The 61stNew York Film Festival opens Friday on a high note, with advance sales of passes and tickets at kickoff up 50% from last year, which was a record-breaking fest.
It’s also a day of heavy rains and flooding in New York City. “We have never seen [sales] numbers like this,” said artistic director Dennis Lim as the curtain is still planning to rise tonight at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with Todd Haynes’ May December, followed by two weeks and 111 films (66 features, 44 shorts) from 45 countries.
The opening comes on a day where many subway lines are shuttered and NYC Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency, urging New Yorkers not to travel if possible.
NYFF organizers says no changes so far to the opening-night schedule. Staffers and talent arriving for a May December press conference reported that taxis were even more scarce than usual amid the rainfall.
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