The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off its 5th year with a daring punch by choosing to showcase the controversial, much talked about film United 93 for its opening night film. And what more appropriate festival and place to unspool this dramatic retelling of the tragic, chilling story of defiant passengers heroically re-routing their White House-bound plane in the face of the multiple terrorist acts that forever affected the world, the nation—and particularly, New York City. A strange yet fitting homecoming, the screening of United 93 indicates a critical, new level of maturity for the Tribeca Fest—no longer a toddler, but an ever-growing contender in the high profile fest circuit.
The fest runs from April 25th – May 7th this year, in venues expanding beyond the borders of lower Manhattan. Founded in 2002 by Robert DeNiro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in response to the devastation of downtown New York following 9/11, the festival’s original intent was to revitalize the area with a celebration of film and related cultural events. In only five short years, Tribeca has seen enormous growth with a three-fold increase of submissions by filmmakers from around the world.
The 2006 Festival will include 169 feature films and 99 shorts, with some 90 world premieres, including the highly-anticipated box-office giants Poseidon, the Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell-starrer and remake of the’72 disaster classic, The Poseidon Adventure; and Mission: Impossible III, with super-star daddy of-the-month Tom Cruise bursting on to the scene again with this third installment of the M:I series… In its five-year tradition, it’s clear that the Tribeca Festival programmers work on balancing the ever-shifting tone of the fest line-up to encompass an indie spirit, while providing mainstream fare for their legions of attendees.
Selected films in competition are divided into curiously distinct categories:
International Narrative Feature Competition: Includes 17 feature films helmed primarily by first-time directors, including four world premieres. Noted films to watch in this category include: Matt Tauber’s class-dissected drama The Architect starring Anthony LaPaglia, based upon Scottish playwright David Greig’s work; Matthias Glasner’s The Free Will, a graphic German film that delves into the complicated life of a rapist attempting to re-adjust to life after prison; and Jake Kasdan’s The TV Set, a comedic look at the ‘life’ of a television pilot as it moves through stages of development, starring Sigourney Weaver and David Duchovny.
International Documentary Feature Competition: Includes 16 films, seven world premieres. This category is jam-packed with films that deal with the Iraq war including Andrew Berends’ The Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq which shows an Iraqi family’s perspective on the war; Deborah Scranton’s The War Tapes, a film edited from footage shot by National Guard members; and Shadow of Afghanistan, a look at the war-torn land and its relationship to the current war.
NY, NY Narrative Feature Competition: This inventive category primarily showcases films that address stories with some relevancy to New York and its environs. There are 13 films in competition, all world premieres including: Todd Yellin’s twin-inspired drama Brother’s Shadow which looks at the return home from prison of the family’s ‘black sheep’ and stars Judd Hirsch; notable indie director Morgan J. Freeman’s Just Like the Son which follows a road trip taken by a petty thief who mentors an orphan; and actor, playwright, drag legend Charles Busch’s A Very Serious Person, a coming-of-age story about a boy obsessed with old Hollywood and his effete Danish mentor.
NY, NY Documentary Feature Competition: Featuring 13 films, all world premieres, this compelling category focuses on true stories about issues facing New York and its surrounding areas. There’s Claudia Larson’s Dorothy Day: Don”t Call Me a Saint, focusing on the life of the controversial Catholic heroine–a leftist writer and activist. The quest of music mogul Russell Simmons to repeal the severe Rockefeller Drug Laws is documented on Michael Skolnik and Rebecca Chaiklin’s film Lockdown, USA. Glenn Holstein looks at the life of Fire Department Chaplain Father Mychal Judge–streetwise New Yorker, recovering alcoholic and proud homosexual–who lost his life on 9/11 in Saint of 9/11.
Founding sponsor American Express has increased its commitment to the festival this year with expansions in its support of the family fun day (May 6th), information centers spread out across the city, movie maps for visitors, souvenir credentials, complimentary popcorn, and free shuttle buses. Nancy Smith, Vice President of American Express Global Media and Sponsorship Marketing says, “The 5th anniversary of Tribeca is incredible to even imagine. We are constantly thinking of new ways to continue to engage the public in participating in the event. American Express is thrilled to work with the film festival to bring wonderful life to the city. When you see the smiling faces of visitors it’s hard to quantify the experience.”
In its prestigious ‘Spotlight’ section, Tribeca will also showcase notable films that have been highlighted at other festivals but are New York premieres, including: current buzz-film Akeelah and the Bee starring Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett; The Heart of the Game, a documentary on a teen female basketball team; and Wah-Wah, a story revolving around the complexities of colonialism starring Gabriel Byrne and Emily Watson… Renewing the festival’s commitment to including restored treasures of the cinema, archived classics such as On the Bowery (1957), Fair Wind to Java (1953), and The River (1951) will be shown. By tradition, the Midnight section of the festival will feature edgy, alternative films, less concerned with the trappings of mainstream fare, such as: Another Gay Movie, a spoof on hetero-teen movies, and Cocaine Cowboys, delving into the brutal Colombian drug-lord scene that took Miami by storm in the early ‘80s, à la Miami Vice style.
Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the festival asserts, “It’s like watching your five-year-old child grow up. We are extremely proud of the impact the festival has had and will continue to have.” With a highly diverse film line-up, hundreds of unique stories to be told, and a strong roster of panels and events, this year’s exciting Tribeca Film Festival promises to be an invigorating and dynamic event, with an influx of people from all-over, in one of the most spectacular cities in the world.
Stop in if you can!
