Virtual Lock
Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
La chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
Close Your Eyes (Víctor Erice)
Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World (Radu Jude)
Eureka (Lisandro Alonso)
Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki)
In Our Day (Hong Sang-soo)
in water (Hong Sang-soo)
May December (Todd Haynes)
Music (Angela Schanelec)
Youth (Wang Bing)

Strong Chance
All Ears (Liu Jiayin)
The Beast (Bertrand Bonello)
The Delinquents (Rodrigo Moreno)
Here (Bas Devos)
How Do You Live? (Miyazaki Hayao)
The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo Williams)
Kidnapped (Marco Bellocchio)
Last Summer (Catherine Breillat)
MMXX (Cristi Puiu)
Occupied City (Steve McQueen)
The Pot-au-feu (Trần Anh Hùng)
The Practice (Martín Rejtman)
The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)

Moderate Possibility
About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
About Thirty (Martin Shanly)
Bad Living (João Canijo)
The Empire (Bruno Dumont)
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (Joanna Arnow)
Ferrari (Michael Mann)
Hello Language (Paul Vecchiali)
The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Phạm Thiên Ân)
The Island (Damien Manivel)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
Kubi (Kitano Takeshi)
Living Bad (João Canijo)
Obscure Night: Goodbye Here, Anywhere (Sylvain George)
On the Adamant (Nicolas Philibert)
Only the River Flows (Wei Shujun)
Orlando, My Political Biography (Paul B. Preciado)
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
A Prince (Pierre Creton)
Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
Red Island (Robin Campillo)
Samsara (Lois Patiño)
The Shadowless Tower (Zhang Lu)
Till the End of the Night (Christoph Hochhäusler)

New

Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World (Radu Jude)
Might even be placing this too high, but I know Lim adores Jude’s films and this seems to continue in the out-there vein of Bad Luck Banging.

All Ears (Liu Jiayin)
Completely forgot this was this year; I know that Lim adores the Oxhide films so despite the low-profile of its Shanghai premiere in the West, I think it’s much more likely as long as it’s even half as strong as Liu’s first films.

The Beast (Bertrand Bonello)
This is only here because I’m not sure if it’s actually premiering this year; if it is, then it’s absolutely going to be in the Main Slate.

How Do You Live? (Miyazaki Hayao)
Can’t believe I forgot about this while making my initial list, The Wind Rises played in 2013 and given the lack of information of North American distribution, NYFF seems like a great first stop for Miyazaki.

The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo Williams)
There is almost zero chance that this won’t be at NYFF, and it seems like the right (bewildering) time for Williams to join the Main Slate.

MMXX (Cristi Puiu)
One of the surprise announcements at San Sebastían, Puiu certainly has a stellar presence at NYFF, so as long as this isn’t overly minor it almost certainly should make it.

The Practice (Martín Rejtman)
The other surprise at San Sebastían; I actually don’t know what Lim and company think about Rejtman, but his Hongian aspects and past entry with Two Shots Fired back in 2014 make it a good probable fit.

The Empire (Bruno Dumont)
Same story as Bonello only it’s a little less of a sure thing.

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (Joanna Arnow)
Still not entirely convinced that this will break the New York independent film “curse” (Graham Swon himself also has a film this year, which has even less of a chance) but enough people mentioned it to me in response to the first round and the entirely unexpected Magnolia distribution make it more likely than any other so far.

Ferrari (Michael Mann)
Mann has somehow never been in the main slate; Lim doesn’t seem to be a huge fan, but with a Chrismastime release, the runway is clear (wrong metaphor, sorry) for a nice gala spot, if not Opening Night since it’s likely going to Venice.

Hello Language (Paul Vecchiali)
A little bit of a Hail Mary; none of the Diagonale films have ever made it to the main slate, but the well-received run of the Simone Barbès restoration, this being Vecchiali’s last film, and the seeming fact that it’s an homage to Godard make this perhaps the inclusion I’m most hoping for (in vain or not).

The Island (Damien Manivel)
Obscure Night, Goodbye Here, Anywhere (Sylvain George)
These two are maybe oddball choices that probably won’t go anywhere, but both are very different French filmmakers that have their own small reputation without truly breaking through, not totally out of the question especially as Lim takes full control.

Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
The only time Coppola the Younger made it to the main slate was with her first potentially revisionist biopic Marie Antoinette, so it seems only fitting.

Red Island (Robin Campillo)
Something of an afterthought, and since this didn’t receive any coverage whatsoever due to not making Cannes Competition or Directors’ Fortnight (as per the new leadership’s edict) I really have no way to gauge, but Campillo is a well-regarded-enough director that it’s not an unlikely inclusion.

Changes

Samsara (Lois Patiño)
I was fortunate enough to get a chance to see this and it is great, but Currents seems like a more likely place for this, still not ruling it out for the main slate though.