Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ set for North American debut at New York Film Festival

Christopher Rosen
·3 min read
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Sofia Coppola is heading back to the New York Film Festival.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker’s latest project, “Priscilla,” was announced as the 2023 New York Film Festival’s centerpiece selection on Thursday. The film, about Priscilla Presley’s romance with Elvis Presley, will premiere at the New York Film Festival on October 6.

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“I am honored to be back at the New York Film Festival with my new film and to be telling Priscilla Presley’s story, the unseen side of a great American myth,” Coppola said in a statement.

“‘Priscilla’ is a culminating triumph for Sofia Coppola, a filmmaker with a singular gift for illuminating the interior lives of her characters,” said New York Film Festival artistic director Dennis Lim in his own statement. “It’s a showcase for a pair of star-making performances and a work of tremendous empathy and emotional nuance. We are looking forward to welcoming Sofia back to the festival with one of her very best films.”

Coppola previously screened “Marie Antoinette” and “On the Rocks” at the prestigious New York fest. She won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for her debut film, “Lost in Translation.”

“Priscilla” stars Cailee Spaeney as the title character with “Euphoria” star Jacob Elordi playing Elvis. Here’s a bit about the film, provided by the New York Film Festival:

“Never has there been a more obsessed-over American pop icon than Elvis Presley, yet no one knew him more tenderly during his superstar years than Priscilla Ann Wagner, whose own story as Elvis’s romantic partner and only wife has rarely been told from her perspective. Director Sofia Coppola, who in her remarkable filmography has so often returned to intimate portraits of women living complicated lives behind closed doors, has found a subject exquisitely tailored to her interests. As portrayed with extraordinary poise and strength by Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla finally becomes the center of her narrative. Coppola follows her love affair with Elvis (an equally revelatory, larger-than-life Jacob Elordi), from her early years as a teenage army brat stationed in West Germany to her surreal arrival at Graceland, which becomes both her home and prison. With her customarily precise attention to texture and detail, Coppola has created one of her most stirring, vivid films, a tribute to a woman who was living in the public eye before she had truly experienced the world. Featuring evocative, moody cinematography by Philippe Le Sourd and original music by Phoenix.”

A24 will release “Priscilla” this fall.

This is usually the time when fall festivals ramp up with selection announcements and full lineups. But the dual Hollywood strikes among the actors and writers – and the fact that actors are not able to promote their projects while on the picket lines – has thrown festival season into a bit of disarray. So it’s unclear how the final lineups at the Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival will eventually look. However, with news that “Priscilla” is set for its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival, a debut for the Coppola feature in Venice is all but certain.

“Priscilla” joins “May December” on the New York Film Festival docket. The Todd Haynes film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The New York Film Festival runs from September 29 to October 15.

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