The New York Film Festival on Monday announced the lineup for its main slate of movies, including new releases from Alexander Payne, James Franco and Joel and Ethan Coen.

In addition to the Coen brothers, whose movie "Inside Llewyn Davis" will show at the festival, Mr. Payne ("The Descendants") is bringing a new film, "Nebraska," whose lead, Bruce Dern, won the best actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Other highlights of the film festival, which kicks off Sept. 27 and runs to Oct. 13, include Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive," James Gray's "The Immigrant," Claire Denis's "Bastards," Hayao Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises" and Abdellatif Kechiche's "Blue Is the Warmest Color," winner of the 2013 Cannes Palme d'Or.

Joaquin Phoenix in 'Her,' part of this year's New York Film Festival. Warner Bros. Picture

"Cinema is a vast terrain with a complex ecology, encompassing a mind-bending array of species and habitats—there are multiple approaches to the question 'What is a movie,' from the industrial to the handmade, from the carefully written to the poetically assembled," Kent Jones, the festival's director of programming and selection committee chair, said in a statement.

Other notable selections include new documentaries from Claude Lanzmann ("The Last of the Unjust") and Frederick Wiseman ("At Berkeley"); the return of French art house stalwarts Catherine Breillat ("Abuse of Weakness"), Arnaud Desplechin ("Jimmy P.: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian) and Philippe Garrel ("Jealousy"); and the directorial debut of fashion designer Agnès B. ("My Name Is Hmmm"). Mr. Franco, known primarily as an actor in films such as "127 Hours" and "Milk," adapts Cormac McCarthy's 1973 novel "Child of God," and Ralph Fiennes directs himself as Charles Dickens ("The Invisible Woman").

Previously announced were the festival's selections for opening night, "Captain Phillips," starring Tom Hanks as a containership captain facing down Somali pirates, Ben Stiller's remake of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, " and Spike Jonze's "Her," starring Joaquin Phoenix. Tickets go on sale to the public Sept. 8.