though selected titles may also screen in the Spotlight section's New York Shorts program. The $60 entry fee funds seasonal screeners and festival operations including artist support.

The selection committee also considers recommendations from alumni and industry colleagues, plus work that has premiered at international festivals and galleries since the previous NYFF edition. This means a short film that has already played at another festival remains eligible as long as it has not screened in New York.

Major Awards

NYFF does not present competitive awards. The festival's influence operates through curatorial selection and critical reception. The Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night slots receive the highest-profile attention. For 2026, those slots are:

• Opening Night: Paper Tiger (dir. James Gray) - North American premiere, September 25 at Alice Tully Hall
• Closing Night: 14th (dir. Ava DuVernay) - World premiere, October 9 at Alice Tully Hall

Past Opening Night films include Nickel Boys (2024, dir. RaMell Ross), May December (2023, dir. Todd Haynes), White Noise (2022, dir. Noah Baumbach), and The Irishman (2019, dir. Martin Scorsese).

Festival History

NYFF was founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel as part of Lincoln Center's performing arts programming. The festival was conceived as a curated alternative to the larger, commercially oriented festivals. This curatorial identity has remained its defining characteristic for over 60 years.

The festival has given US premieres to landmark films by Jean-Luc Godard, Agnes Varda, Martin Scorsese, Steve McQueen, and many others. The 1965 festival screened Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad. The 1994 festival opened with Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The 2019 festival opened with Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.

NYFF is presented in partnership with Rolex. The festival's selection committee operates year-round, attending international festivals and screening submissions to build each year's program.

Past Selections (Opening Night, Centerpiece, Closing Night)

NYFF is non-competitive with no prizes. Recent slot selections and where the films landed:

• 2025 Opening Night: *After the Hunt*, dir. Luca Guadagnino. Sony Pictures released. A thriller starring Julia Roberts about a college professor confronting her past.

• 2024 Opening Night: *Nickel Boys*, dir. RaMell Ross. Amazon MGM Studios released. Adapted from Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Nominated for 2 Oscars including Best Adapted Screenplay.

• 2023 Opening Night: *May December*, dir. Todd Haynes. Netflix released. Nominated for 1 Oscar (Best Original Screenplay) with 3 Golden Globe nominations.

• 2022 Opening Night: *White Noise*, dir. Noah Baumbach. Netflix released. Adapted from Don DeLillo's novel. Opened NYFF60.

Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up

NYFF has showcased many Best Picture winners and major awards contenders. Selected screenings and their distribution outcomes:

• Parasite (2019, NYFF57 Main Slate) - Neon released. Won 4 Oscars including Best Picture (the first non-English-language film to do so), Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Grossed $263.4 million worldwide.
• Poor Things (2023, NYFF61 Main Slate) - Searchlight Pictures released. Won 4 Oscars including Best Actress (Emma Stone) with 11 nominations. Grossed $117.6 million worldwide.
• The Zone of Interest (2023, NYFF61 Main Slate) - A24 released. Won 2 Oscars (Best International Feature, Best Sound) with 5 nominations including Best Picture. Grossed $52.8 million worldwide.
• Moonlight (2016, NYFF54 Main Slate) - A24 released. Won 3 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali). Grossed $65 million worldwide.
• Lady Bird (2017, NYFF55 Main Slate) - A24 released. 5 Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Grossed $79 million worldwide.
• The Irishman (2019, NYFF57 Opening Night) - Netflix released. 10 Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director (Martin Scorsese).

Submission Tips Specific to NYFF

1. NYFF is largely invitation-based with limited open submissions. Only short films (40 minutes or less) are accepted via FilmFreeway submission. Feature-length programming is curated by programmers through recommendations from alumni, industry colleagues, and work premiered at international festivals. Do not expect to submit a feature film directly.
2. Target the Currents section for experimental and formally daring work. Short film submissions are considered primarily for NYFF's Currents section, which complements the Main Slate with adventurous new voices and inventive forms. Currents features formally daring work pushing the boundaries of narrative, documentary, and experimental modes.
3. NYFF prioritizes auteur cinema and curatorial vision over competition. The festival is non-competitive with no prizes. Programming is guided by the question of which films would be put forth to make the case for cinema as a vital art form. Focus on distinctive directorial voice and artistic merit rather than commercial appeal.
4. Main Slate versus Currents versus Revivals. Main Slate (25 to 30 features) reflects the state of cinema with major international arthouse films from the festival circuit, new discoveries, and studio releases targeting awards season. Currents emphasizes innovation and boundary-pushing forms. Revivals celebrates restored and preserved works expanding the traditional canon.
5. New York premieres are required. Films must be New York City premieres with no prior public screenings or exhibitions in New York state. Films cannot have received theatrical or home-video distribution prior to the festival. Only World Premieres may be considered for Opening and Closing Night slots.

Industry Reputation Notes

• Prestige critics' festival, not a market. NYFF is described as neither a hectic marketplace nor a pre-Oscar buzz factory like Cannes or Toronto, nor a film industry frat party like Sundance. It maintains a reputation as a curated, serious festival focused on quality over quantity, with no official market and no aggressive competition for world premieres.
• Key awards-season prestige positioning. NYFF has become a significant awards-season staging post as awards chatter ramps up. In 2024, 10 NYFF selections earned 40 Oscar nominations including Best Picture winner Anora. The festival provides a launch for awards hopefuls without being an Oscar handicapper, as programmers do not select based on awards potential.
• "Best of the best" curatorial brand compared to Telluride, Venice, and Toronto. Unlike Toronto (300-plus films) or Venice and Telluride with their competitive premiere jockeying, NYFF presents a carefully curated selection of 25 to 30 Main Slate features. It has largely stayed out of the competitive premiere game, utilizing its curatorial identity to fuel a "best of the best" brand as the last major fall festival.
• Hometown advantage with distributor presence. NYFF benefits from being in New York, the capital of film culture in the US, where major distributors like A24 and Mubi have offices. This creates prime networking opportunities and industry access, and the festival functions as a local festival with galas featuring New York filmmakers or films set in the city.

See Also

For festival submission strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. For understanding art house distribution deals, see Distribution Deals Explained. To calculate the return on investment of festival submissions, use the Festival ROI Calculator.