The latest film from Oscar-winning Spotlight director Tom McCarthy, A Statement, will receive its world premiere at the 2026 New York Film Festival, it was announced today.

The Sony Pictures Classics film, an ensemble piece about a 1980 conference on the threat of climate change, boasts an ensemble cast including Paul Giamatti, John Turturro, Paul Rudd, Amy Ryan, Evan Peters and Tatiana Maslany.

Additionally, the festival’s Spotlight lineup, unveiled today, includes buzzy titles like Jordan Firstman’s Cannes sensation Club Kid and Jesse Eisenberg’s upcoming musical follow-up to A Real Pain, The Debut, both of which will receive their New York premieres at the fest.

The festival will also screen Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, starring Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes; Noah Segan’s Turturro starrer The Only Living Pickpocket in New York; Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and marking his return to the NYFF after Fitzcarraldo was the closing night selection in 1982; Maiken Baird’s Edward Said: Between Worlds; the late Eleanor Coppola’s Making Marie Antoinette, a behind-the-scenes look at Sofia Coppola’s 2006 feature; Jonathan Glazer’s Joy of Joys documentary about the recording of a star-studded charity album helping kids in conflict zones; and Albert Serra’s Sixteen Moments of My Life.

The Spotlight slate also features 10 short films, including world premieres from acclaimed filmmakers.

The 2026 New York Film Festival, which unveiled its main slate last week, is set to run from Sept. 25-Oct. 12.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has announced the acquisition of two award-winning documentary shorts that should put the streamer squarely back into Oscar contention.

Set to join the platform are an open field, winner of Best Short Documentary at the 2025 International Documentary Festival (IDFA), and One Last Order, which has earned multiple honors including Best Documentary and the Audience Award at the 2026 Aspen Shortsfest, the Short Film Audience Award at the Miami Film Festival, and the Best Documentary Short Audience Award at the Nantucket Film Festival.

Teboho Edkins, director of an open field, tragically lost his brother Max Thabiso Edkins in the catastrophic crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in Ethiopia in 2019. The air disaster, caused by the faulty activation of Boeing’s MCAS automated flight software, killed all 157 people on board. Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 went down in an open farm field in the Gimbichu district of Ethiopia.

“In an open field, we learn that dozens of nearby villagers immediately converged on the site to help, and that some stood vigil for a month to protect and preserve the crash area,” notes a synopsis. “Years later, they continue to mourn alongside family members who visit the site, including [director Teboho] Edkins and his father, Don, who produced the film. Boeing’s widely criticized response to the crash stands in sharp contrast to the community’s enduring compassion. Both a personal essay on loss and an exploration of the potential healing power of collective mourning, Edkins’s film is a quiet testament to humanity— moments of warmth, resolve, grief, fear, patience, and simple acts of kindness.”

In a statement, director Teboho Edkins said, “This is a delicate and personal work, and about something fundamental to being human. I hope that the film can find its way to as many people as possible, and that something in it might resonate with them. Having Netflix bring the film to its global audiences is very meaningful to me and I’m grateful for their support as it makes its way out into the world.”

One Last Order, directed by Lauren DeFilippo and Sam Soko, tells an uplifting story from Gainesville, FL. For decades, Sighle (pronounced “Sheila”) Williams has brought joy to her community as a loving and caring presence at a fast-food hamburger stand.

“At Mac’s Drive-Thru in Gainesville, Florida, Sighle Williams is working her final shift after 37 years,” reads the synopsis. “She’s the voice who knows your order before you say it, the smile that turned fast food into something personal. But this isn’t just any farewell. The owner of Mac’s announces every dollar earned that day goes straight to Sighle. Cars wrap around the block. Three-hour waits. All carrying a Sighle story. One Last Order is the story of a woman who met the world with kindness through a drive-thru window and made the most routine moment of someone’s day feel like it counted.”

One Last Order is produced by Lauren DeFilippo, Sam Soko, and Amanda Pollak.

“Sighle remembered every order and every smile. Now we get to celebrate her, and all the other Sighles out there who make an ordinary day feel a little brighter,” observed DeFilippo and Soko. “This film is a love letter to everyday kindness and the people who make ordinary places extraordinary. We’re thrilled Netflix is sharing it with you, too.”

