“Caesar Must Die,” “First Cousin” to play at NYFF

August 17, 2012 by Adam Benzine

The line-up for the 50th annual New York Film Festival (NYFF) has been unveiled, with HBO-backed doc First Cousin Once Removed set to have its world premiere at the fest, alongside the Berlinale-winning Caesar Must Die (pictured).

First Cousin Once Removed, from U.S. director Alan Berliner, chronicles the life of poet and translator Edwin Honig, focusing on his loss of memory, language and his past, due to the onslaught of Alzheimer’s.

Meanwhile, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Caesar Must Die/Cesare deve morire looks at convicted felons staging a production of Julius Caesar. The doc had its world premiere at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where it won the fest’s Golden Bear prize.

Other non-fiction titles featuring among the 32 films confirmed for the NYFF’s Main Slate line-up include Memories Look at Me/Ji Yi Wang Zhe Wo, from China’s Song Fang.

The docu-drama sees Fang travel from Beijing to Nanjing for a visit with her family. Also playing in New York is Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel’s acclaimed fishing industry doc Leviathan; and Sony Pictures Classics-backed film The Gatekeepers.

The latter doc, from Dror Moreh, sees six former heads of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, discuss their nation’s past, present and future.

Finally, Marc-Henri Wajnberg’s musical of sorts Kinshasa Kids is a documentary/fiction hybrid following a group of street children in the Congolese capital.

The NYFF runs from September 28 to October 14.

Tags: Caesar Must Die, Edwin Honig, First Cousin Once Removed, Kinshasa Kids, Leviathan, Memories Look at Me, New York Film Festival, NYFF, The Gatekeepers