The New York Film Festival has been a tradition since 1963, when it was begun by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel. The Film Society of Lincoln Center takes this opportunity each year for 17 days to introduce the most important new films created by cinematographers the world over. The film society is devoted to celebrating current trends in style, form and content, with an eye to promoting international film art development. The festival films are shown in Alice Tully Hall, the Walter Reade Theater and Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center; all located in the Lincoln Center.

Competition is stiff with only about 28 feature length films and 12 shorts chosen for screening. The only prize for filmmakers is the honor of having their films chosen for screening. There are no particular categories and the films are actually selected for screening by a committee comprised of five people: Richard Pena, film society Program Director; J. Hoberman of The Village Voice; Dennis Lim, critic; Melissa Anderson, critic; and Scott Foundas from the LA Weekly.

Although the NY festival is not nearly as large as Toronto or Cannes, it is nevertheless very competitive with them. The film fest encourages all filmmakers to submit, no matter their level of experience. There are no entry fees and no categorized competition. The committee chooses from all of the films submitted regardless of the film length or genre. While there are no prizes, films are chosen for opening and closing nights as well as a NY film festival Centerpiece.

The NY film fest has promoted recognition in the United States for filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, R.W. Fassbinder, Wong Kar-Wai and Pedro Almodovar. Its sister festival New Directors/New Films is co-hosted by the Museum of Modern Art and the Lincoln Center as a venue for discovering new and talented filmmakers. The Lincoln Center's Gala Tribute is an annual event that honors a particular personality in the filmmaking industry such as actors, directors or other leaders in the film industry. The Walter Reade Theater at the Lincoln Center provides year round entertainment offerings and the Film Comment magazine is the go to magazine for film industry writers.

There are several other programs that run alongside the New York Film Festival, with the assistance of the Lincoln Center. One of these is Views from the Avant-Garde, which is a showing of experimental films and has run concurrent with the NY Film Fest since 1997. The Film Society of Lincoln Center's goal is to increase the understanding of films, awareness of film as an art form and make film more accessible to everyone. The film society has earned its reputation for excellence in its choice of films to screen, as well as its selections of up and coming film makers to watch in the future.

The New York Film Festival along with the Forum Film Festival are the most prestigious film festivals in New York each year. The Forum is presented by The Fordham Law School directed by Thane Rosenbaum. It is a collection of past and present legal films that is presented annually.