Tribeca Film Festival

Sony Pictures Acquires Dark Comedy "Revenge for Jolly!"

Maggie Lange — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:16:22 GMT

Sony Pictures acquires "Revenge for Jolly!" for US and Canadian distribution - marking the first acquisition for the newly-formed affiliate company of Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment.

"Revenge for Jolly!" premiered at the 2012 Tribeca FIlm Festival. The dark comedy examines the moral ambiguity of revenge as one man tries to avenge the suspicious death of his beloved dog. Directed by Chadd Harbold and written by Brian Petsos, "Revenge for Jolly!" stars Petsos and Oscar Isaac, and features cameos from a long roster of other actors and comedians including Elijah Wood, Adam Brody, Ryan Phillippe, and Kristen Wiig.

Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal In Witty, Slyly Feminist "Hysteria"

Caryn James — Fri, 18 May 2012 01:38:22 GMT

Hysteria, one of the highlights of the Tribeca Film Festival, is now opening in theaters. If you misssed my Tribeca review of this sharp witty film, here it is:

Well, how DID Victorian ladies get along without vibrators? That’s probably not a question that has been hovering in your mind, but you’ll get the answer anyway in Hysteria, director Tanya Wexler’s deft, witty, slyly feminist comedy of sexual manners, Victorian style.

Hugh Dancy pays the impeccably named Dr. Mortimer Granville, the man who invented the vibrator. (The character is based on a real person, but the plot is fictional.) He goes to work for Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce) who has diagnosed the antsy, nervous, tense discontent of women as Hysteria, and using what you might call digital therapy cures them – temporarily. These things have a way of recurring. Before you can say carpal tunnel syndrome, the overworked Granville develops an electric substitute for his aching hand.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is fiery as Dalrymple’s rebellious, socially conscious older daughter, Charlotte, and Felicity Jones plays the flower-like younger sister, the supposedly perfect match for Mortimer, who will surely bore him silly.

The film might have been a one-note joke, but as the smart trailer suggests, Wexler and her cast – especially Dancy, the central figure – find a perfect balance between humor and a narrative with a serious theme. Nineteenth-century women, whether the sexually discontented ladies who visit Dalrymple, or Charlotte, forging a new independent path by starting a settlement house for poor Londoners, were always much more than prim Victorians.

Tribeca Watch: Speaking With Writer/Director Jenny Deller and Producer Kristin Fairweather of Future Weather

Melissa Silverstein — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:36:00 GMT

I didn't get to see many Tribeca Fest films in the theatre this year due to my travel schedule at the beginning of the festival, but I was so glad to be able to catch the film and post screening discussion of Future Weather.

Future Weather tells the story of a smart, science obsessed teenager Lauduree -- played beautifully by Perla Haney-Jardine -- who gets abandoned by her dreamer mom. This girl is one step from potential disaster. The mother and daughter already lived on the brink of poverty, but mom Tanya (Marin Ireland) did believe in her daughter's scientific gifts and encouraged her. That's one good thing about dreamers -- they won't shoot down your dreams. They just have no reality check and a teenage girl needs a mom with one foot based in the real world. Tanya was not that kind of mom.

What is so special about this character is that this is a young girl who is in love with science. She is conducting experiments and believes in her own 13 year old way that she can solve global warming. One of the reasons doesn't tell anyone, including her grandmother, that her mother left is because she does not want to abandon her experiments and months of data.

But she is just a kid and can't live on her own and she reluctantly moves into her mother's old bedroom in grandma Greta's (Amy Madigan) house. Greta does not want Lauduree to make the same mistakes as her mother, but she is not the best communicator. And she's also pissed that she is now saddled with taking care of her granddaughter just as she was making plans to leave the midwest and move in with her boyfriend in Florida.

I loved this movie because of the atypical strong female roles. I don't know the last time I saw a girl who was a scientist in a film who gets mentored by a female science teacher played by Lili Taylor. I really hope this film gets bought and released and is shown to kids across the country.

I was able to sit down with first time writer/director Jenny Deller and her producer Kristin Fairweather after the premiere of their film for a short conversation.

FYI - They are still raising money to pay for the release at Tribeca and for future screenings. The campaign ends May 9 at noon. Info here.

Tribeca Launches Film Festival Under the Tuscan Sun

Bryce J. Renninger — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:28:55 GMT

Teaming with the Tuscan Sun Festival, a classical music and culture festival, Tribeca will be programming a week of film events in Florence, Italy called Tribeca Firenze.

