The 47th New York Film Festival (NYFF 09) Begins Tonight

NEW YORK - Tonight is the opening for the 47th New York Film Festival. I have been invited to cover it, but due to the recession (and as this site is self-financed), I will not be able to attend its full schedule; however, fear not... I will begin covering it from the Big Apple a week from today. The coverage will take much the same form as it did last year, with a series of dispatches to cover the day-to-day stuff, and full length reviews for whatever press screenings I attend. Tonight's opening film is by the French New Wave master Alain Resnais (Hiroshima, mon amour) who is previewing Les herbes folles (Wild Grass) before its American release in 2010. At age 87, Resnais is already receiving kudos for this film that is being touted by some as a masterpiece. The light-hearted film concerns the ripple effect created by a simple purse-snatching. It stars Sabine Azéma (Un dimanche à la campagne), André Dussollier (Un coeur en hiver), and Mathieu Amalric (Quantum of Solace). The premiere is scheduled for 9 p.m. at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, with red carpet arrivals beginning at 8 p.m. In addition to Resnais, Dussollier, and Amalric, celebrity attendees include actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sidney Lumet, Julianna Margulies, Mira Nair, Parker Posey and Julie Taymor among others. Though tickets are sold out, rush tickets will be made available before the show, and a second screening has just been added earlier at 6 p.m Also, the first part of this year's Masterworks ­repertory collections, highlighting the history of global cinema, are programs of films from China. (Re)Inventing China: A New Cinema for a New Society, 1949-1966, is a twenty-film anthology of works from the crucial early years of the People's Republic of China. This mini-festival runs from September 26 - October 6. Here's a schedule for this weekend: EVENT TITLES NYFF – Festival main slate film CHN – NYFF MASTERWORKS: (Re)Inventing China SE – Festival special event SCREENING LOCATIONS ATH – Alice Tully Hall, Broadway and 65th Street WRT – Walter Reade Theater, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, upper level KP – Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, 10th Floor Friday, Sept. 25 6:00 OPENING NIGHT: Wild Grass, 113m (NYFF/ATH) 8:00 OPENING NIGHT: Wild Grass (NYFF/ATH) Saturday, Sept. 26 11:00am The Wizard of Oz, 103m (SE/ATH) 2:00 Bridge/Qiao, 100m (CHN/WRT) 2:15 Sweetgrass, 105m (NYFF/ATH) 4:00 Platton Commander Guan, 120m (CHN/WRT) 5:30 Eccentricities of a Blond, 64m, with Get Your Ya-Yas Out!, 27m (NYFF/ATH) 6:20 Two Stage Sisters, 112m (CHN/WRT) 8:30 Vincere, 129m (NYFF/ATH) 8:45 Visitors on the Icy Mountain, 100m (CHN/WRT) Sunday, Sept. 27 11:00am PANEL: Approaching the Wizard: Flying Monkeys, Ruby Slippers and Yellow Brick Roads in American Cinema and Culture (SE/WRT) 11:30am Kanikosen, 109m (NYFF/ATH) 2:00 HBO FILMS DIRECTOR'S DIALOGUES: Marco Bellocchio (SE/KP) 2:00 This Life of Mine, 110m (CHN/WRT) 2:15 Ghost Town, 169m (NYFF/ATH) 4:20 Before New Director Arrives, 70m (CHN/WRT) 6:00 The Red Detachment of Women, 115m (CHN/WRT) 8:30 Li Shuang Shuang, 110m (CHN/WRT) Wild Grass is playing at the 47th New York Film Festival, at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. tonight, at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway (at 65th Street), New York, NY 10023. For more ticket information go online here, or call (212) 875-5050 Photo Credit: Film Society of Lincoln Center/Sony Pictures Classics