Noah Baumbach’s ‘White Noise’ Will Open The 2022 New York Film Festival

It’s the time of the season. With the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals having announced their main line-ups, Telluride keeping its secret until just before opening day on Labor Day weekend, it’s time for the New York Film Festival to weigh in and weigh in they have. Film at Lincoln Center announced today that Noah Baumbach’sWhite Noise” will be the opening night film of the 60th New York Film Festival, making its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall on September 30.

READ MORE: Noah Baumbach’s ‘White Noise’ To Open 2022 Venice Film Festival

One of the most highly anticipated films of the year, “White Noise” stars Adam Driver (Baumbach’s “Marriage Story”), Greta Gerwig (Baumbach’s “Francis Ha” and “Mistress America”) and is an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s epochal postmodern 1985 novel.

Long perceived as unfilmable, Baumbach has created what Film Linc describes as an “ambitious, contemporary satire.” A Netflix release, here’s the “White Noise” synopsis from NYFF; suffice to say, it has lots of allusions to a pandemic and the existential despair and dark comedy that comes with catastrophe.

Adam Driver heartily embodies Jack Gladney, an ostentatious “Hitler Studies” professor and father-of-four whose comfortable suburban college town life and marriage to the secretive Babette (Greta Gerwig, perfectly donning a blonde mop of “important hair”) are upended after a horrifying nearby accident creates an airborne toxic event of frightening and unknowable proportions. In a tightrope walk of comedy and horror, Baumbach captures the essence of DeLillo’s cacophonous pop-philosophical nightmare on unbounded consumerism, ecological catastrophe, and the American obsession with death. Impeccably matching DeLillo’s and Baumbach’s similarly percussive form of stylized dialogue, “White Noise” is wonderfully abrasive and awe-inspiring, a precisely mounted period piece entirely befitting our modern, through-the-looking-glass pandemic reality.

“White Noise” also co-stars Raffey Cassidy (“Vox Lux”), André Benjamin (“High Life”), Alessandro Nivola (“The Saints Of Newark”), Jodie Turner-Smith (“After Yang”), and Don Cheadle (“No Sudden Move”).

“In 1985, my father and I drove from Brooklyn to see Kurosawa’sRan’ open the 23rd NYFF, the same year that he brought home the hardback of Don DeLillo’s ‘White Noise,” Baumbach said in a statement. “Opening the 60th NYFF with ‘White Noise’ is truly special for me. This festival was part of my film education and has been a home for me and many of my movies over the years. I couldn’t be more excited and honored to return.”

 “’ White Noise’ will usher in a 60th NYFF selection of films by established directors and vibrant new voices,” Eugene Hernandez, Executive Director of the New York Film Festival, said. “We’re looking forward to sharing the communal experience of cinema with audiences at Lincoln Center and in other parts of the city this fall! Stay tuned!”

Baumbach’s previous NYFF Main Slate selections include “Kicking and Screaming” (NYFF33), “The Squid and the Whale” (NYFF43), “Margot at the Wedding” (NYFF45), “Frances Ha” (NYFF50), “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” (NYFF55), and “Marriage Story” (NYFF57 Centerpiece). “While We’re Young” was a secret screening at NYFF52. “De Palma,” co-directed with Jake Paltrow, was a special event at NYFF53.

“White Noise” will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in late August/early September, but NYFF will be the first time North American audiences can see the film. NYFF generally announces two more prestigious slots in its line-up, including the Closing Night film and the Centerpiece picture, on top of occasionally secret screenings. NYFF runs September 30 through October 16; more details over at FilmLinc.org.

Housekeeping notes for NYFF: Masks are required for all staff, audiences, and filmmakers at all times in public spaces. Proof of full vaccination is not required for NYFF60 audiences, but full vaccination is strongly recommended. Visit filmlinc.org/safety for more information.

Secure your Opening Night tickets and more with Festival Passes, limited quantities on sale now. NYFF60 single tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, September 19 at noon ET, with pre-sale access for FLC Members and Pass holders prior to this date. Save 50% on FLC Memberships through August 3 only with the code BAUMBACH––the biggest discount of the year! New, current, and lapsed Members are eligible to redeem