Introduction to the 2002 NYFF
...about
schmidt premiere
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the New York Film Festival has
screened its share of high-profile films. With features from directors like
Truffaut and Tarantino, the committee tends to veer towards foreign and/or
art-house features - - like Russian Ark, a film that plays in one uncut
shot. Although the selected films have enough subtitles to cause the average
moviegoer to rent every Jerry Bruckheimer production in Blockbusters, like it or
not, this is artsy-fartsy heaven. Studio honchos and stars dine inside the
elegant Tavern On the Green as part of the Opening Night festivities. But
glamour aside, this prestigious festival is an event most members of the press
salivate over, like starving canines sniffing gourmet meat. And for any film
geek, the chance to attend press conferences with directors Alexander Payne (Election),
Paul Schrader (Affliction), and PT Anderson (Magnolia), is
something that doesn’t occur on a daily basis.
Sponsored
by Grand Marnier, the 2002 NYFF opens with About Schmidt, the keenly
anticipated comedy written/directed by Alexander Payne and starring Jack
Nicholson, who received raves in Cannes. The festival closes with Pedro
Almodovar’s follow-up to his Academy Award winning All About My Mother,
which received the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture in 1999. Then,
there’s the colorfully odd centerpiece film, Punch-Drunk Love,
written/directed by PT Anderson, whose Boogie Nights was the 1997 NYFF
centerpiece. Other additions include the Bob Crane biopic, Auto Focus,
directed by the always dark and graphic Paul Schrader.
All
films are screened in either Alice Tully Hall or the Walter Reade Theatre; both
located in Lincoln Center. While ATH has a 700 seating capacity, WRT is
considerably smaller, but just as comfortable.
Movie
Navigator is proud to present our coverage of the 2002 New York Film Festival.
We have exclusive photos from the red carpet premiere of About Schmidt,
which was attended by celebrities ranging from author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. to
tabloid princess Monica Lewinsky. Also, we will be posting clips from press
conferences and impressions on as many pretentious films as time will allow us
to see. Enjoy.