Alumni Show Off Features and Adaptations at 2024 New York Film Festival

Numerous Columbia alums are having their work screened at the 62nd New York Film Festival (NYFF62).

The high profile festival, held annually at Lincoln Center and arthouse theaters spanning all five boroughs, plays host to major films and filmmakers from across the globe for a series of screenings, premieres, and events.

Honored as the Centerpiece selection for NYFF62 and featured in its Main Slate is The Room Next Door, helmed by Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar and based on the novel What Are You Going Through, by Writing alum and former School of the Arts Professor Sigrid Nunez ’75.  The film, which was also awarded the Golden Lion at Venice in September, stars Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton as longtime friends whose relationship is tested. The acclaimed film also has the distinction of being one of two NYFF62 entries adapted from Nunez’s work. 

Also based on a Nunez novel is The Friend from writer-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel, screening in the festival’s Spotlight program. The film also features Acting alum Grayson Powell ’17 across from stars Bill Murray and Naomi Watts. An adaptation of Nunez’s National Book Award-winner of the same name, the story follows a woman mourning her friend’s death while caring for the Great Dane he bequeathed to her.

Another film featured in the Main Slate is April, directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili '18 and produced by Ilan Amouyal '17. The buzzy drama, which also won the Jury Prize at Venice, follows an OB-GYN facing increasing scrutiny from her rural community.

Also screening in the Spotlight category is A Real Pain, executive produced by Film alum Jennifer Westin ’06, and written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. The film stars Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin as cousins on a comic drama pilgrimage to Poland in the wake of their Grandmother’s passing.

The films join an impressive slate of fellow selections screening at one of cinema’s premiere events. “The festival’s ambition is to reflect the state of cinema in a given year, which often means also reflecting the state of the world,” said Adjunct Professor of Film and Media Studies Dennis Lim, the festival’s Artistic Director.

The festival runs from September 27 through October 14, 2024. Tickets are available here.