Surprise or Something: NYFF Taps Anderson, Coens for Top Spots

Jason Schwartzmann, Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody in the NYFF opener The Darjeeling Limited

As per rumor, the Film Society of Lincoln Center confirmed late Wednesday that Wes Anderson's India-set family comedy The Darjeeling Limited is set to open the 45th New York Film Festival on Sept. 28, with the Coen Brothers' No Country For Old Men following a week later as the fest Centerpiece. Other confirmed selections, which NYFF programmer Scott Foundas all but officially announced several weeks ago, include Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or-winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Lee Chang-dong’s own Cannes sensation Secret Sunshine.

This is the earliest such an announcement has been made for a while; usually we hear about openers only in late July/early August, with remaining selections trickling out by mid-August. In further minutiae: For those of you who keep track of this kind of thing, the Film Society notes that 2007 is only the third time since the debut of the Centerpiece selection 12 years ago that two American films have opened and, er, Centerpiece-ed at the NYFF. Guess the other films and their respective years, and I'll rustle up a prize of some sort.

Posted at June 28, 2007 7:03 AM