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Festival coverage

New Directors/New Films

28 April – 14 May 2021

After its online edition in November 2020, the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films is returning to its usual springtime slot this year for a hybrid showcase. The films will be available virtually from April 28 to May 8 available via virtual cinema, with in-person screenings running until May 14 at Film at Lincoln Center in New York. In addition to this year's crop of new films, the festival will also celebrate its half-century milestone with a free virtual retrospective looking back at its history.

Other years (14)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Moon, 66 Questions
    Review preview for Moon, 66 Questions

    This is impressionistic filmmaking and the young director handles it with extraordinary confidence.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    When a grave illness strikes down her father Paris, Artemis decides to return home to Greece after an absence of some years and the pair embark on a new beginning.
  • We're All Going to The World's Fair
    Review preview for We're All Going to The World's Fair

    This film is long overdue.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A teenage girl becomes immersed in an online role-playing game.
  • Mighty Flash
    Review preview for Mighty Flash

    An astonishing arrival.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    Docufiction portrait of a community in Spain's Extremadura.
  • Azor
    Review preview for Azor

    Many doors are not very open, they give us merely a little glimpse into a strange world.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
    Thriller set in the world of high finance.
  • Pebbles
    Review preview for Pebbles

    A masterpiece of visual storytelling.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    The tale of an impoverished, alcoholic man and a young boy on a long walk together.
  • Stop-Zemlia
    Review preview for Stop-Zemlia

    Gornostai avoids obvious narrative arcs in favour of just letting us hang out and observe the everyday challenges and small dramas that pepper the lives of these 16-year-olds.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Drama follows a shy teenager and her friend as they navigate their 16th year.
  • Taming The Garden
    Review preview for Taming The Garden

    Filmed without commentary and with a poetic grace.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A poetic ode to the rivalry between men and nature.
  • All Light, Everywhere
    Review preview for All Light, Everywhere

    All Light, Everywhere examines the microscopic and vertiginous in equal, beguiling measure.

    Matthew Anderson · 4 out of 5
    An exploration of the shared histories of cameras, weapons, policing and justice. As surveillance technologies become a fixture in everyday life, the film interrogates the complexity of an objective point of view, probing the biases inherent in both human perception and the lens.
  • Aleph
    Review preview for Aleph

    Aleph shows how big our world is, how manifold, how beautiful, and how the really important riddles are the same for everybody.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
    The director takes a puzzle-like approach, inspired by the writings of Jorge Luis Borges
  • El Planeta
    Review preview for El Planeta

    With jump cuts, fancy fades, and towels featuring cartoon owls and penguins, Amalia Ulman draws from her work as an artist and includes it seamlessly into the world of cinema.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    Amid the devastation of post-crisis Spain, mother and daughter bluff and grift to keep up the lifestyle they think they deserve, bonding over common tragedy and an impending eviction.

A–Z of New Directors/New Films 2021 reviews

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