What's playing at this year's Gold Coast International Film Festival

Home-grown comedies, European dramas and critical favorites will screen at this year's Gold Coast International Film Festival, which runs Nov. 4-13.

Among the highlights at the ninth annual festival, which takes place at several venues on the North Shore, are Noah Baumbach's Oscar contender "Marriage Story," starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson; the acclaimed biopic "The Two Popes," featuring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce; and "Henri Dauman: Looking Up," about a Holocaust survivor who became a successful photojournalist. The festival's opening-night celebration includes a live Q&A with Ben Vereen ("All That Jazz," television's "Roots"), who will accept a lifetime achievement award.

Below are several highlights from the festival. All times listed are after noon.

SAFE SPACES (Nov. 5 at 7:30 at Soundview Cinema, 7 Soundview Market Pl., Port Washington) Justin Long plays a New York City professor whose life is upended after a comment in class lands him in trouble. With Fran Drescher and Richard Schiff. Writer-director Daniel Schechter, a Roslyn native, will hold a Q&A at this screening.

STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN (Nov. 6 at 7:30 at Soundview Cinema) Long Beach screenwriter Peter Hoare teams up with hometown celebrity Billy Crystal for this feature about an unsuccessful stand-up comic (Ben Schwartz) who moves back to Long Island and begins hanging out with a local barfly (Crystal). Directed by Matt Ratner.

MARRIAGE STORY (Nov. 8 at 7:30 at Soundview Cinema) Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson play a creative couple – he's a theater director, she's an actress — whose divorce turns increasingly bitter. Written and directed by Noah Baumbach ("The Squid and the Whale").

HENRI DAUMAN: LOOKING UP (Nov. 9 at 4 at Soundview Cinema) A documentary on a French Holocaust survivor and orphan who grew up to be a successful photojournalist and celebrity photographer. Dauman, whose subjects have ranged from the Cuban revolution to Marilyn Monroe, will appear in person at this screening for a Q&A.

THOSE WHO REMAINED (Nov. 10 at 1, Great Neck Cinemas at the Squire) In post-war Hungary, as the Soviet empire rises to power, a middle-aged doctor and a teenage girl form a friendship that raises suspicions. With Kroly Hajduk and Abigél Szoke.

CLEMENCY (Nov. 11 at 7:30 at Soundview Cinema) In the wake of a botched execution, prison warden Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) begins questioning her commitment to the death penalty. Also starring Aldis Hodge ("Brian Banks").

BALLOON (Nov. 12 at 7:30, Great Neck Cinemas at the Squire) In the summer of 1979, two families attempt to escape from Soviet-controlled East Germany using an unlikely mode of transport: a homemade hot-air balloon. With Thomas Kretschmann ("Valkyrie") and Karoline Schuch ("Hanna’s Journey"). Based on a true story.

THE TWO POPES (Nov. 12 at 7:30 at Soundview Cinema) Fernando Meirelles' comedy-drama features Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as the future Pope Francis. The film has earned strong early reviews and won an Audience Award at this year's Hamptons International Film Festival.