Like many of the fall film festivals, New York Film Festival had to mount its 2023 edition during the actors strike and without major stars like Emma Stone ("Poor Things"), Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore ("May December") or Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal ("All of Us Strangers") in attendance to promote their movies.

The movie year tends to come into focus at the New York Film Festival, which prizes itself on being a curated gathering of the best cinema from around the world

Standout selections include “Nickel Boys,” the Mumbai-set “All We Imagine as Light” and the documentary “Dahomey,” about African repatriation.