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Exclusive Clip: Rosanne Pel on Her New Directors/New Films Closing Night Title Donkey Days
The 55th edition of New Directors/New Films, the annual showcase of rising cinematic talent co-presented by Film at Lincoln Center and MoMA, will run April 8-19. Opening the festival is Adrian Chiarella’s queer horror film Leviticus, and other standouts include John Early’s brilliant bulimia comedy Maddie’s Secret, Kevin Walker and Jack Auen’s hypnotic hybrid Chronovisor, and Giulio Bertelli’s Agon, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at Venice Critics’ Week.
Ahead of this year’s festival, Filmmaker is happy to debut a short clip courtesy of filmmaker Rosanne Pel, whose feature Donkey Days has been selected as this year’s closing night film.
“I get donkeys from everyone,” shares Pel as she demonstrates socks, paintings, and magnets all emblazoned with the noble creature. “I actually want to ask not to give me any donkeys anymore. But I will give you the film in return.”
La Frances Hui, MoMA film curator and 2026 ND/NF co-chair, shared via a statement earlier this month that “Rosanne Pel’s Donkey Days is a darkly comic exploration of family dynamics, ingeniously blending Dogme-inspired naturalism with flashes of surrealism to create a work that is at once caustic and unexpectedly tender.”
After premiering at Locarno this past summer, Donkey Days will celebrate its U.S. premiere at ND/NF. Described as a “lacerating portrait of two adult women relentlessly competing for their mother’s withheld affection,” Pel notes that it’s also “a film on female rage.”
Watch the full clip above and check out the rest of the ND/NF lineup—which features films we’ve previously covered on the site, including Pete Oh’s Erupcja, Clementine Castor’s Cold Metal, Sanju Surendran’s If On a Winter’s Night, and Tenzin Phuntsog’s Next Life.
