The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. In this opportunity the cover celebrated the 45th anniversary.
The theme here is a photo of the Empire State Building as and old icon of NYC as it was projected by one of those old machines when there were not digital devices.
The inclination of the photo, the blur of the image and colors are deliberately chosen for a nostalgic effect of the magic of the film. The repeating truncated headline in the top pretends to emphasize the idea of continuity of the reel.