Don Cheadle’s “intelligent” directorial debut will be closing the New York Film Festival.
The 50-year-old Academy Award nominated actor has been working on his feature film Miles Ahead for several years, a biopic about jazz legend Miles Davis.
And The Film Society of Lincoln Center committee, which oversees submissions to the 53rd Annual New York Film Festival, are so impressed with the film that they have chosen it to conclude the entire prestigious event.
“I admire Don’s film because of all the intelligent decisions he’s made about how to deal with Miles, but I was moved—deeply moved—by Miles Ahead for other reasons,” New York Film Festival Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones revealed in a statement released to Deadline. “Don knows, as an actor, a writer, a director, and a lover of Miles’ music, that intelligent decisions and well-planned strategies only get you so far, that finally it’s your own commitment and attention to every moment and every detail that brings a movie to life. ‘There is no longer much else but ourselves, in the place given us,’ wrote the poet Robert Creeley. ‘To make that present, and actual … is not an embarrassment, but love.’ That’s the core of art. Miles Davis knew it, and Don Cheadle knows it.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s feature The Walk has already been selected as the headline film for opening night, which takes place September 25.
Don is honoured to have his movie be acknowledged alongside other notable works.
“I am happy that the selection committee saw fit to invite us to the dance,” Don noted in a press release of his own. “It’s very gratifying that all the hard work that went into the making of this film, from every person on the team, has brought us here. Miles’ music is all-encompassing, forward-leaning, and expansive. He changed the game time after time, and New York is really where it all took off for him. Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center… feels very ‘right place, right time.’ Very exciting.”
The 53rd Annual New York Film Festival concludes on October 11.
