Looking through the itinerary for the New York Film Festival, it appears the organizers have opted to save some of their heavy hitters — namely the tribute to China’s Cathay Studios, the special avant-garde series, and some of the festival’s most anticipated titles — for weekends two and three. But it has also packed its first weekend with some of the its most intriguing selections, titles that will be gone from the scene if you miss the event’s first few days. Here’s a breakdown of the first weekend — four special events worth hunting down before they disappear.

1. “Blade Runner”

For 25 years, “Blade Runner,” Ridely Scott’s adaptation of the Philip K. Dick novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” has been a defining work, inspiring almost every science fiction and futuristic action thriller that has come after it. Throughout the years, more than a half-dozen different cuts of the cult classic have surfaced, preceding the New York Film Festival’s so-called “Final Cut,” a version that Mr. Scott himself has dubbed the last, definitive version of the 1982 film.

Accompanying the latest revision is a special “Blade Runner” panel, which will discus the movie’s place in cinema history, and also its place in popular culture. The film is credited by many for anticipating a future dominated by such issues as globalization, cloning, and artificial engineering. Appearing as part of the panel will be film scholars Giuliana Bruno, Scott Bukatman, and Jane Gaines, along with several yet-to-be-announced original members of the film’s creative team.

The “Final Cut” screens at 9 p.m. Saturday; the panel will be held 10 hours earlier, at 11 a.m., in the Walter Reade Theater.

2. “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”

The first chapter of a planned trilogy, Cristian Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” is a frightening portrayal of a broken social system, set amid the brutal Romanian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu prior to the 1989 revolution that led to his ouster and death. Winner of the Palme d’Or grand prize at this spring’s Cannes Film Festival, “4 Months” tells the story of two college students as they prepare for an ambiguous and mysterious meeting that will change their lives forever. Capturing their drama in long, uninterrupted, unsettling takes, Mr. Mungiu suggests the slow spinning of a world ticking forward in real-time.

The movie screens Friday afternoon at 12:30 p.m, and Monday at 9:15 p.m.

3. “The Orphanage”

Unlike its younger sibling in TriBeCa, the New York Film Festival doesn’t host many late-night events, but on Saturday, “The Orphanage” will summon the night owls for a midnight presentation. Eagerly being sold by publicists as a thriller produced by Guillermo Del Toro, who was celebrated at last year’s festival for his “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Oprhanage” is the debut work from director Juan Antonio Bayona, and deals in much the same dark fantasy world that wrapped itself around “Pan’s Labyrinth.” A married couple move to a country house in the hope of converting it into an orphanage for ailing and disabled youth, but their plans change as their young son starts to make a series of imaginary, invisible friends.

The ghost story shows at midnight on Saturday, and repeats Sunday at 4 p.m.

4. “the Romance of astreé and Céladon”

Allegedly the final film of 87-year-old Eric Rohmer’s career (or so it says in the film festival’s program guide), “The Romance of Astreé and Céladon” is at once a breathtaking period piece, bringing to life Honoré d’Urfé’s classic 17th-century novel detailing the pastoral beauty of fifth-century Gaul, and a debunking of the cinema’s conventional period romance.

As Astreé comes to believe that her lover, Céladon, is dead, Céladon, in the hope of wooing his estranged lover back, starts dressing like a woman so he can be near her again. “Romance” also twists around the notions of class and nobility; Céladon is not a proud hero but a profound wimp, and his low social standing prevents him from making his feelings known. Mr. Rohmer counters all our expectations with the stammering of this most timid suitor, and in the process, turns the tables on audience expectations more than any other title at this year’s festival.