IndieWire can exclusively reveal that the inaugural film will be “South of Tehran,” Kleber Mendonça Filho‘s documentary short about Jafar Panahi that was shot at NYFF in 2025. The film takes inspiration from “Pier Paolo Pasolini — Agnès Varda — New York — 1967,” a short film that Varda made about Pasolini during the fourth NYFF in 1967. “The New York Film Festival is, above all, a place of encounter — among filmmakers, audiences, films, and the city itself. “I accepted the challenge and got to shoot a little film at NYFF last year with the wonderful Jafar Panahi. The 64th New York Film Festival runs from September 25-October 12.