George Clooney's 'The Descendants' to Close New York Film Festival

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced that Alexander Payne's The Descendants, starring George Clooney, will be the Closing Night film at the 49th New York Film Festival. The festival's main slate consists of 27 feature films and the return of On Cinema, previously titled The Cinema Inside Me, which will feature an in-depth conversation with Payne. This year's festival will also feature programming to complement the main slate, including Masterworks programs. "In many of the films in this year's festival, characters pass from recognition of a problem or situation to actual resistance," says Richard Peña, selection committee chair & program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. "This confrontational attitude is perhaps a sign of our increasingly polarized times." The Descendants will screen at Alice Tuly Hall on Sunday, Oct. 16 and marks Payne's third time to the NYFF. Sideways and About Schmidt were previously shown. "We are delighted to welcome back Alexander Payne to the New York Film Festival. Payne'snuanced character studies capture the moral chaos lurking just below the surface of everyday American lives," said Rose Kuo, executive director at The Film Society of Lincoln Center. The NYFF takes place Sept. 30-Oct. 16. The 49th New York Film Festival main slate: Opening Night Gala Selection CARNAGE Director: Roman Polanski Country: France/Germany/Poland Centerpiece Gala Selection MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Director: Simon Curtis Country: UK Special Gala Presentations A DANGEROUS METHOD Director: David Cronenberg Country: UK/Canada/Germany THE SKIN I LIVE IN Director: Pedro Almodóvar Country: Spain Closing Night Gala Selection THE DESCENDANTS Director: Alexander Payne Country: USA 4:44: LAST DAY ON EARTH Director: Abel Ferrara Country: USA THE ARTIST Director: Michel Hazanavicius Country: France CORPO CELESTE Director: Alice Rohrwacher Country: Italy/Switzerland/France FOOTNOTE Director: Joseph Cedar Country: Israel GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD Director: Martin Scorsese Country: USA GOODBYE FIRST LOVE Director: Mia Hansen-Løve Country: France/Germany THE KID WITH A BIKE Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Country: Belgium/France LE HAVRE Director: Aki Kaurismäki Country: Finland/France/Germany THE LONELIEST PLANET Director: Julia Loktev Country: USA/Germany MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE Director: Sean Durkin Country: USA MELANCHOLIA Director: Lars von Trier Country: Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany/Italy MISS BALA Director: Gerardo Naranjo Country: Mexico ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan Country: Turkey PINA Director: Wim Wenders Country: Germany/France/UK PLAY Director: Ruben Östlund Country: Sweden/France/Denmark POLICEMAN Director: Nadav Lapid Country: Israel/France A SEPARATION Director: Asghar Farhadi Country: Iran SHAME Director: Steve McQueen Country: UK SLEEPING SICKNESS Director: Ulrich Köhler Country: Germany/France/Netherlands THE STUDENT Director: Santiago Mitre Country: Argentina THIS IS NOT A FILM Director: Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb Country: Iran THE TURIN HORSE Director: Béla Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky Country: Hungary/France/Germany/Switzerland/USA Related Topics George Clooney