NOMADLAND (2020): Frances McDormand’s Road Movie To Premiere at Venice, Toronto, Telluride and New York Film Festivals As Part Of Festival Alliance

Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland will play the major fall festivals before a wider release

Nomadland, the upcoming road movie directed by Chloé Zhao and featuring Frances McDormand, will simultaneously premiere at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals on September 11, 2020. The film will also show at a special “Telluride in Los Angeles” drive-in screening on the same day in lieu of the cancelled Colorado-based festival.

In addition, Nomadland will play at the New York Film Festival later that month as the festival’s Centerpiece selection.

“Anchored by Frances McDormand’s indelible performance, Nomadland is a road movie for our precarious times, and it establishes Chloé as one of the most clear-eyed and humane observers of life on the American margins,” said New York Film Festival Director of Programming Dennis Lim in the festival’s press release. “We are honored to have Chloé back at the festival with her most ambitious and moving work to date.”

“I’m very excited and proud that Nomadland will screen at NYFF,” Zhao said in a statement. “I learned how to make films in New York City, at NYU. This wonderful, brave, and inspiring city means a lot to me. I’m so thankful for NYFF to invite me back to connect with its audiences.”

Pandemic Alliance

This simultaneous premiere of Nomadland seems to be one of the first tangible outcomes of the previously-announced collaboration between these big fall festivals. Precise details on it are still limited, but it seems like they’re downplaying competition aspect in favor of more cinematic solidarity.

From the festivals’ joint press release back on July 8:

The art form we love is in crisis. Our own organizations have seen unprecedented challenges to our work and our financial security. The pandemic caught each of us as we were preparing for the biggest event of our year in the fall of 2020. We knew we had to adapt. We decided to collaborate as we never have before.

…

This year, we’ve moved away from competing with our colleagues at autumn festivals and commit instead to collaboration. We are sharing ideas and information. We are offering our festivals as a united platform for the best cinema we can find. We’re here to serve the filmmakers, audiences, journalists and industry members who keep the film ecosystem thriving. We need to do that together.

Both Venice and Toronto plan to take place physicaly (from September 2-12 and September 10-19, respectively), albeit with a more limited selection of films and with more virtual options. New York still plans to hold a physical festival, as well, from September 25-October 11.

Telluride, which was originally set to take place from September 3-7, has cancelled their physical festival. Although they opted out of going virtual, they will seek out alternate routes – such as the aforementioned drive-in screenings at remote locations.

Nomadland Synopsis

Zhao adapted Nomadland from Jessica Bruder’s 2017 non-fiction book “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century”. The film follows Fern, played by McDormand, who becomes a modern-day nomad in the wake of her rural company town’s economic collapse. She meets other nomads in her journeys as she adapts to “a life outside of conventional society”.

The film also stars David Strathairn and other real-life nomads Linda May, Charlene Swankie, and Bob Wells. McDormand, Zhao, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, and Dan Janvey produced the film. Joshua James Richards served as cinematographer, and Ludovico Einaudi will provide the original score. Zhao also served as editor on the film.

Cor Cordim Productions, Hear/Say Productions, and Highwayman Films served as production companies, and Searchlight Pictures will act as distributor. No wider release date is set, but Disney and Searchlight are eyeing a late 2020 release.

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