The 64th New York Film Festival opens Friday, September 25, 2026, at Lincoln Center with the North American premiere of “Paper Tiger,” a 1986-set crime drama from Queens-born director James Gray. Film at Lincoln Center’s festival runs through October 12, with screenings reaching all five boroughs.
Key Takeaways
- “Paper Tiger” has its North American premiere at a gala screening in Alice Tully Hall on Friday, September 25.
- James Gray is opening his hometown festival for the first time. “Paper Tiger” is his fourth NYFF selection, after “The Immigrant” (2013), “The Lost City of Z” (2016) and “Armageddon Time” (2022).
- The 2026 Main Slate includes 34 films from 31 countries, and 17 directors are making their Main Slate debut.
- Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!” is the Centerpiece selection, and Ava DuVernay’s documentary “14th” closes the festival on October 12.
- Screenings at partner venues run October 2 through 9 at BAM, the Museum of the Moving Image, Alamo Drafthouse Staten Island and AMC Bay Plaza Cinema in the Bronx.
“Paper Tiger” Brings a 1986 Queens and Brooklyn Story to Alice Tully Hall
The opening night film of the 64th New York Film Festival is about New York itself. “Paper Tiger” is set in Queens and Brooklyn in 1986 and follows Irwin, an engineer and family man played by Miles Teller who wants the comforts of middle-class life. His brother Gary, a former NYPD officer played by Adam Driver, pulls him into a shady deal with Russian criminals who are dumping oil near the Gowanus Canal. The scheme goes wrong, and the danger spreads to Irwin’s family. Scarlett Johansson rounds out the principal cast.
The Gowanus detail will land differently with a Lincoln Center audience than it would anywhere else. For decades the canal stood for industrial neglect in Brooklyn. Today it sits at the center of one of the borough’s more closely watched rezonings and redevelopment stories. By setting a crime story on its polluted banks, “Paper Tiger” takes viewers back to a version of the city that longtime residents will remember and that newer arrivals may only know through stories.
The film premiered earlier this year at Cannes. Neon, the independent distributor, plans to release “Paper Tiger” in theaters later in 2026.
James Gray Returns to the New York Film Festival as Opening Night Filmmaker
James Gray has a long history with the New York Film Festival. “The Immigrant” screened in the Main Slate in 2013, “The Lost City of Z” closed the festival in 2016, and “Armageddon Time,” his semi-autobiographical drama about growing up in Queens, played the Main Slate in 2022 during the festival’s 60th anniversary year. Opening night, however, is new for him.
That makes the selection feel like an overdue homecoming. James Gray’s films have kept returning to the outer boroughs, to working families, and to the pressure between ambition and loyalty. “Paper Tiger” continues in that vein. Film at Lincoln Center artistic director Dennis Lim, who chairs the Main Slate selection committee, has described the film as both realistic in its detail and mythic in scale. That description fits a director who treats Queens and Brooklyn as the backbone of his work rather than as backdrops.
“Behemoth!” and “14th” Frame a Main Slate Heavy on World Premieres
The New York Film Festival has long operated as a “festival of festivals,” giving local audiences an early look at titles that played Cannes, Venice, Berlin or Toronto. The 2026 edition tilts toward originality, with an unusually large share of world premieres. Among them are Tony Gilroy’s Centerpiece selection “Behemoth!” and Yamazaki Takashi’s “Godzilla Minus Zero.”
The closing night selection has a notable history. Ava DuVernay’s “14th” follows up on “13th,” her documentary on mass incarceration, which opened the New York Film Festival in 2016. That same year, James Gray’s “The Lost City of Z” closed it. A decade later, the two filmmakers bookend the festival again, this time in reversed positions.
Currents and Revivals Widen the Program Beyond the Main Slate
Outside the Main Slate, the Currents section presents 15 feature films and 28 short films in six programs representing 24 countries and regions, with five features making their world premieres. The Revivals section adds 12 restored or remastered features and two programs of rare shorts. The festival remains non-competitive, so the lineup itself is the recognition.
New York Film Festival Screenings Reach All Five Boroughs
The Lincoln Center campus remains the festival’s home base, but the New York Film Festival’s partner venue program brings selected titles to BAM in Brooklyn, the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on Staten Island and AMC Bay Plaza Cinema in the Bronx. Partner venue screenings run October 2 through 9. For film fans in Co-op City or on the South Shore of Staten Island, that means premieres without a trip to the Upper West Side.
Opening Night Coincides With a Citywide Travel Advisory
Friday’s premiere comes as a nor’easter moves toward the city. New York City Emergency Management issued a Travel Advisory that starts at 2 p.m. on September 25 and runs through Sunday morning. Forecasts call for 2 to 3 inches of rain and wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph. City officials are asking residents to allow extra time and to check transit status before heading out. That advice applies to anyone traveling to Lincoln Center for opening night and the weekend screenings that follow.
FAQs
When does the 2026 New York Film Festival start and end?
The 64th New York Film Festival runs from September 25 to October 12, 2026. Screenings take place at Lincoln Center and at four partner venues across the city.
What is the opening night film at NYFF 2026?
James Gray’s “Paper Tiger” is the opening night film, with its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall. The film stars Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson.
Where is “Paper Tiger” set?
“Paper Tiger” is set in Queens and Brooklyn in 1986. Its plot centers on an illegal oil-dumping scheme near the Gowanus Canal.
Can New Yorkers see NYFF films outside Manhattan?
Yes. From October 2 to 9, selected titles screen at BAM in Brooklyn, the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on Staten Island and AMC Bay Plaza Cinema in the Bronx.
What film closes the 2026 New York Film Festival?
Ava DuVernay’s documentary “14th” closes the festival on October 12. It follows her 2016 documentary “13th,” which opened that year’s festival.
