35th Philadelphia Film Festival Opens Today With Turturro-Led 'Pickpocket' Drama; Eisenberg's 'The Debut' to Close
Philadelphia — The 35th Philadelphia Film Festival opened on Thursday, October 15, presented by the nonprofit Philadelphia Film Society. The festival runs through October 25, an 11-day program across the society's three venues: the Film Society Center at 1412 Chestnut Street, the Film Society Bourse at 400 Ranstead Street, and Film Society East at 125 S. 2nd Street.
The opening-night film is writer-director Noah Segan's The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, an 88-minute crime drama screening at 6:45 p.m. on October 15 at the Film Society Center, with Segan in attendance. John Turturro stars as Harry, an old-school New York pickpocket trying to survive as cash and jewelry give way to credit cards and cellphones; his routine collapses after he steals a mysterious flash drive and a handgun from the wrong person. The cast also includes Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany and Steve Buscemi. An opening-night party follows at F1 Arcade, 1333 Chestnut Street.
The festival closes on Sunday, October 25, with The Debut, written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. Julianne Moore plays Mona Friedman, a woman with no stage experience who decides to audition for a local musical; Paul Giamatti plays Jerry, the legendary theater director who casts her, and Halle Bailey also stars. Eisenberg wrote the original songs for the fictional musical within the film. Earlier that day, Eisenberg will join host Terry Gross for a Fresh Air Live conversation, the festival's first partnership with Philadelphia public broadcaster WHYY, which produces Fresh Air in Philadelphia.
The Centerpieces program includes a special presentation of Tony Gilroy's Behemoth!, with Gilroy attending, and James Gray's Paper Tiger, which will screen on 35mm film. Also in the slate are Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes; Beth de Araújo's Josephine, which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance; Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine; and Jordan Firstman's Club Kid. Ava DuVernay's 14th screens in the State of the Union section, and Brad Bird's animated Ray Gunn headlines the animation program.
The local Filmadelphia section hosts four world premieres: Big Phan, Gentle by Birth, I Don't Want to Drink Your Blood Anymore and Joy Will Prevail. The festival also presents the North American premieres of The Blow and Wolfram and the U.S. premiere of Le Faux Soir. For repertory, the society is debuting a new 70mm projection system with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, while Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern and Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan both screen in 4K. Badges, individual tickets and opening- and closing-night party tickets are on sale through the Philadelphia Film Society.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：本届费城电影节开幕片《纽约最后的扒手》主演约翰·图特罗，2025年4月在纽约出席活动时留影。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，PhilipRomanoPhoto 摄于2025年4月27日，CC BY 4.0 授权 / Photo: John Turturro, star of the festival's opening-night film 'The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,' photographed in New York in April 2025. Source: Wikimedia Commons, by PhilipRomanoPhoto, April 27, 2025, CC BY 4.0.
