Miles Ahead, Don Cheadle’s biopic of the trumpeter Miles Davis, has been named as closing night movie at this year’s New York film festival.
The spot is a prestigious one on the autumn festival calendar; Oscar heavy-hitters Birdman, Her, Flight and The Descendants all closed the event in past years, boding very well for the awards prospects of Cheadle’s directorial debut.
Cheadle, who scripted Miles Ahead with Get On Up screenwriter Steven Baigelman, also stars in the drama as the famous jazz musician. The late 1970s-set film finds Davis holed up in his Manhattan apartment, haunted by memories of his golden years and ex-wife Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). Ewan McGregor co-stars as a reporter who cons his way into the Davis’s apartment.
Cheadle said of the news: “I am happy that the selection committee saw fit to invite us to the dance. It’s very gratifying that all the hard work that went into the making of this film, from every person on the team, has brought us here.
Miles’ music is all-encompassing, forward-leaning, and expansive. He changed the game time after time, and New York is really where it all took off for him.
Last week, Cheadle was nominated for his eighth Emmy award for his work on Showtime’s House of Lies.
As previously announced, Nyff will open with the world premiere of Robert Zemeckis’s 3D drama The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit, the man who crossed the Twin Towers on a high-wire in 1974.
The festival runs from September 25-October 11.
