The 62nd New York Film Festival (September 27-October 14) began on Friday with the screening of “Nickel Boys” (October 25, Amazon/MGM/Orion), a bold adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel by debuting feature director RaMell Ross. The film sparked loud applause and heated discussion about its challenge mise-en-scène from Alice Tully Hall attendees. They agreed on one thing: “King Richard” Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor inevitably got the nod as supporting actress.

During a ritual after-party at Tavern on the Green, an annual celebration of the New York film community, Ellis-Taylor admitted that she could not look at herself and fled the theater. She provides the beating heart of this extraordinary and divisive film. “Every year we talk for months about what the opening night will be,” said NYFF director Dennis Lim at the after-party, “because that sets the tone for the festival. RaMell is a director we have loved and believed in since Hale County (This Morning, Tonight). (“Nickel Boys”) is not a feel-good movie. This is a film that takes big formal risks. But for us, it was one of the most powerful films we’ve seen. It was a film that felt like it was pushing cinema in a new direction. So why not start with something that really excites us? I hope it pays off.”

Also enjoying the opening ceremony were Plan B’s Jeremy Kleiner, who produced “Nickel Boys” with Dede Gardner and Joslyn Barnes, as well as Orion’s Alana Mayo, filmmakers Rebecca Miller, Brady Corbet, Petra Costa, Chai Vasarhelyi, Lulu Wang, Barry Jenkins and Ari Aster, along with MoMa chief curator Rajendra Roy, Richard Lorber of Kino Lorber, Dylan Leiner and Tom Prassis of Sony Pictures Classics, David Laub and Christian Grass of Metrograph, and festival directors Eugene Hernandez (Sundance), David Nugent ( Hamptons), and Jacqueline Lyanga (Berlin).

During his opening remarks, Film at Lincoln Center President Dan Stern reminded attendees that the festival has weathered the pandemic stronger than ever, which is not the case with many other festivals. This year’s festival is the last for outgoing executive director Lesli Klainberg, although she will continue to be involved with Film at Lincoln Center galas and other events. Over the next two weeks, over 100 films from 41 countries will be presented at Lincoln Center, and many of them have already premiered at other festivals.

NYFF, thanks to its mass presence in the media, has always played the role of an amplifier and consensus builder. “Every year is a new puzzle to solve,” Lim said. “These filmmakers live in the same world as us. The films will therefore reflect what we have experienced, our anxiety about global conflicts and the rise of fascism. All of these things are present in many films, but in a way that I find not depressing but inspiring, because these filmmakers tackle difficult topics in a way that suggests that art cinema is a way of processing. It is a way to engage, to come to terms with the world, and especially with the state of the world. This art form is perhaps more important than ever.”

One of the most popular titles, judging by sold-out screenings, is Brady Corbet’s Silver Lion of Venice winner “The Brutalist” (A24), a three-and-a-half-hour epic starring Adrien Brody as a Holocaust survivor heading to a New York cinema. The VistaVision 70mm presentation turned the film into an event, Lim said. “Word of mouth for ‘brutalist’ is good. It’s a bit of a retrospective film; Hollywood has always made movies like this. It’s quite a classic film, an accessible narrative film dealing with important themes of immigration, assimilation, bigotry and the American dream. So many ideas are captured in this film in a clear way.”

To cap off the evening, a new film that many haven’t seen yet will come to New York: Steve McQueen’s World War II drama “Blitz” (Apple TV+), which will open the London Film Festival on October 9. “He’s one of the greatest artists of our time,” Lim said, “and to be able to work on this scale – this may be his most budgeted film – and to see how he handles these resources is exciting.”