“Paper Tiger” makes its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival this week, bringing James Gray‘s latest family crime saga to opening night in celluloid glory.
IndieWire can exclusively reveal that distributor Neon will present Gray’s film in 35mm on Friday, September 25, at all the New York Film Festival opening night screenings. The NYFF 35mm presentations of “Paper Tiger” are as follows:
9/25 at 6:00 p.m., Alice Tully Hall
9/25 at 6:30 p.m., Walter Reade Theatre
9/25 at 9:00 p.m., Alice Tully Hall
9/25 at 9:30 p.m., Walter Reade Theatre
“There are many ways to watch a film today, and many can be beautiful. But a 35mm print, projected right, has that thing we call ‘the magic of the silver screen.’ There is just nothing else like it,” James Gray said in a statement shared with IndieWire. “A dream come to life, and I couldn’t be happier that my own work will be shown this way at NYFF. My director of photography, Joaquin Baca-Asay, my production designer, Happy Massee, and the rest of my wonderful crew deserve to have their work seen in this silky, indelible format. It reminds us that cinema is still unparalleled.”
Gray recently spoke to IndieWire about how shooting on film will have a “vinyl” moment in the near future. “We went all digital in the ’80s and early ’90s, and all of a sudden people heard a vinyl record and went, ‘Wait a minute, that sounds better,’ because it’s a continuous signal. The needle goes into the record, and the signal is continuous, and digital, of course, breaks it up into zeros and ones. That imperfection, the warmth, is what reminds us of who we are.”
In “Paper Tiger,” former police officer Gary Pearl (Driver) brings his brother Irwin (Teller) in on a deal that turns out to be too good to be true — and one that involves the Russian mobsters conspiring alongside New York City’s docks. Meanwhile, Hester (Johansson) has a secret of her own that her family’s fraying bonds only further push her to repress. But as with any James Gray film, there are life-altering consequences on the other side of impulsive decision-making for the sake of the American dream.
Neon opens “Paper Tiger” in theaters starting Friday, November 13. IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio will host a live Q&A with writer/director Gray at the Virginia Film Festival on October 22. The interview will then be presented as part of the weekly podcast across all platforms. Gray will be in Virginia to receive the festival’s directing award.
Watch the latest trailer for “Paper Tiger” below.
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