9 Films to See at New Directors/New Films 2026
Throughout its five-decade run, New Directors/New Films has introduced the works of many of today’s notable auteurs, including Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Pedro Almodóvar, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Joachim Trier, Kelly Reichardt, Denis Villeneuve, Michael Haneke, Luca Guadagnino, Richard Linklater, Guillermo del Toro, Jane Schoenbrun, Laura Poitras, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Christopher Nolan – among many more. The festival’s 54th edition will be held from April 8 – 19 at NYC’s Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, where it will introduce 24 features and 10 shorts from breakout filmmakers, including festival winners and favorites from Cannes, Sundance, Locarno, Venice, Berlinale, Rotterdam, Toronto, San Sebastián, and more. It is an exciting opportunity for NYC-based cinephiles to experience boundary-pushing new works from exciting new voices in cinema. More information about this year’s ND/NF can be found here. Editor-at-Large Matt Delman and contributor M.J. O’Toole, both NYC locals, have listed their top picks below to check out.
In the vein of Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Mia Hansen-Løve, and Hong Sangsoo, writer-director Sho Miyake’s drama Two Seasons, Two Strangers is an introspective drama about the sensitivity and tenderness of human connection. Winner of the Golden Leopard (Best Feature) at last year’s Locarno International Film Festival, Miyake adapts Yoshiharu Tsuge’s manga short stories into two loosely connected tales set in his native Japan that take us from a sunny seaside town where two teenage lovers meet, to a snowy resort where a struggling filmmaker meets a solitary innkeeper. Two Seasons, Two Strangers is a balm that lonely and introverted folks can surely take solace in. (M.J. O’Toole)
The most exciting new vision I’ve seen in quite some time, Jack Auen and Kevin Walker’s Chronovisor feels both old and brand new. Shot on luscious 16mm film, the style is overwhelmingly mesmerizing, singular but not bombastic. If you enjoyed The Ninth Gate (1999), you’ll be fascinated by the detective work on display here from the main character, Béatrice Courte (Anne-Laure Sellier), who is a real-life professor and scholar. She comes across writings about a device invented by a monk that allows the viewer to watch famous moments of history as they really happened, including the crucifixion of Christ. A lot of the film is highlighted text on screen over magazine and newspaper clippings in different languages. This novel effect of reading along ourselves with the protagonist puts the viewer squarely into the mystery. The grainy final images are haunting, leaving an indelible impression of spiritual consequence. Grasshopper Film has recently acquired it for North American rights. (Matt Delman)
In her stylistically ambitious and deeply personal feature debut, director Vladlena Sandu recalls her complicated childhood in Memory. Using reenactments of her childhood (shot in colorful 16mm), the director addresses her upbringing in Chechnya during the collapse of the Soviet Union, where she was raised by a tyrannical grandfather. Evoking Tarkovsky, Bergman, and Parajanov, Sandu’s poetically autobiographical debut combines narrative and documentary to immerse us in a period of history that is shockingly more relevant now. (MJ)
John Early has been a favorite on the comedy scene for over a decade, so to call Maddie’s Secret a breakout would be disingenuous, even though it’s technically his film directorial debut. The disarmingly earnest lead performance from Early as a woman who develops an eating disorder is at the center of this story that is both funny and profound. The women in the rehab facility become like sisters, and there are so many beautiful moments of connection that highlight Early’s empathic side. If you miss it at ND/NF, Magnolia Pictures will be releasing it later this year. (MD)
Winner of Berlinale 2026’s Teddy Jury Award (the festival’s LGBTQIA+ category), Kai Stänicke’s drama questions what happens when you and the home you return to have both changed. Hein (Paul Boche) returns to his home village on a small German island after 14 years away, only for nobody – not even his family – to recognize him. As distrust settles in, the community places him on trial to prove his identity. With a mystery similar to the 1982 French classic The Return of Martin Guerre mixed with a community as suffocating as the one in Lars Von Trier’s Dogville, we are in for an intense tale of identity and truth with Trial of Hein. (MJ)
Hybrid cinema is the type of fresh storytelling that NDNF likes to platform, and Guilio Bertelli’s Agon is a prime example of the avant-garde. Filming 3 female professional athletes in studio sessions as they train for the Olympic Games, Bertelli employs slow motion, digital artifacts, and video game footage to create a tapestry of high-level competition. The three sports in question are Judo, fencing, and shooting, which all come from a background of fighting and/or war. Bertelli is a professional sailor, which requires an extraordinary amount of focus and physical skill – much like the athletes he documents. (MD)
Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest
In their feature debut, artist Viv Li juggles two different identities in their documentary, Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest. Originally from China, but stuck in Berlin during the pandemic, Viv finds themself acclimated to the German city’s vibrant alternative cultural scene. But when she visits her more traditional family in her native Beijing, they deal with an identity crisis that is the crux of her journey. The inner struggle of reconciling the search for personal freedom with the traditions you grew up with is no doubt relatable to many people of Li’s generation. With a journey like this told through a nonfiction lens, don’t sleep on their debut. (MJ)
After premiering at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Jaume Claret Muxart’s Strange River will have its New York premiere at ND/NF. The new queer mystery is not to be confused with Stranger by the Lake, although it shares more similarities with that film than just the title. The story follows a Spanish family vacationing in Germany, and focuses on the 16-year-old son, Didac (Jan Monter), who takes an interest in a local boy. More of a trippy mood piece, Muxart forgoes a traditional story structure in favor of more intuitive editing. Multiple colleagues have told me not to miss this beguiling debut, and so I’m excited to catch it at the festival. (The other recommendations on my list I’ve already watched.) (MD)
If we lose our faith somewhere, where would we turn to fill that void? The line between Christian faith and folk spirituality is examined in writer-director Ique Langa’s The Prophet. Shot over the course of nine years in his native Mozambique, it follows a small-town pastor (Admiro De Laura Munguambe) whose crisis of faith leads to an encounter that has him take a new approach to reclaim it: witchcraft. But with great power, in his case, comes great sacrifice. The question is, what consequences will arise? Aided by a cast of local non-professionals, Langa’s character study is a rare exploration of how one’s path to power and enlightenment can blur the lines of morality. (MJ)
