The festival's gala section features new works from Bernardo Bertolucci, John Sayles, Notting Hill's Roger Michell and Amores Perros director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
"There's only so much swelling brain can tolerate until there's pressure on the nerves that control breathing and circulation, " said Dr. Roger Bonomo, director of stroke care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.