As part of the partnership, Tribeca will program five days of films for the festival, which runs June 11-18. Included among the lineup is the European premiere of the Tony Bennett film "The Zen of Bennett." Also included in the film program will be a series of films curated by John Malkovich. Both Bennett and Malkovich will be on hand during the fest for performances.

The festival is a deal between Tribeca Enterprises and talent management company IMG Artists, whose Barrett Wissman founded the festival.

For more information, visit the Tuscan Sun Festival website.

De Niro vs. Redford: After Sundance London, Tribeca Launches Rival Tribeca Firenze at Tuscan Sun Festival

Anne Thompson — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:21:50 GMT

The biggest name-brand film festivals are extending their reach overseas, from Sundance London to Tribeca Firenze. Not to be outshone by Robert Redford's successful --and high profile--London launch, Robert De Niro's rival Tribeca Enterprises is bringing Tribeca Firenze to the Tuscan Sun Festival in Florence, Italy.

Tribeca promises to deliver a bevy of stars including singer Tony Bennett, who will accompany the European premiere of son Danny Bennett and Dion Beebe's documentary "The Zen of Bennett."

Tribeca, founded in 2002 by famed Italian-American De Niro along with Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, has traveled overseas before, having celebrated the third edition of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, mounted in partnership with the Doha Film Institute, last October, and also displayed the Tribeca brand in the past in both Beijing and Rome.

This year, Tribeca is partnering with global management company IMG Artists (IMGA) to bring five days of Tribeca Firenze international film premieres to the Tuscan Sun Festival in Florence, Italy 11-18 June, founded by IMGA’s Barrett Wissman in 2003.

The festival showcases a week of performing artists, food, wine, and cultural and historical exhibitions. The full schedule of films will be announced over the next few weeks. The Tribeca Firenze screenings will be held at Florence’s Odeon Cinema, one of Italy’s most elegant and historic art nouveau cinema-theatres located in the Palazzo Strozzino, originally built in 1462 during the height of the Renaissance.

Filmed by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Beebe, "The Zen of Bennett" follows the artist as he recorded sessions for his album Duets II, along with John Mayer, Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé and the late Amy Winehouse, and to his ancestral home in Padagoni, Italy, as well as his home and art studio in New York City. Bennett will perform on June 18 at the Teatro della Pergola as part of the Festival’s 24 Hour Plays project, crooning four songs that will become the inspiration for four plays to be written, rehearsed and performed within a period of 24 hours.

“Tribeca’s mission is to provide filmmakers with audiences who are passionate about film, to make independent film accessible to a broad international community, and to move people with the power of cinema," said Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises.

This is the first time that the Tuscan Sun Festival will be held in its new home of Florence, the capital of Tuscany. John Malkovich is selecting and presenting some of his best films as part of the Tuscan Fest, and performing as an actor and narrator in a special performance combining music, theatre and projections at the Teatro della Pergola on June 17.

The World Before Her Takes Top Doc Prize at Tribeca

Melissa Silverstein — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:10:21 GMT

The World Before Her directed by Nisha Pahuja is an eye-opening and disturbing documentary about the limited options for girls and young women in India. The film juxtaposes two opposing elements -- the Miss India pagent and a Hindu fundamentalist training camp.

Those of us in the west have such ambivalence about beauty pagents and this contest -- which includes a month long boot camp to prepare the young women -- does nothing to convince me that they are anything more than a meat market for women's bodies. But it did show that these contests are one of very few options young women have of getting out of the prescribed roles that still dominate Indian women's lives. These young women are desperate to get out of poverty, desperate to have a future, and this is one way to make it happen. So I can totally understand why a young woman would try with everything she has to make this happen for her future.

During the pagent period they are stars. Interviewed in the newspapers and exalted for their beauty. But we also see the seedy side especially the one day when the event was focused on the girls legs where they were forced to wear bags on their heads and walk the runway. That was incredibly disturbing.

Intertwined with the beauty pagent is the story of a young woman whose best option in life is to become a radical Hindu fundamentalist. Director Pahuja is the first director to go behind the scenes at the Durgha Vahini camp and record the training and brainwashing of girls into radical fundamentalists. The girls are told that they are to stay home. They are to have kids. That they do not need to learn. That they should be willing to die for the Hindu cause. That any other belief is wrong and their job is to make sure that those other beliefs do not spread. The conviction in their voices in heart stopping.

