NYFF 2013: CAPTAIN PHILLIPS to Open Festival

Today it was announced that Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass, will be opening this year’s New York Film Festival that runs from September 27 through October 13.  The film tells the true story of a cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates.

Programming Director Kent Jones says in the release, “Captain Phillips is a riveting experience. At this point in his working life, Paul Greengrass has become a master of immersive reality-based narratives set along geopolitical fault lines — in this case, the 2009 seizure of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship by four Somali pirates. I’m excited that this tough, tense, real-life thriller, capped by the remarkable performances of Tom Hanks and four brilliant first-time Somali actors (Barkhad Abdi, Faysal Ahmed, Barkhad Abdirahman and Mahat M. Ali), is opening the 51st edition of the festival.”

Captain Phillips is set for theaters October 11th.  Click here to check out the trailer and be sure to head over to the NYFF site here for the latest information.