64th New York Film Festival (NYFF64): Dates, Tickets, Lineup and What to Know

The 64th New York Film Festival runs September 25 through October 12, 2026, with Alice Tully Hall at Film at Lincoln Center as its home base and partner screenings spread across all five boroughs. Presented by Film at Lincoln Center in partnership with Rolex, this year’s edition brings 34 Main Slate films from 31 countries to the city. If you only make it to one festival each fall, this is the one that sets the tone for the rest of the year.

What is New York Film Festival?

NYFF is one of the longest-running and most prestigious film festivals in the United States. Every autumn it gathers the films that matter from around the world, the ones that just played the big European festivals plus a handful of premieres the city gets to see first. It is not a market or a competition with juries handing out prizes. It is a curated program, which is exactly why cinephiles trust it.

That curation comes from a small selection committee. This year the Main Slate committee is led by Artistic Director Dennis Lim, working alongside Florence Almozini, Justin Chang, and Rachel Rosen. When a film lands in the Main Slate, it carries weight, and distributors, critics, and awards strategists all pay attention.

For a sense of how long the festival’s memory is, consider Werner Herzog. His new film ‘Bucking Fastard’ is a Spotlight selection, and the festival notes it is his first NYFF appearance since Fitzcarraldo screened here in 1982. Directors come back across decades, and audiences do too.

The festival also has a visual identity each year. The NYFF64 poster was designed by Canadian contemporary artist Marcel Dzama, who drew on Georges Méliès’s ‘A Trip to the Moon’ from 1902 and Loie Fuller’s Serpentine dance. It is a nice nod to cinema’s earliest tricks of light and motion.

What’s on this year

The headline slots are set. James Gray’s crime drama ‘Paper Tiger,’ starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller, opens NYFF64 with its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall on September 25, as Variety reported. Gray is a New York filmmaker through and through, so an opening night at Lincoln Center feels right.

The Centerpiece selection is Tony Gilroy’s ‘Behemoth!’ starring Pedro Pascal, which gets its world premiere at the festival, according to IndieWire. Centerpiece screenings tend to be among the hottest tickets of the whole run, so plan accordingly.

Beyond those two, the Main Slate is deep. Thirty-four films from 31 countries, including four world premieres, nine North American premieres, and 12 U.S. premieres, per the official site. Among the titles to circle: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘All of a Sudden,’ Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Bitter Christmas,’ and Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Artificial.’ That is a strong cross-section of working auteurs, and several of these will be the first chance anyone in the U.S. has to see them on a big screen.

The festival also programs Spotlight, Currents, Revivals, and Talks sections alongside the Main Slate. Beyond the Herzog film in Spotlight, specific titles in those sections, and the closing night film, had not been announced in the details available to us at the time of writing. Check the official program as it fills out.

One thing worth planning around: the borough screenings. NYFF64 films play at Lincoln Center theaters and at four partner venues outside Manhattan. In Brooklyn that means BAM. Queens gets Museum of the Moving Image, Staten Island gets Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and the Bronx gets AMC Bay Plaza Cinema. For anyone who would rather skip the trip uptown, this is the move. BAM in particular has long been a comfortable home for festival-grade programming, and the crowd there tends to be a little more relaxed than the opening night scene at Tully.

Tickets and how to go

Single tickets went on sale to the general public on September 15, 2026, at noon ET, with pre-sale access for Film at Lincoln Center members and pass holders ahead of that, as Variety reported. Tickets are sold through Film at Lincoln Center’s purchase site.

Pricing breaks down by section:

• Main Slate and Spotlight: $35 general, $30 for members
• Currents, Revivals, and Talks: $22 general, $17 for members
• Some talks are free, handed out first-come, first-served at the box office

The box office is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm and Sunday from noon to 6pm ET. Screenings run daily throughout the festival.

A few practical tips. The opening night, Centerpiece, and the bigger Main Slate names sell out fast, so if you missed the on-sale date, check for returns and additional screenings. Many Main Slate films play more than once, and a second screening is often easier to get into than the premiere. The free talks are a genuinely good deal; show up early at the box office and be ready to wait.

Membership pays for itself quickly if you plan to see more than a handful of films, between the discount and the early access. Pass details beyond that pre-sale window have not been announced in what we have, so check with Film at Lincoln Center directly.

Getting there is simple. Alice Tully Hall sits at 1941 Broadway, right at Lincoln Center. Take the 1 train to 66th St-Lincoln Center and you are basically at the door. The A, B, C, D, or 1 to 59th St-Columbus Circle is a short walk north. Buses include the M5, M7, M10, M11, and M104. From Brooklyn, the 1 via Times Square or the A/C to Columbus Circle are both painless, and if the film you want is playing at BAM, obviously stay local.

Give yourself buffer time. Lincoln Center screenings start promptly, and the plaza fills up on busy nights.

Frequently asked questions

Can anyone attend the New York Film Festival?

Yes. NYFF64 is open to the general public. Single tickets went on sale September 15, 2026, at noon ET, with early pre-sale access reserved for Film at Lincoln Center members and pass holders. Main Slate and Spotlight screenings are $35 for the general public and $30 for members, while Currents, Revivals, and Talks are $22 general and $17 for members. Some talks are free on a first-come, first-served basis at the box office.

When and where is Sundance 2026?

Sundance 2026 has already happened. It ran January 22 to February 1, 2026, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. It was also the last Sundance held in Utah, since the festival is relocating to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027.

What are the big 3 film festivals?

The Big Three are the Venice Film Festival in Italy, the Cannes Film Festival in France, and the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany. These are the most historically prestigious international film festivals in the world. Toronto and Sundance are sometimes added to make a “Big Five.”

What are the dates of the New York Film Festival?

The 64th New York Film Festival runs from September 25 to October 12, 2026, at Film at Lincoln Center venues including Alice Tully Hall and the Walter Reade Theater, plus partner venues across all five NYC boroughs.