Here's what the director said when describing the film:

The battle I chose to focus on is the battle between tradition and “modernity,” fundamentalism and capitalism and how this plays out on the bodies of women. In some ways what hangs in the balance is not just the future of women in this country but the very future of the country itself -- for how can democracy flourish in a place so obsessed with sons it aborts 750,000 girls every year?

The film shows how little value is placed on women's lives and bodies and is very timely as we, here in the US, are dealing with political issues being played out on women's bodies. This film illustrates that this is something happening worldwide and the consequences for girls and women and all our futures are grave.

The film is playing at Hot Docs in Toronto this weekend. I am sure it will get picked up for release in the near future.

Tribeca Enterprises Partners with Maker Studios for YouTube Channel The Picture Show

Anne Thompson — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:38:30 GMT

On the same day that Amazon Studios announced a new online television initiative, Tribeca Enterprises (which mounts the Tribeca Film Festival and runs distributor Tribeca Films) and popular online distributor Maker Studios are partnering to create a new YouTube channel, The Picture Show. This home for web series and short films will also seek to boost emerging talent via collaborative programming from established filmmakers and up-and-comers.

“The Picture Show is an exciting opportunity to incubate new stories, talent and audiences,” said Jane Rosenthal, CEO and co-founder with Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff of Tribeca Enterprises. “Working with Maker, who is one of the pioneers in the confluence of entertainment and technology, we intend to help artists reach a wider audience.”

“This partnership allows us to take the best of traditional film and television along with new age media to create new opportunities on YouTube for content creators,” said Lisa Donovan, co-founder, Maker Studios, which boasts 650 million views online per month with over 400 channels with 70 million subscribers, and more than 300 original videos produced per month. “The Picture Show will act as an online community where directors, writers and actors from different platforms can creatively collaborate."

From Best To Worst: The Playlist's Complete Tribeca Film Festival Coverage

Oliver Lyttelton — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:38:00 GMT

That's it. It's a wrap. The Tribeca Film Festival is over for another 12 months. And while it was an improvement from years past, despite a promising line-up the festival proved to be somewhat disappointing: most of the best regarded films ("2 Days In New York," "Take This Waltz," Searching For Sugar Man" being three prime examples) had premiered elsewhere, while the more high-profile, star-laden of their world or North American exclusives landed with a thud.

However, even while the festival still grapples with its own identity, there were some real gems in the line-up: there are a few films that justify whatever else we had to sit through in the course of the last few weeks. And let's not forget the festival did secure "The Avengers" and "The Five-Year Engagement," two films we loved (though try and ask any civillian who got into either and you'll hear a lot of crickets). Below, you'll find our complete coverage from Tribeca, with links to all 42 of the festival films we reviewed, roughly from best to worst, with a smattering of interviews from the festival as well. In the meantime, here are three highlights from the festival beyond the films we already mentioned.

"Una Noche"
The media noise made outside of this striking and remarkable debut feature threatened to drown out the good word about the film itself, and with a dark irony in tow: two of the three lead Cuban actors went AWOL after they arrived in Miami en route to New York City. This is, of course, a drama about three teenagers that are trying to escape their desperate and impoverished situations in Cuba for the United States. Directed by newcomer Lucy Mulloy, who instantly falls on our director to watch list, the film won three major awards at Tribeca including Best New Narrative Director, Best Cinematography (well-deserved) and Best Actor In A Narrative Feature. More importantly the sun-kissed picture pops with genuine life-affirming electricity, palapable emotional energy and via an intimate camera that makes you feel you are in the midst of this poignant drama. While there's been no distributor announced yet, we imagine it can't be too long before it invades (and hopefully) takes over an art-house theater near you.

"As Luck Would Have It"
Admittedly, the last time Salma Hayek blew anyone away onscreen was in 2002's "Frida" by Julie Taymor, and aside from some diverting appearances on "30 Rock," we might have guessed her best days were behind her now that motherhood seems to be at the forefront. Directed by Spanish cult director Álex de la Iglesia ("El Crimen Perfecto," "The Last Circus"), with "As Luck Would Have It," he delivers darkly comic satire with a suprisingly emotional drama about a family's unconditional love. We called it one of the jewels of the festival and said it is "mordantly funny and sharp as a razor." Sold.

