New York Film Festival 2016’s Most Anticipated Screenings

The New York Film Festival has been around for 54 years, and for the first time it’s kicking off the event with a documentary. This year the lineup features 22 main slates and three world premieres. Here are six to keep an eye out for.

The 13^th

Named after the 13^th Amendment (which bans slavery except as a punishment for a crime), this documentary is Ava DuVernay’s follow-up to Selma, taking an in-depth look at America’s prison system.

Paterson

Adam Driver (of Star Wars fame) plays the lead role in a film that explores the crossroads of creativity and everyday life. Driver plays Paterson, a bus driver and amateur poet who lives in Paterson, N.J., home of William Carlos Williams, Lou Costello and Allen Ginsburg.

20^th Century Women

Mark Mills will be premiering 20^th Century Women at NYFF, starring Annette Bening, Billy Crudup and Elle Fanning. The comedy is an exploration of late ‘70s middle-class America, following a single mom living the bohemian life in Santa Barbara.

Hamilton’s America

The country’s hottest musical was recently the subject of a PBS documentary, Hamilton’s America, which takes a behind-the-curtain look at the Broadway production. It begins with Lin-Manuel Miranda performing at the White House Evening of Poetry in 2009, rapping the first track off his Hamilton Mixtape, a song that would later become Hamilton’s opening number.

I, Daniel Blake

Ken Loach brings his Palme d’Or decorated film I, Daniel Blake to New York, depicting an aging carpenter’s friendship with a young single mother, set against the backdrop of modern Britain and economic austerity.

The Lost City of Z

James Gray adapts the true tale of Percy Fawcett, who set out into the Amazon in search of the lost city of Z in 1925. Fawcett disappeared, along with his team and son, as well as 100 people who went looking for the man.