The New York Film Festival’s opening night is set to have Steve McQueen-directed Lovers Rock as the show starter - it will be Lovers Rock's world premiere. The 58th NYFF plans to delve into McQueen’s work in order to highlight the message that seems relevant for current unstable times.

Earlier this year, McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series was officially selected to be a part of the Cannes Film Festival. Apparently, the appeal of McQueen’s work this year is destined to receive more respect and attention largely due to its realisticness and phenomenal screenplay.

McQueen is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker having won the honor for 2013's historical drama 12 Years a Slave. The filmmaker is well reputed to impart a real touch to his produce and has been rolling out absolute movie experience in the form of shorts and feature movies for years.  

Back to 2020, Lovers Rock follows the fictional story of a young lover, love of music, and magic that takes place during a blues party in the early 1980s. The film stars Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn who is making her screen debut alongside Micheal Ward, Shaniqua Okwok, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Ellis George, Alexander James-Blake, Kadeem Ramsay. The screenplay has been co-written by Courttia Newland and McQueen himself.

McQueen has a great deal of experience writing awe-inspiring stories – the filmmaker is the mind behind the stories of Shame, Hunger, Widows, and even Small Axe. In addition, all of the shorts that McQueen has produced have been directed and plotted by him.

McQueen has expressed his gratefulness stating that the show of his movies at NYFF at this point in time means a lot for him. Going by what he has said, it’s clear that McQueen’s as the Black man of West Indian heritage is excited to help to make a change with fitting stories for current scenarios.

According to the reports, more films to be showed at NYFF will be unveiled in the coming days. For the first time, the NYFF has chosen for the second straight year a film that is more widely available on streaming platforms rather than theatres.

Last year, Martin Scorsese-directed The Irishman graced the NYFF opening night as the fest opener. The Irishman is a Netlfix release that garnered widespread attention and appreciation owing to its great plot.

Due to the pandemic, just like Toronto, the fest will be a mix of virtual and physical events, however mostly virtual. The highlight of NYFF this year is that the coverage of the topics is way different from previous ones.