New Directors/New Films 2017: ‘Patti Cake$,’ ‘Beach Rats,’ ‘Person to Person’ Lead Slate
New Directors/New Films, the annual New York festival of work by emerging filmmakers presented by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, has set a 2017 lineup of 29 features and nine shorts that includes Geremy Jasper’s “Patti Cake$,” Eliza Hittman’s “Beach Rats” and Dustin Guy Defa’s “Person to Person” in prominent slots.
All three films premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. “Patti Cake$,” about a Jersey girl’s quest to become a rapper, will open the festival, while ensemble comedy “Person to Person” — with a cast that includes Abbi Jacobson and Michael Cera — will close it. Brooklyn-set sexual-awakening tale “Beach Rats” screens as the centerpiece.
“Patti Cakes$” turned heads at Sundance when it emerged from the festival with a $9.5 million distribution deal with Fox Searchlight, while new indie label Neon nabbed “Beach Rats.”
Also on the ND/NF lineup are international features including Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s “Sexy Durga,” Ala Eddine Slim’s “The Last of Us” and Dalei Zhang’s “The Summer is Gone,” among others.
The 2017 New Directors/New Films festival runs March 15-26. The full list of features on the slate follows.
New Directors/New Films 2017
Patti Cake$, Geremy Jasper, USA
Beach Rats, Eliza Hittman, USA
Person to Person, Dustin Guy Defa, USA
4 Days in France / Jours de France, Jérôme Reybaud, France,
Albüm, Mehmet Can Mertoglu, Turkey/France/Romania,
Arábia, João Dumans & Affonso Uchoa, Brazil
Autumn, Autumn / Chuncheon, chuncheon, Jang Woo-jin, South Korea
Boundaries / Pays, Chloé Robichaud, Canada, 2016
By the Time It Gets Dark / Dao Khanong, Anocha Suwichakornpong, France/Netherlands/Qatar/Thailand
The Challenge, Yuri Ancarani, Italy/France/Switzerland
Diamond Island, Davy Chou, Cambodia/France/Germany/Qatar/Thailand
The Dreamed Path / Der traumhafte weg, Angela Schanelec, Germany
The Future Perfect / El Futuro perfecto, Nele Wohlatz, Argentina
Three Sentences About Argentina / Tres oraciones sobre la Argentina
The Giant / Jätten, Johannes Nyholm, Sweden/Denmark
Happiness Academy / Bonheur Academie, Kaori Kinoshita & Alain Della Negra, France,
Happy Times Will Come Soon / I Tempi felici verranno presto, Alessandro Comodin, Italy/France
Lady Macbeth, William Oldroyd, UK
The Last Family / Ostatnia rodzina, Jan P. Matuszynski, Poland
The Last of Us / Akher Wahed Fina, Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia/Qatar/UAE/Lebanon
Menashe, Joshua Z. Weinstein, USA
My Happy Family / Chemi bednieri ojakhi, Nana Ekvtimishvili & Simon Gross, Georgia/France, 2017
Pendular, Julia Murat, Brazil/Argentina/France
Quest Jonathan Olshefski, USA
Sexy Durga, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, India
Strong Island, Yance Ford, USA/Denmark
The Summer Is Gone / Ba yue, Dalei Zhang, China
White Sun / Seto Surya, Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal/USA/Qatar/Netherlands
The Wound, John Trengove, South Africa/Germany/Netherlands/France
Wùlu, Daouda Coulibaly, France/Mali/Senegal
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