Celebrating its 35th year, New Directors/New Films remains one of the premier international showcases for the work of emerging filmmakers. Over three decades, this notable collaboration of two major New York cultural institutions – the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Department of Film and Media of The Museum of Modern Art – has introduced many talented directors who have become major figures in world cinema, including Chantal Akerman, Pedro Almodóvar, Héctor Babenco, Terence Davies, Atom Egoyan, Nicole Holofcener, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Sally Potter, John Sayles, Steven Spielberg, Wim Wenders and Wong Kar Wai among others.

Scores of films that have gone on to enjoy great critical and popular success have premiered at New Directors/New Films including: Murderball, Kontroll, Darwin's Nightmare and Junebug from 2005; The Story of the Weeping Camel, Dig!, Control Room, and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring from 2004; Raising Victor Vargas, Respiro, Camp, and the Academy Award-nominated My Architect from 2003; Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner, Late Marriage, and Real Women Have Curves from 2002; Lift, Nine Queens, and L.I.E. from 2001; Jesus’ Son, Ratcatcher, and Human Resources from 2000.