The world premieres of two theater documentaries — Alex Horwitz’s “Hamilton’s America,” a behind-the-scenes look at the history of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway megasmash “Hamilton,” and “Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened,” Lonny Price’s chronicle of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” — are among the offerings lined up as special events for the 2016 New York Film Festival. So is a Jim Jarmusch documentary about rock band The Stooges, “Gimme Danger,” while Adam Driver and Kristen Stewart are set to appear in public discussions.
The newly announced events join a lineup that includes the previously announced world premiere of Ang Lee’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Walk Home,” as well as a screening of Terence Davies’ Emily Dickinson biopic, “A Quiet Passion,” co-presented by Film Comment. Davies and star Cynthia Nixon are among the talent who will appear live alongside the festival’s special screenings.
Price and Stephen Sondheim will attend the screening of “Best Worst Thing.” Price was an original cast member of the short-lived Broadway premiere of “Merrily We Roll Along,” which has gone on to become a musical-theater landmark. Horwitz, director of “Hamilton’s America,” will appear with his own documentary (which premieres at NYFF before it airs on PBS later in the fall), alongside other guests to be named. Stooges frontman Iggy Pop will be at the screening of Jarmusch’s “Gimme Danger.”
Stewart, who shows up in multiple films screening at NYFF, and Driver, star of Jarmusch’s main slate selection “Paterson,” are the focus of public discussions as part of the festival’s “An Evening With…” program.
The festival’s special events lineup will take place during the run of the 2016 New York Film Festival, slated for Sept. 30-Oct. 16. The fest, presented every year by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, opens Sept. 30 with Ava Duvernay’s documentary “The 13th.”
