Film at Lincoln Center has announced the North American premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt” as the Opening Night film of the 63rd New York Film Festival, presented in partnership with Rolex, at Alice Tully Hall on Friday, September 26th, with Guadagnino and members of the cast in attendance.
Get tickets for After the Hunt and more with an NYFF63 Opening Night Plus or Premier Pass!
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, the 63rd New York Film Festival (NYFF63) will take place from September 26th through October 13th. Secure tickets with a Pass, limited quantities on sale now. Single tickets for the general public go on sale September 18th 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 18th at noon ET, with pre-sale access for FLC Members and Pass holders prior to this date. Become an FLC Member by August 29th to secure NYFF63 pre-sale access and discounted tickets year-round. NYFF63 Press and Industry accreditation is now open through August 18th.
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New York Film Festival Opening Night Films
2025: After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino, US)
2024: Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross, US)
2023: May December (Todd Haynes, US)
2022: White Noise (Noah Baumbach, US)
2021: The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen, US)
2020: Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen, UK)
2019: The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, US)
2018: The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland/UK/US)
2017: Last Flag Flying (Richard Linklater, US)
2016: 13th (Ava DuVernay, US)
2015: The Walk (Robert Zemeckis, US)
2014: Gone Girl (David Fincher, US)
2013: Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass, US)
2012: Life of Pi (Ang Lee, US)
2011: Carnage (Roman Polanski, France/Poland)
2010: The Social Network (David Fincher, US)
2009: Wild Grass (Alain Resnais, France)
2008: The Class (Laurent Cantet, France)
2007: The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson, US)
2006: The Queen (Stephen Frears, UK)
2005: Good Night, And Good Luck (George Clooney, US)
2004: Look at Me (Agnès Jaoui, France)
2003: Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, US)
2002: About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, US)
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, US)
1997: The Ice Storm (Ang Lee, US)
1996: Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, UK)
1995: Shanghai Triad (Zhang Yimou, China)
1994: Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, US)
1993: Short Cuts (Robert Altman, US)
1992: Olivier Olivier (Agnieszka Holland, France)
1991: The Double Life of Véronique (Krzysztof Kieślowski, Poland/France)
1990: Miller’s Crossing (Joel Coen, US)
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, US)
1985: Ran (Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
1984: Country (Richard Pearce, US)
1983: The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan, US)
1982: Veronika Voss (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany)
1981: Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, UK)
1980: Melvin and Howard (Jonathan Demme, US)
1979: Luna (Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy/US)
1978: A Wedding (Robert Altman, US)
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, US)
1968: Capricious Summer (Jiri Menzel, Czechoslovakia)
1967: The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, Italy/Algeria)
1966: Loves of a Blonde (Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia)
1965: Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, France)
1964: Hamlet (Grigori Kozintsev, Soviet Union)
1963: The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, Mexico)
What do you think of this news? Are you excited to see “After The Hunt?” Given that they mention this is the North American Premiere, that means the film will NOT be going to TIFF or Telluride between here and its world premiere at Venice. What do you think? What else do you think will be announced for NYFF63? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.
