By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER announces the World Premiere of Robert Zemeckis’ FLIGHT as Closing Night Gala selection

Posted Thursday, August 9th, 2012 - Comments Off on THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER announces the World Premiere of Robert Zemeckis’ FLIGHT as Closing Night Gala selection
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PRESS RELEASE

 

New York, NY, August 8, 2012 – The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that Robert Zemeckis’s FLIGHT will make its World Premiere as the Closing Night film for the upcoming 50th New York Film Festival (September 28 – October 14).

“We’re delighted to welcome Robert Zemeckis to the New York Film Festival for the first time. A director equally known for delighting audiences as well as for pushing the technological limits of filmmaking, Zemeckis has created with FLIGHT a remarkable film about one man’s journey to some of the darkest parts of his soul,” says Richard Peña, Selection Committee Chair & Program Director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center.

An action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington stars in Robert Zemeckis’s FLIGHT as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every passenger on board. Although he is immediately acclaimed as a hero, the legal, moral and ethical aspects of Whip’s behavior before and after the accident are much more ambiguous than initially meet the public eye. FLIGHT is a compelling drama anchored by a great performance from one of our most distinguished actors. The stellar supporting cast includes John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood and Kelly Reilly. The Paramount Pictures release is due in theaters on November 2.

Rose Kuo, Executive Director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, said, “Robert Zemeckis has shown his diversity as a storyteller in comedies, dramas and has skillfully translated narratives into special effect environments.  It is a pleasure to see him bring to life this complicated, tragic-comic portrait of a man in crisis, with an exceptional and poignant performance by Denzel Washington.”

The 17-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring top films from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent. The selection committee, chaired by Peña also includes: Melissa Anderson, Contributor, Village Voice; Scott Foundas, Associate Program Director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center; Todd McCarthy, Chief Film Critic, The Hollywood Reporter; and Amy Taubin, Contributing Editor, Film Comment and Sight and Sound.

General Public tickets will be available September 9th. There will be an advance ticketing opportunity for Film Society of Lincoln Center Patrons and Members prior to that date. For more information visit www.Filmlinc.com/NYFF or call 212 875 5601. 

Film Society of Lincoln Center

Under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director, the Film Society of Lincoln Center offers the best in international, classic and cutting-edge independent cinema. The Film Society presents two film festivals that attract global attention: the New York Film Festival, currently planning its 50th edition, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award—now named “The Chaplin Award”—to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks. The Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com and follow #filmlinc on Twitter.

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