Luca Guadagnino’s ‘After the Hunt’ to Open the 63rd New York Film Festival

Julia Roberts stars in Guadagnino’s gripping morality drama, which will make its North American premiere at NYFF63’s Opening Night this September.

Film at Lincoln Center has announced that Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt will officially open the 63rd New York Film Festival on Friday, September 26, at Alice Tully Hall. The North American premiere of the film, presented in partnership with Rolex, marks yet another prestigious milestone in Guadagnino’s storied relationship with NYFF and solidifies the filmmaker’s reputation as one of contemporary cinema’s most daring auteurs. The director and members of the film’s high-profile cast—including Julia Roberts, Michael Stuhlbarg, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield—are expected to attend the event’s red carpet premiere and Q&A.

After the Hunt continues Guadagnino’s ongoing exploration of identity, desire, and institutional power, this time through the lens of academic culture and philosophical inquiry. The film stars Julia Roberts as Alma Olsson, a seemingly composed Yale professor whose intellectual authority and personal stability begin to unravel when her promising PhD candidate, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), accuses Hank (Andrew Garfield), Alma’s longtime colleague and close friend, of sexual assault. The allegations trigger a series of institutional reckonings across campus, raising profound questions about loyalty, justice, and complicity within privileged intellectual spaces. Alma’s husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a mercurial figure with secrets of his own, complicates matters further as buried tensions and personal regrets come to the surface.

What follows is a tightly wound, emotionally charged moral drama that demands reflection from its audience. Guadagnino, known for his lush visuals and character-driven storytelling, employs his signature style to dissect the hypocrisies of academia and the fragility of moral certainty in the digital age. Written by Nora Garrett, the script is both sharply observed and rich with thematic ambiguity, forcing its characters—and viewers—to grapple with questions that offer no comfortable resolutions. The supporting cast, including Chloë Sevigny as Alma’s fellow academic Kim, deliver performances that deepen the film’s dramatic tension and sociopolitical complexity.

In his statement on the announcement, Guadagnino praised the New York Film Festival as “an arbiter of global cinema,” expressing gratitude for the opportunity to open NYFF63 with a work that reflects the festival’s mission of showcasing bold, intellectually rigorous filmmaking. “To be invited to open the 63rd edition is a tremendous responsibility and honor,” he said. “I, alongside the incredible cast and crew and our companions at Amazon MGM Studios who made After the Hunt possible, am elated and thrilled to bring to New York our tale of morality and power.”

NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim added: “We are excited to open this year’s festival with Luca Guadagnino’s latest, which confirms his status as one of the most versatile risk-takers working today. After the Hunt is something rare in contemporary cinema: a complex, grown-up movie with a lot on its mind that also happens to be a deeply satisfying piece of entertainment.”

The 63rd New York Film Festival will run from September 26 through October 13, 2025. Tickets for Opening Night and additional events are now available through Premier, Plus, Bronze, and Gold Passes. Individual tickets will be released to the general public starting September 18 at noon ET, with early access available for FLC Members and pass holders. The festival will also include the highly anticipated announcements of the Main Slate, Spotlight, Currents, and Revivals sections in the coming weeks.

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Since 1963, the New York Film Festival has served as one of the world’s most respected showcases for international cinema, spotlighting groundbreaking films from both legendary auteurs and emerging talents. With After the Hunt, Guadagnino joins a long lineage of Opening Night directors that includes David Fincher, Pedro Almodóvar, Todd Haynes, and Martin Scorsese—underscoring his place as a leading voice in global filmmaking.

Watch The Trailer for After the Hunt Below:

Secure your tickets for Opening Night and more with Passes, limited quantities on sale now.NYFF63 single tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, September 18 at noon ET, with pre-sale access for FLC Members and Pass holders prior to this date. Become an FLC Member by August 29 to secure NYFF63 pre-sale access and discounted tickets year-round. NYFF63 Press and Industry accreditation is now open through August 18.

Sign up for forthcoming NYFF announcements

including Main Slate, Spotlight, Currents, Revivals, and Talks.

New York Film Festival Opening Night Films

2025 After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino, US)
2024 Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross, US)
2023 May December (Todd Haynes, US)
2022 White Noise (Noah Baumbach, US)
2021 The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen, US)
2020 Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen, UK)
2019 The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, US)
2018 The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland/UK/US)
2017 Last Flag Flying (Richard Linklater, US)
2016 13TH (Ava DuVernay, US)
2015 The Walk (Robert Zemeckis, US)
2014 Gone Girl (David Fincher, US)
2013 Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass, US)
2012 Life of Pi (Ang Lee, US)
2011 Carnage (Roman Polanski, France/Poland)
2010 The Social Network (David Fincher, US)
2009 Wild Grass (Alain Resnais, France)
2008 The Class (Laurent Cantet, France)
2007 The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson, US)
2006 The Queen (Stephen Frears, UK)
2005 Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, US)
2004 Look at Me (Agnès Jaoui, France)
2003 Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, US)
2002 About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, US)
2001 Va savoir (Jacques Rivette, France)
2000  Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, Denmark)
1999  All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
1998  Celebrity (Woody Allen, US)
1997  The Ice Storm (Ang Lee, US)
1996  Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, UK)
1995  Shanghai Triad (Zhang Yimou, China)
1994  Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, US)
1993  Short Cuts (Robert Altman, US)
1992  Olivier Olivier (Agnieszka Holland, France)
1991  The Double Life of Véronique (Krzysztof Kieślowski, Poland/France)
1990   Miller’s Crossing (Joel Coen, US)
1989   Too Beautiful for You (Bertrand Blier, France)
1988   Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
1987   Dark Eyes (Nikita Mikhalkov, Soviet Union)
1986   Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, US)
1985   Ran (Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
1984   Country (Richard Pearce, US)
1983   The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan, US)
1982   Veronika Voss (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany)
1981   Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, UK)
1980   Melvin and Howard (Jonathan Demme, US)
1979   Luna (Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy/US)
1978   A Wedding (Robert Altman, US)
1977   One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (Agnès Varda, France)
1976   Small Change (François Truffaut, France)
1975   Conversation Piece (Luchino Visconti, Italy)
1974   Don’t Cry with Your Mouth Full (Pascal Thomas, France)
1973   Day for Night (François Truffaut, France)
1972   Chloe in the Afternoon (Eric Rohmer, France)
1971   The Debut (Gleb Panfilov, Soviet Union)
1970   The Wild Child (François Truffaut, France)
1969   Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (Paul Mazursky, US)
1968   Capricious Summer (Jiri Menzel, Czechoslovakia)
1967   The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, Italy/Algeria)
1966   Loves of a Blonde (Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia)
1965   Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, France)
1964   Hamlet (Grigori Kozintsev, Soviet Union)
1963   The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, Mexico)

For more information, including a complete list of past Opening Night selections—from The Social Network to May December—and to learn more about Film at Lincoln Center and Rolex’s partnership in the arts:

visit filmlinc.org and rolex.com.