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Michael Mann’s Ferrari Announced as the 61st New York Film Festival’s Closing Night Film

A man wearing a brown suit walks beside a bright red Ferrari.Adam Driver in Ferrari

Today, Film at Lincoln Center reveals that the 61st New York Film Festival’s Closing Night film will be Michael Mann‘s Ferrari. Starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferarri and Penélope Cruz as his wife Laura, the film will have its North American premiere at this year’s NYFF, which runs from September 29 through October 15.

A synopsis provided by a FLC press release reads:

Michael Mann (HeatThe Last of the Mohicans, The Insider) brings his astonishing command of technique and storytelling to bear on this emotional, elegantly crafted dramatization of the life of the legendary race car manufacturer and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari at a professional and personal fulcrum. It’s 1957, and the marriage of Enzo (Adam Driver, in an artfully internalized performance) and Laura (Penélope Cruz, a ferocious revelation) has begun to irrevocably fracture as a result of his philandering and the tragic recent death of their young son. Their unsettled domestic world is on a collision course with his work life as Enzo faces a pair of major turning points: financial pressure to increase productivity, which means going against his long-standing desire to only produce race cars, and preparations for the treacherous cross-country open-road Mille Miglia race. Dovetailing these narrative strands, Mann effortlessly shifts gears between elegiac and spectacular, climaxing in an exhilarating and terrifying race across the Northern Italian landscape—a visual and aural wonder of revving machinery against bucolic splendor—that ranks with the greatest set pieces of the director’s career. Aided by a magnificent cast, which also includes Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone, Patrick Dempsey, and Jack O’Connell, and glorious on-location shooting in Ferrari’s hometown of Modena, Mann has constructed a marvel of classical cinema. A NEON release.

“It’s a great honor to close the esteemed New York Film Festival with Ferrari,” said Mann in the same release.

“Michael Mann has made many remarkable movies but perhaps never one as simultaneously thrilling and moving as Ferrari,” added Dennis Lim, Artistic Director of the New York Film Festival. “Not just a feat of virtuosity, this is a grand and striking evolution of his career themes and his most deeply personal work. We are honored to welcome him to the festival for what I’m sure will be a Closing Night for the ages.”

Ferrari will have its Closing Night screening at the festival on October 13 at Alice Tully Hall. Individual tickets will go on sale at noon on September 19 for the general public, while limited quantities of festival passes are currently on sale. For more information about festival tickets and passes, visit FLC’s website.

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