"Side By Side"
OK, technically, this film had its world premiere in Berlin, but your average filmgoer and film critic doesn't often have that luxury, so "Side By Side" was a North American premiere. Directed by Christopher Kenneally and starring the narrator and documentary tour guide Keanu Reeves (also one of the film's producers), "Side By Side" is a fascinating, utterly absorbing film about the science, art, and impact of digital cinema and how it's affecting celluloid, potentially making it extinct. The talent on board is an exciting who's who of everyone important in film. You have the early adopters and trailblazers, George Lucas, James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, Danny Boyle, Steven Soderbergh, David Fincher; the old school naysayers who want to shoot on film as long as they can, Christopher Nolan, Wally Pfister; and those who love film stock and the texture and grains it provides in the moving image, but are aware the digital revolution is making celluloid go the way of the dodo bird; folks like Martin Scorsese, editor Walter Murch ("Apocalypse Now"), cinematographer Michael Chapman ("Taxi Driver"), indie cinematographer Reed Morano and many more. From giving Anthony Dod Mantle his due (a Danny Boyle regular who won the first cinematography Oscar for a film primarily shot in digital, "Slumdog Millionaire") as the one of the first professional cinematographers to adopt digital cinema (for Thomas Vinterberg's "The Celebration" during the Dogme years) despite the ridicule, to illuminating about the photochemical process vs. the digital one, its revolutionary workflow and more, "Side By Side" is easily one of the most compelling documentaries of the year and a must-watch for anyone who has at least some vested interest in cinema and its future.

Alright, see you in Cannes in two weeks...

Reviews

"Take This Waltz" (A)
"Keep The Lights On" (A)
"As Luck Would Have It" (A)
"Una Noche" (A-)
"The Revisionaries" (A-)
"Nancy, Please" (A-)
"Searching For Sugar Man" (A-)
"Ballroom Dancer" (A-)
"Side By Side" (A-)
"Headshot" (A-)
"While We Were Here" (B+)
"Sleepless Night" (B+)
"Benji" (B)
"Graceland" (B)
"2 Days In New York" (B)
"Francophrenia" (B)
"Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal" (B-)
"Lola Versus" (B-)
"The Girl" (B-)
"Replicas" (B-)
"Babygirl" (B-)
"Queen: Days Of Our Lives" (B-)
"Supporting Characters" (C)
"Polisse" (C)
"Your Sister's Sister" (C)
"Hysteria" (C)
"Rubberneck" (C)
"Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr Movie" (C)
"Alekesam" (C)
"Beyond The Hill" (C-)
"Cheerful Weather For The Wedding" (C-)
"Room 514" (C-)
"Chicken With Plums" (C-)
"Mansome" (C-)
"Sexy Baby" (C-)
"Knife Fight" (D+)
"Jack And Diane" (D+)
"Free Samples" (D+)
"Deadfall" (D)
"Freaky Deaky" (D)
"Whole Lotta Sole" (D)
"The Giant Mechanical Man" (D-)
"Revenge For Jolly" (F)

Interviews/Panel Reports

Robert De Niro & Judd Apatow
Lucy Molloy ("Una Nocha")
Michael Jai White ("Freaky Deaky")
Bradley Rust Gray & Riley Keough ("Jack & Diane")
David Riker & Abbie Cornish ("The Girl")

LatinoBuzz: Latin American Films Take Center Stage at the Box Office, Sometimes

Vanessa Erazo — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:07:13 GMT

It’s rare for a film in Spanish or Portuguese to make it to a U.S. theater. Even within Latin America or Spain, it’s difficult for local films to compete against Hollywood blockbusters. Once in a while, against all odds, Latino films triumph at their local box office. Juan Carlos Rulfo’s De Panzazo (Barely Passing), a Mexican documentary that denounces the education system, clobbered Oscar-nominated films The Artist (ISA:Wild Bunch) in Mexico and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close taking in $870,000 on its opening weekend this past February. Last year’s Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven) (ISA:Latido Films) peaked as the second highest grossing film in its final weekend in Chilean theaters, beating out Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (ISA: Imagina) and the Green Lantern. It ended up being the highest grossing Chilean film of 2011. Directed by the renowned filmmaker Andrés Wood, it was selected as Chile’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and had its U.S. premiere at Sundance earlier this year. These successes are hard to come by, but a lucky few make it. Here are the most recent box office numbers on the Latino films that broke into the top ten.

Mexico

[REC]³ Génesis

The Spanish horror film [REC]³ Génesis (ISA:Filmax) reached number nine in Mexico making $350,251. The film is the 3rd sequel in the [REC] franchise. Quarantine was an American remake of the original [REC]. In the U.S. it will be released on Video on Demand on August 3, and a limited run in theaters starts September 7, 2012.

