Film at Lincoln Center announces the North American premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt as Opening Night of the 63rd New York Film Festival, presented in partnership with Rolex, at Alice Tully Hall on Friday, September 26, with Guadagnino and members of the cast in attendance.
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, the 63rd New York Film Festival (NYFF63) will take place from September 26 through October 13. Secure tickets with a Pass, limited quantities on sale now. Single tickets for the general public go on sale September 18 at noon ET, with pre-sale access for FLC Members and Pass holders prior to this date.
In his razor-sharp new drama, the prolific Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, NYFF55; Queer, NYFF62) plunges with refreshing abandon into the murky seas of contemporary morality—and gives Julia Roberts one of the most complex and gratifying starring roles of her career. Roberts embodies chilly, seemingly self-assured Yale philosophy professor Alma Olsson, whose comfortable professional career and domestic life with her mercurial husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg) are thrown into chaos after her PhD candidate protégée Maggie (Ayo Edebiri) accuses Alma’s longtime colleague and friend Henrik (Andrew Garfield) of sexual assault.
As a result, the air of rarefied academic privilege on campus begins to dissolve, and Alma must navigate minefields of gender, sexuality, race, and institutional power, all while trying to reconcile her own difficult choices with the demons of her past. From a trenchant, tightly plotted script by Nora Garrett, and with the aid of a sensational cast (also including Chloë Sevigny as Kim, a colleague of Alma’s), Guadagnino teases out a genuine provocation with no easy answers, inquiring where our true selves lie when every decision we make is thrown into the court of public opinion. An Amazon MGM Studios release.
“I have always found the New York Film Festival to be an arbiter of global cinema. For over 60 years it has been a festival that makes audiences open their minds and hearts to the most daring and compelling global cinema from both established and emerging filmmakers,” said Luca Guadagnino. “To be invited to open the 63rd edition is a tremendous responsibility and honor. I, alongside the incredible cast and crew and our companions at Amazon MGM Studios who made After the Hunt possible, am elated and thrilled to bring to New York our tale of morality and power. My most heartfelt thanks to Dennis Lim and the singular NYFF team.”
“We are excited to open this year’s festival with Luca Guadagnino’s latest, which confirms his status as one of the most versatile risk-takers working today,” said Dennis Lim, Artistic Director, New York Film Festival. “Brilliantly acted and crafted, After the Hunt is something rare in contemporary cinema: a complex, grown-up movie with a lot on its mind that also happens to be a deeply satisfying piece of entertainment.”
Luca Guadagnino is a director, screenwriter, and producer of such acclaimed and eclectic films as I Am Love (a New Directors/New Films 2010 selection); A Bigger Splash (2015); Academy Award winner Call Me by Your Name (NYFF55); Bones and All (NYFF60), winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival; Challengers, the 2023 global hit that captured the zeitgeist; and Queer (NYFF62 Spotlight Gala). He directed the documentaries Bertolucci on Bertolucci (2013) and Salvatore: The Shoemaker of Dreams (2022) as well as the episodic television series We Are Who We Are (2020).
In working with actors, Guadagnino has put together a repertory of sorts—After the Hunt reunites him with Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name, Bones and All) and Chloë Sevigny (We Are Who We Are, Bones and All).
The NYFF Main Slate selection committee is chaired by Dennis Lim, NYFF Artistic Director, and includes Florence Almozini, Justin Chang, K. Austin Collins, and Rachel Rosen.
NYFF63 is generously supported by Festival Co-Chairs Imelda and Peter Sobiloff and Nanna and Dan Stern; Vice-Chairs Susannah Gray and John Lyons; and Supporters Hillary Koota Krevlin and Glenn Krevlin.
The New York Film Festival is an annual celebration of the most significant films from around the world. Since its inception in 1963, NYFF has played a pivotal role in shaping film culture, presenting a curated selection of bold and remarkable works by acclaimed directors alongside emerging talents.
Secure your tickets for Opening Night and more with Passes, limited quantities on sale now. NYFF63 single tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, September 18 at noon ET, with pre-sale access for FLC Members and Pass holders prior to this date. Become an FLC Member by August 29 to secure NYFF63 pre-sale access and discounted tickets year-round. NYFF63 Press and Industry accreditation is now open through August 18.
Sign up for forthcoming NYFF announcements, including Main Slate, Spotlight, Currents, Revivals, and Talks.
New York Film Festival Opening Night Films
2025 After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino, U.S.)
2024 Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross, U.S.)
2023 May December (Todd Haynes, U.S.)
2022 White Noise (Noah Baumbach, U.S.)
2021 The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen, U.S.)
2020 Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen, U.K.)
2019 The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, U.S.)
2018 The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland/U.K./U.S.)
2017 Last Flag Flying (Richard Linklater, U.S.)
2016 13TH (Ava DuVernay, U.S.)
