This fall movie season looks decent enough for me, but there seems to be something missing, a lot of these can turn out to be disappointments if the advanced buzz is any indication. The only film with actually no-holds-barred buzz seems to be Alfonso Cuaron and Netflix' "ROMA," which was supposed to be at Cannes but you, well, you know the rest of the story... Shot in black and white, the film chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s as civil unrest looms.
“ROMA” was supposed to debut at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in competition, but was pulled after the, now famous, Cannes vs Netflix dispute occured. This was an obvious open slot for fall festivals to pounce on and, given the incredible buzz surrounding the movie, it's a no-brainer that the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced “ROMA” will be the centerpiece NYFF screening at Alice Tully Hall on Friday, October 5, 2018.
In a statement Cuaron spoke about the honor of having his latest chosen for NYFF:
“I am honored ‘ROMA’ has been selected for the Centerpiece slot at this year’s New York Film Festival. NYFF has a longstanding history of celebrating meaningful and compelling filmmaking and it felt right to return to the festival with ‘ROMA’ —an incredibly personal, illuminating, and transformative project for me.”
The festival also expanded on the little-known plot:
“Set in Mexico City in the early ’70s, we are placed within the physical and emotional terrain of a middle-class family whose center is quietly and unassumingly held by its beloved live-in nanny and housekeeper (Yalitza Aparicio). The cast is uniformly magnificent, but the real star of ‘ROMA’ is the world itself, fully present and vibrantly alive, from sudden life-changing events to the slightest shifts in mood and atmosphere. Cuarón tells us an epic story of everyday life while also gently sweeping us into a vast cinematic experience, in which time and space breathe and majestically unfold. Shot in breathtaking black and white and featuring a sound design that represents something new in the medium, ‘ROMA’ is a truly visionary work.”
The NYFF premiere of "ROMA" will not be its world premiere. The NYFF premiere is being qualified as a “New York Premiere.” Look for either Telluride or the Venice Film Festival to have the much-sought world premiere of Cuaron's latest epic.
The 2018 New York Film Festival will occur September 28th to October 14th.