Argentina

Extraños en la noche

[REC]³ Génesis made less money in Argentina ($150,391), but reached a higher spot, as the sixth highest grossing film of the weekend.
Ninth place went to Extraños en la noche (Strangers in the Night), a locally produced romantic comedy about a young couple who work as musicians, unhappily performing for tourists.

Brazil

Xingu

Having premiered at Tribeca last week, Xingu (ISA:Rezo Films), a story about environmental activism and inspired by true events in a village of Brazilian Xingu Indians took the ninth spot making $246,772.

Spain

Grupo 7 (Unit 7)

Grupo 7 (Unit 7), a Spanish crime thriller about a police unit on an extremely dangerous special mission, came in at number nine with $282,116. It was just awarded a Special Jury Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival for Best Cinematography.

The most recent box office statistics available on Box Office Mojo for Latin America and Spain are from the weekend of April 20, 2012.

Extraños en la noche

Tribeca Review: 'Queen: Days Of Our Lives' Is A Good Overview Of The Classic Band's Career

Cory Everett — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:57:01 GMT

Compared to other mega-selling bands like say, The Beatles, the story behind Queen is not quite as widely known. Formed in London in the early ‘70s, the band was responsible for a slew of hits over the two decades or so, traversing genres from rock to opera to disco, sometimes within the same song, before singer Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in the early ‘90s. Told through archival footage and interviews with two of the band’s principal members, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor (bassist John Deacon has quietly refused to participate in any of the band’s recent activities since retiring a few years ago), “Queen: Days Of Our Lives” is a compelling overview of the classic band’s career. The group originally formed during college as an outfit called Smile before Mercury joined up and renamed the band which would eventually go on to record a series of massive hits including “We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions,” “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Under Pressure” among many others.

The doc moves quickly through this early period giving only a few minutes to the members' pre-band lives before getting right down to business. After a few brief recollections about early gigs, before we know it they’re already in the midst of recording their third album. That LP, Sheer Heart Attack was a breakthrough for the band. Featuring the hit “Killer Queen” and a more adventurous sound, it primed the way for the follow up, A Night At The Opera which contained probably the band’s defining work: “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the song that the record label didn’t want to hear but ended up catapulting the band to the top of the charts. Mercury insisted the single go out unedited and only by chance did it end up sneaking on to the air through a British DJ who loved it and spun the track repeatedly one weekend until other stations began demanding it as well.

The other talking heads the band’s roadies, producers and session players interspersed with a few curious interviews with writers from various rock magazines like NME who trashed the band at the time (and whose opinions don’t seem to have softened much in the ensuing years). Queen isn’t really a controversial band today, pretty much everybody likes at least a few of their singles, and they’re still omnipresent on classic rock radio and pop up on soundtracks and commercials. This writer first came across the band (probably like a lot of people around the same age) from the “Bohemian Rhapsody”-set opening of “Wayne’s World.” Without having any idea who this band was, what they looked like or even in what era they were active, the music (along with some Mike Myers-endorsed headbanging) sold itself. But the doc showed that at the time, they were not ever a “cool” band.

As interesting as it was to see that the band were critical punching bags for most of their career, even as they sold out stadiums all over the world, the amount of commentary given to a few rock writers takes away from time that could’ve been devoted to other things. Mercury is left as kind of a mysterious figure. None of the interviews included really dig deep to find out what really drove him from such a young age to be one of the world’s greatest frontmen or what it was like being flamboyantly homosexual during the '70s and '80s. Mercury may not be around today but surely interviews with his friends, family and bandmates might’ve helped to shed a little more light on what made him tick other than his pursuit of putting on a good show. It would have been nice to see some interviews with their contemporaries who adored the band despite their being “out of fashion” at the time. The film does check off the usual sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, but most of the backstage debauchery is only hinted at. This is just the facts, Jack, which may be why the doc feels a bit incomplete.

