NYFF 2026 Unveils 32-Film Main Slate, Led by Paper Tiger
James Gray opens New York Film Festival 2026 with Paper Tiger on Sept. 25, Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! takes the centerpiece slot, and Ava DuVernay closes with 14th on Oct. 12. Yahoo Entertainment says the 32-feature slate also pushes screenings out across the city, from Lincoln Center to the Bronx.
New York Film Festival 2026 has set its main slate, and the shape of the program is now plain: James Gray opens the 64th edition with Paper Tiger on Sept. 25, Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! holds the centerpiece slot, and Ava DuVernay closes with 14th on Oct. 12. Yahoo Entertainment reported that the 32-feature lineup leans on major names, star casts, and a citywide rollout that reaches well beyond Lincoln Center. For readers who follow the fall festival race, this is the first clear map of what New York wants at the center of the conversation.
Paper Tiger, Behemoth!, and 14th Set the Tone
Gray’s opening-night pick is a crime drama, and the festival is giving it the kind of launch that turns a premiere into a statement. According to Yahoo Entertainment, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, and Miles Teller are part of the Paper Tiger package that will greet the festival crowd on the Upper West Side. Gilroy’s Behemoth! gets the centerpiece slot, with Pedro Pascal in the lead as a composer chasing the next piece of work while the film uses music cues to trigger flashes of his past. DuVernay’s 14th closes the run, and its focus is the 14th Amendment and the long fight over birthright citizenship and equal protection.
That opening-centerpiece-closing trio tells you what NYFF wants to do with this year’s edition. It is not just booking familiar names. It is putting three very different kinds of films in the spots that carry the most weight: a crime drama, a music-driven character piece, and a civil rights documentary.
The 32-Film Main Slate Runs from Mike Leigh to Chris Rock
The main slate does not lean on one camp or one country. Yahoo Entertainment’s rundown names new films from Mike Leigh (Tender Loving Care), Ira Sachs (The Man I Love), Pedro Almodóvar (Bitter Christmas), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (All of a Sudden), Paweł Pawlikowski (Fatherland), Sandra Wollner (Everytime), Valeska Grisebach (The Dreamed Adventure), Andrey Zvyagintsev (Minotaur), Andrew Haigh (A Long Winter), Julia Loktev (My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile), and Chris Rock (Misty Green).
There are also two titles that should pull extra attention. Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero gets a world premiere on Sept. 26 as the follow-up to
