Sept. 14: Icarus Films celebrates 40 years. Icarus is one of the most creative of the various art-house-oriented independent distributors for over four decades it has put together a trilling library that includes modern masters like Chantal Akerman, Marcel Ophuls and Chris Marker. This program will feature 56 of the the company’s titles, including Akerman’s “South” and “From the East”; Ophuls’ “Hotel Terminus”; several key films by Marker; and “Tango of Slaves” by the company’s co-founder, Ilan Ziv. The Metrograph, 7 Ludlow St.
Sept. 17: “93Queen,” a documentary by Paula Eiselt that shows the day-to-day workings of the first EMT ambulance corps staffed entirely by chasidic women. Facing backlash from male members of their community, the women dig in for a struggle that is compounded by the crises that are a normal part of emergency work. POV/American Documentary on your local PBS station. Check listings for details.
Sept. 19: “Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable,” an entertaining portrait of the iconic American photographer, directed by Sasha Waters Freyer. Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St.
Sept. 21: “Love, Gilda,” a loving tribute to Gilda Radner that uses never-before-heard audio and video diaries from her personal archives as well as remembrances from family and friends. A huge hit when it played the Tribeca Film Festival last year, the film, directed by Lisa D’Apolito, will now be getting a theatrical release. Theaters TBA.
Sept. 28-Oct. 14: The 56th New York Film Festival. After a period of personnel shuffling worthy of a major-league baseball team, the Film Society of Lincoln Center has seen a seemingly undending growth in its flagship event. This year’s film festival includes not only the usual round of thrilling retrospectives (notably “None Shall Escape,” a real rarity — a WWII Hollywood film that focuses on the murder of Europe’s Jews), a documentary program that includes new work by Errol Morris and Manfred Kirchheimer, a generous helping of new technologies and, of course, the cream of new world cinema, including new films by the Coen Brothers, Frederick Wiseman and Jean-Luc Godard. Walter Reade Theater, Eleanor Bunin Munroe Film Center and numerous other venues, filmlinc.org.
Oct. 3-11: “Stavisky” (1974) is one of Alain Resnais’s most graceful and elegant films, a gliding passage through the life and scandal of a conman who rocked pre-WWII France, inadvertently fueling the anti-Semitic rage of French fascists. Jean-Paul Belmondo is a solid-gold charmer (with a hint of brass) in the title role, and Stephen Sondheim’s musical score soars. Newly restored for this run. Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St.
Oct. 3: “Moynihan” is a new documentary portrait of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, wit, controversialist and politician noted for his staunch defense of Israel and his tart, clever tongue. Directed by Joseph Dorman & Toby Perl Freilich, this should be a timely look at the man who famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion — but not to his own facts,” a remark which is more timely today than ever. Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St.
Oct. 9: “Why the Jews?” Should we brag about our historical achievements or be humble? Are victims of history or do we shape it? This documentary poses such controversial questions to a bewildering range of Jewish thinkers, from Alan Dershowitz to Noam Chomsky Daniel Liebeskind to Ruth Westheimer. Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
Oct. 10: “22 July,” directed by Paul Greengrass. Greengrass has carved out an impressive niche for himself with compelling thrillers drawn from recent historical events, “Bloody Sunday,” “United 93,” “Captain Phillips” are among his notable films (along with three of the better sagas of super-spy Jason Bourne). His new film is a poignant examination of the aftermath of the neo-Nazi terror attack of Anders Breivik on a Norwegian camp for youth leaders, as experienced by one of the teenage survivors. Theaters to be announced.
Oct. 16: “The Interrogation” is a risky, edgy project for first-time director Erez Pery. It’s a two-hander in which Romanus Fuhrmann and Maciej Marczewski face off as Auschwitz commandant Rudolph Hoess and his principal interrogator, respectively. The pitfalls are obvious but the payoff could be devastating. Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
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