This week we’re excited to present a conversation from this year’s edition of New Directors/New Films with Familiar Touch director Sarah Friedland and cast members Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle, and H. Jon Benjamin. This conversation was moderated by New Directors/New Films co-chair Dan Sullivan.

Presented by The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center, the 54th edition of New Directors/New Films (ND/NF) takes place through April 13, and has, since 1972, showcased new and emerging filmmakers whose distinctive visions and risk-taking works highlight the vitality and potential of cinema.

The Opening Night selection of this year’s festival, Familiar Touch is about an octogenarian named Ruth (played by Kathleen Chalfant) who has been living independently, but cracks have started to emerge: toast is placed to dry in the dish rack, confusion rests on her face, the dead are spoken of in present tense while the living (such as a son right before her) go entirely unrecognized. Her entrance into an assisted-living facility begins the strange, transcendent journey that is Familiar Touch, Sarah Friedland’s feature debut, which earned three awards at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, including the Lion of the Future, Best Director, and Best Actress for Chalfant’s astonishing turn. Friedland builds her drama through sharp honesty, and tough as its material may be, few films are so tonally flexible, so able to turn on a dime: stray moments of tenderness, humility, even absurdity poke through, with a love and care for Ruth shown by characters and creators alike. Familiar Touch portends the arrival of major directorial talent and we were honored to have it as the opening night selection of the 54th edition of New Directors/New Films. Familiar Touch will open in select theaters beginning June 20th, courtesy of Music Box Films.