Tribeca Film Festival started Thursday, April 18, 2013 with a slew of films in overload mode until a screening schedule is in place. Along with current films, programs highlighting the anniversary of beloved films can be fun – it’s 30 years ago since the King of Comedy with the star of Tribeca, Robert DeNiro, as Rupert Pupkin who kidnaps Jerry Lewis along with a memorable performance from Sara Bernhard. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it’s a wickedly funny black comedy. Then there’s the 50th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds starring Tippi Hedren and the 25th anniversary of Beetlejuice. It’s always great to see a Geena Davis character on the big screen.
Short films and features, returning Tribeca alumni and first time feature directors, here are a few to keep an eye out for: Dead World Order directed by Dana Levy a look at the connection with and to preserve and organize objects that have come down through inheritance and tell a historic tale Grave Goods by Leslie Tai. Things that are once collected in a lifetime and then eventually having to be left behind. A Case of You by director Kat Coiro, a romantic comedy set in the age of social media etiquette.
The Director, about fashion the House of Gucci, is directed by Christine Voros, a cinematographer-director whose alma maters include Harvard and NYU’s Tisch School. She debuted as a director in 2008 with The Ladies, winning fifteen festival Grand Jury prizes. Her film, Kink, a documentary about the fetish empire of kink.com created quite the buzz out in Sundance this year. I’m looking forward to what she has in store next.
Let Them Wear Towels by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg on female journalists in the male sanctum of the clubhouse. Last year they came out with a documentary Knuckleball! is about a lot more than the notoriously twisty pitch of the same name about a small group of athletes who’ve gone against the grain. The English Teacher directed by Craig Zisk starring Julianne Moore– who has successful career in both art house and Hollywood films because takes on roles with an edge creating unforgettable characters and is especially known for her emotional portrayals of ordinary women. Byzantium by Neil Jordan who directed Interview With a Vampire (I always though Rutger Hauer would have been a better Lestat) this time the focus is on two women. That’s all I know about it. Curious because I started out as a huge Anne Rice reader.
And for the environmentalists, there’s Gasland Part II by Josh Fox who also directed the Oscar nominated, Gasland Part I. In Part II, we get to see the extreme circumstances of the aftermath of fearless fracking. Companies coming in quickly signing up farm owners for drilling rights, putting extreme pressure on the infrastructure, wreaking havoc on the local environment, affecting the drinking water of millions of people in the Northeast especially here in New York City. Go see it and sign a petition.
Finally, a couple of films taking on mental health issues including Bottled Up directed Enid Zentrellis a story of addiction with Melissa Leo portraying a loving mother relationship to an addict. Loving an addict is probably the toughest thing for anyone. Running from Crazy directed by Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple, is a documentary examining the personal journey of model and actor, Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, and her personal struggle with a family legacy, depression. It touches everyone.
Tribeca Film Festival runs from Thursday, April 18 through Sunday, April 28 and from the emails, it promises to be run the same way as in the past, tough going for anyone in the media. Stay tuned.
04/19/2013
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