FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER announced the North American Premiere of James Gray's PAPER TIGER as the opening night of the 64th New York Film Festival. The evening will be presented in partnership with Rolex and include a gala debut at Alice Tully Hall on Friday, September 25 with Gray and members of the cast and crew in attendance.
Starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson, the film premiered in competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Paper Tiger is Gray's fourth film to be selected for the New York Film Festival, following The Immigrant (2013) as an official Main Slate selection; The Lost City of Z (2016) as the Closing Night film; and Armageddon Time (2022) as a Main Slate selection and the festival's 60th Anniversary Screening.
"I'm immensely grateful to be welcomed back to this remarkable festival," said Gray. "This deeply personal film is rooted in New York City; from my upbringing to life-changing family experiences. To be here, at the heart of art and cinema, with our cast and crew—many of whom are New Yorkers—is a privilege. Thank you to the entire New York Film Festival team. It is an honor."
"James Gray has been a fixture at the New York Film Festival for many years, and we are thrilled to welcome him back as our Opening Night filmmaker with a career-best achievement," said NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim. "Paper Tiger is a movie of immense emotional power, at once lovingly realistic and grandly mythic, and it confirms that James is one of the great New York filmmakers—one of the great filmmakers, period—of our time."
James Gray was born in New York City, grew up in Queens, and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television. He made his directorial debut in 1994 at the age of 25 with Little Odessa, which received the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Gray then wrote and directed The Yards in 2000, his first feature with Joaquin Phoenix, who would become a frequent collaborator and go on to star in his next three films: We Own The Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008), and The Immigrant (2013), all of which screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Gray's The Lost City Of Z (2016), starring Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland, was released in theaters by Amazon and Bleecker Street in 2017. Disney/Fox's Ad Astra, directed by Gray and starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones, had its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival and was released in theaters in 2019. Focus Features' Armageddon Time (2022)—which Gray directed, wrote, and produced—was inspired by his own childhood in 1980s Queens and had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, the New York Film Festival is an annual celebration of the most significant international films of the year. Since 1963, the New York Film Festival has played a vital role in shaping film culture, championing bold and remarkable works by both celebrated auteurs and emerging voices from around the world. NYFF64 takes place from September 25 through October 12, 2026.
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