2015 The Walk (Robert Zemeckis, U.S.)
2014 Gone Girl (David Fincher, U.S.)
2013 Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass, U.S.)
2012 Life of Pi (Ang Lee, U.S.)
2011 Carnage (Roman Polanski, France/Poland)
2010 The Social Network (David Fincher, U.S.)
2009 Wild Grass (Alain Resnais, France)
2008 The Class (Laurent Cantet, France)
2007 The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson, U.S.)
2006 The Queen (Stephen Frears, U.K.)
2005 Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, U.S.)
2004 Look at Me (Agnès Jaoui, France)
2003 Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, U.S.)
2002 About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, U.S.)
2001 Va savoir (Jacques Rivette, France)
2000 Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, Denmark)
1999 All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
1998 Celebrity (Woody Allen, U.S.)
1997 The Ice Storm (Ang Lee, U.S.)
1996 Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, U.K.)
1995 Shanghai Triad (Zhang Yimou, China)
1994 Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, U.S.)
1993 Short Cuts (Robert Altman, U.S.)
1992 Olivier Olivier (Agnieszka Holland, France)
1991 The Double Life of Véronique (Krzysztof Kieślowski, Poland/France)
1990 Miller’s Crossing (Joel Coen, U.S.)
1989 Too Beautiful for You (Bertrand Blier, France)
1988 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
1987 Dark Eyes (Nikita Mikhalkov, Soviet Union)
1986 Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, U.S.)
1985 Ran (Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
1984 Country (Richard Pearce, U.S.)
1983 The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan, U.S.)
1982 Veronika Voss (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany)
1981 Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, U.K.)
1980 Melvin and Howard (Jonathan Demme, U.S.)
1979 Luna (Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy/U.S.)
1978 A Wedding (Robert Altman, U.S.)
1977 One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (Agnès Varda, France)
1976 Small Change (François Truffaut, France)
1975 Conversation Piece (Luchino Visconti, Italy)
1974 Don’t Cry with Your Mouth Full (Pascal Thomas, France)
1973 Day for Night (François Truffaut, France)
1972 Chloe in the Afternoon (Eric Rohmer, France)
1971 The Debut (Gleb Panfilov, Soviet Union)
1970 The Wild Child (François Truffaut, France)
1969 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (Paul Mazursky, U.S.)
1968 Capricious Summer (Jiří Menzel, Czechoslovakia)
1967 The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, Italy/Algeria)
1966 Loves of a Blonde (Miloš Forman, Czechoslovakia)
1965 Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, France)
1964 Hamlet (Grigori Kozintsev, Soviet Union)
1963 The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, Mexico)
ABOUT ROLEX AND CINEMA
Rolex celebrates human achievement, recognizing the journey marked by milestones and emotions that culminate in defining moments.
Forming an integral part of this philosophy is the Swiss watchmaker’s long-standing relationship with cinema through the Perpetual Arts Initiative, a broad portfolio of arts that also extends through architecture, dance, literature, music, theatre and visual arts. The company has had close ties with the film industry for decades, its watches playing a role in numerous films, including Oscar®-winning masterpieces. Since 2017, Rolex has championed cinematic achievement through its partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving as Proud Sponsor of the Oscars®, hosting the event’s Greenroom, as well as supporting the Governors Awards, known for recognizing lifetime achievement and humanitarian efforts in the film industry. The company also promotes achievement through its cinema Testimonees such as James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese and Jia Zhang-Ke and assists in the preservation of film history for future generations as a Founding Supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles and a partner of The Film Foundation and The National Film and Television School.
For more information, please visit Rolex and Cinema.
FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER
Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) is a nonprofit organization that celebrates cinema as an essential art form and fosters a vibrant home for film culture to thrive. FLC presents premier film festivals, retrospectives, new releases, and restorations year-round in state-of-the-art theaters at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. FLC offers audiences the opportunity to discover works from established and emerging directors from around the world with a passionate community of film lovers at marquee events including the New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Films.
Founded in 1969, FLC is committed to preserving the excitement of the theatrical experience for all audiences, advancing high-quality film journalism through the publication of Film Comment, cultivating the next generation of film industry professionals through our FLC Academies, and enriching the lives of all who engage with our programs.
Rolex is the Official Partner and Exclusive Timepiece of Film at Lincoln Center.
Support for the New York Film Festival is also generously provided by Official Partner The New York Times; Supporting Partner Netflix; Contributing Partners Dolby, New York Film Academy, the School of Visual Arts BFA Film, IMDbPro, Epson America, Inc., Manhattan Portage, and Thompson Central Park New York; Media Partners Variety, Deadline, WABC-TV, The Hollywood Reporter, The WNET Group, and The Envelope by the Los Angeles Times. Additional support is provided in part by the NYC’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Film at Lincoln Center. For more information, visit filmlinc.org and follow @TheNYFF on X, Instagram, and Bluesky.