One Last Order is an Insignia Films & LBx Africa production in association with The Harnisch Foundation. Executive producers include Ruth Ann Harnisch, Sam Bisbee, Ron DeFilippo, Bramwel Iro, Stephen Ives.

an open field, meanwhile, is a production of Day Zero Film and Video Productions (South Africa), Day Zero Films UG (Germany), and Survivance (France). Don Edkins and Carine Chichkowsky produced the film.

Netflix has won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short the last two years – All the Empty Rooms in 2026 and The Only Girl in the Orchestra in 2025. It has another Oscar contender lined up with The Baddest Speechwriter of All, which the streamer acquired out of the Sundance Film Festival. That film, directed by two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot and NBA great Stephen Curry, centers on Clarence B. Jones, a key adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who help craft King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Baddest Speechwriter of All has claimed numerous awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at Sundance, and the Jury Prize for Best Short Documentary and the Audience Award for short doc at the Annapolis Film Festival in Maryland.

Tom McCarthy’s “A Statement” and Jonathan Glazer’s “Joy of Joys” will make their world premieres at the 64th New York Film Festival as part of the Spotlight lineup, Film at Lincoln Center shared on Tuesday. As previously announced, Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” will make its global debut as the Spotlight Gala on Sept. 26. The festival runs from Sept. 25-Oct. 12.

Based on Nathaniel Rich’s 2019 book “Losing Earth,” “A Statement” is a dramedy co-written and directed by the “Spotlight” filmmaker, set at a Florida conference in 1980, where 20 scientists write a treatise on climate change. It stars Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, Evan Peters, Tatiana Maslany, John Turturro and Amy Ryan, and will be released by Sony Pictures Classics.

“What drew me to this story originally was the timeless idea that no matter our differences, we must find ways to work together if we have a hope of solving our problems,” McCarthy said in a statement to TheWrap earlier this year. “The joy of working on the movie so far has been realizing how entertaining that process can be. I feel incredibly lucky that these amazing partners including Anonymous Content and Sony Pictures Classics are all making it together for the right reasons.”

Glazer’s “Joy of Joys” is a documentary made with English musician Mica Levi that focuses on the recording at Abbey Road of “HELP(2),” a charity album benefiting children in war zones.

Additional films playing in the Spotlight selection include Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or starring Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan; Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid,” Noah Segan’s “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Debut.”

Among the other documentaries playing at the festival is “Making Marie Antoinette,” the late Eleanor Coppola’s film about her daughter Sofia Coppola’s 2006 period drama.

Two shorts programs will feature “South of Tehran” from Kleber Mendonça Filho and Charlotte Wells’ “New York Never Let Me Down,” in addition to several others.

Earlier this month, Film at Lincoln Center announced that James Gray’s “Paper Tiger” will open the festival, Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!” will be the Centerpiece and Ava DuVernay’s “14th” will close the fest.

Below, the full list of the Spotlight selection.

64th New York Film Festival Spotlight

Spotlight Gala: “Godzilla Minus Zero” (Takashi Yamazaki)

“Bucking Fastard” (Werner Herzog)

“Club Kid” (Jordan Firstman)

“The Debut” (Jesse Eisenberg)

“Edward Said: Between Worlds” (Maiken Baird)

“Fjord” (Cristian Mungiu)

“Iron Boy” (Louis Clichy)

“Joy of Joys” (Jonathan Glazer)

“Making Marie Antoinette” (Eleanor Coppola)

“One More Time” (Cindy Kleine and André Gregory)

“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” (Noah Segan)

“Sixteen Moments of My Life” (Albert Serra)

“A Statement” (Tom McCarthy)

Spotlight Shorts

“South of Tehran” (Kleber Mendonça Filho)

“Masao Adachi Takes a Passport Photo” (Kamal Aljafari)

“A Stolen Movie” (Camilo Restrepo)

“Torino Shadow” (Jia Zhangke)

“Screening Room” (Morgan Fisher)

New York Shorts

“The People’s Beach” (J. Wortham)

“ee” (Heather Landsman)

“The House Call” (Eliza Barry Callahan)

“A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere” (Fanny Texier)

“New York Never Let Me Down” (Charlotte Wells)