Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ Set As New York Film Festival’s Centerpiece Selection
20.07.2023 - 15:25
/ deadline.com
Film at Lincoln Center has teed up Sofia Coppola’s Priscillaas the Centerpiece selection for the 61st New York Film Festival.
The A24 film starring Cailee Spaenys as Elvis Presley’s wife, Pricilla Ann Wagner, will make its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall on Oct. 6.
The fest runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 15, opening with Todd Haynes’ May December starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore.
Never has there been a more obsessed-over icon than Elvis Presley, yet no one knew him more tenderly than Priscilla, whose story as Elvis’s romantic partner and only wife has rarely been told from her perspective. Coppola, who often depicts women living complicated lives behind closed doors, follows Priscilla’s love affair with Elvis, played by Jacob Elordi, from her early years as a teenage army brat in West Germany to her surreal arrival at Graceland.
“I am honored to be back at the New York Film Festival with my new film and to be telling Priscilla Presley’s story, the unseen side of a great American myth,” said Coppola. Her screenplay was based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me.
Coppola’s On the Rocks (2020) and Marie Antoinette (2006) were NYFF selections.
“Priscilla is a culminating triumph for Sofia Coppola, a filmmaker with a singular gift for illuminating the interior lives of her characters,” said Dennis Lim, the festival’s Artistic Director. “It’s a showcase for a pair of star-making performances and a work of tremendous empathy and emotional nuance. We are looking forward to welcoming Sofia back to the festival with one of her very best films.”
Coppola was the second woman to win Best Director in Cannes for The Beguiled (2017). Her other films include directorial debut The Virgin Suicides (1999),