Ang Lee’s 3-D ‘Life of Pi’ to open New York Film Festival

Director Ang Lee’s 3-D adaptation of the novel “Life of Pi” is to launch the New York Film Festival on Sept. 28, marking the first time that a stereoscopic production has kicked off the prestigious festival.

Due in theaters Nov. 21, Lee’s reworking of novelist Yann Martel’s bestselling account of a young man’s (Suraj Sharma) travels on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger marks the filmmaker’s second opening-night appearance in New York. His “Ice Storm” started the festival in 1997, and his “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was the closing-night film in 2000.

“‘Life of Pi’ is a perfect combination of technological innovation and a strong artistic vision,” Richard Peña, the programming director for festival presenter the Film Society of Lincoln Center said in a statement. “Ang Lee has managed to make a deeply moving, engrossing work that will delight audiences as much as it will astonish them.”

Added the Taiwanese-born Lee, who won the directing Oscar for 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain”: “I am also excited because this is my hometown, and to be unveiling this film that I am so proud of here is a real pleasure.”

As previously announced, Rebert Zemeckis’ thriller “Flight” is to be the festival’s closing-night presentation.

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