While ‘Days Of Our Lives’ hits all the highlights -- recording “Bohemian Rhapsody,” their “comeback” at Live Aid, etc. -- it still feels like there is so much missing here. Directed by Matt O’Casey, who is responsible for a series of television docs on famous groups including Blondie (“Blondie: One Way Or Another”), Fleetwood Mac (“Fleetwood Mac: Don’t Stop”) and The Beach Boys (“The Beach Boys: Wouldn’t It Be Nice”), the doc originally aired as a two-part special on the BBC broken up over two nights. The problem with docs of this sort is that the subject is so large, there is a feeling you’re always leaving out as much story as you’re getting. This film could’ve easily been six hours long, broken up into hour segments covering a different period in the band’s history but to condense twenty years of the band’s active history into two hours is bound to feel like skimming a great book. Like a Greatest Hits album, it’s a good place to start to get to know the band but in order to know what made them truly great, you’ve got to dig in for some deep cuts, which unfortunately this doc doesn’t. [B-]

But He's Such a Good Guy: When Will Tribeca Go To The Prom?

Jay A. Fernandez — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:08:29 GMT

We all know the criticism leveled at Tribeca each year: It's the event that all the girls really like but never date.

The Tribeca guy is decent and well-groomed, has real personality, he's cultured and bilingual, he's fun, family-friendly and tries to cater to everyone's needs.

But there's always the spontaneous, crazy guy (SXSW); the older, experienced guy (Sundance); the sexy European guy (Cannes); the elegant, borderline pretentious guy (Telluride); and the non-threatening business guy (Toronto). Even Tribeca's roommates, the New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Films, seem to get luckier.

But why does that seem to be the case? People genuinely like and appreciate what the directors -- who include chief creative officer Geoffrey Gilmore, artistic director Frederic Boyer, executive director Nancy Schafer and programming director Genna Terranova -- bring to New York's theaters for the 12-day event, which ended Sunday. They work hard and they have strong tastes, even as they are perpetually hamstrung by the festival's timing.

Gilmore was definitively more involved in programming this year and had a larger presence throughout; as for Boyer, observers are still waiting to see what he can do with a full year to prepare, assuming his contract is renewed through the 2013 iteration.

"I want to talk about quality of filmmaking, I want to talk about quality of stories," says Gilmore, who sees the marketplace as just one piece of a festival pie that is equally about the jury decisions, audience reaction and press/criticism. "I feel very strongly about the quality of what we did this year. A deep range of filmmaking is what we achieved."

But assessments from industry players -- including a collection of theatrical and VOD acquisition execs and distribution reps -- seem to break down into two distinct groups: Those who had films to peddle, and those who were looking for films to buy. In general, the former were exceptionally pleased; the latter came away with a resigned shrug.

One executive with films in the program declared the 2012 fest "pretty spectacular," with Gilmore's increased participation in press and screenings a boon for the filmmakers. Organization was smooth and the decrease in the number of films meant the festival could give better attention to those it chose to highlight (just 89 features at the 2012 edition).

At the same time, the Tribeca fest's eclectic audiences, which totaled some 116,000, were able to find the films they wanted to see -- particularly the ever-strong documentary selections.

IFC Films, Paladin and Sony Pictures Classics all saw their earlier acquisitions get a nice bump from their Tribeca premieres. IFC played "Your Sister's Sister," "Polisse" and "Trishna," which drew broad multi-cultural viewers; Paladin launched Morgan Spurlock's new documentary "Mansome" and SPC screened "Hysteria" and "Chicken With Plums." In each case, a Tribeca launch either provided much-needed awareness in a specific community or places the film in the bloodstream of a larger cultural conversation.

On the other hand, most buyers found the program lacking in strong prospects. "It's 'South By: The Sequel'," cracked one would-be buyer, who described the selection as "a disappointment." At the same time, he noted that the public platform Tribeca provides new filmmakers, with attendant press and flash, is one of its strongest assets. "Tribeca programs around ideas for the people of New York, not just for the industry, which is good," he says.

There was limited consensus on individual films, though Ramona S. Diaz's Journey documentary, "Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey" hit a populist chord that a targeted distributor could parlay into a minor hit. Among the other films that prompted praise beyond award-winners "War Witch" and "The World Before Her" were Alex Karpovsky's "Rubberneck," Eytan Fox's "Yossi," Lucy Mulloy's "Una Noche," Arnon Goldfinger's "The Flat" and Kat Coiro's "While We Were Here." The young Latina actress who stars in David Riker's "The Girl," Maritza Santiago Hernandez, also received high accolades.

Another buyer noted the festival's heavy cross-promotion of its VOD initiatives, with every screening proceeded by countless bumpers promoting Tribeca titles. "It feels more and more couched in the overall strategy of Tribeca's distribution initiatives while the festival itself is skewing somewhat artier on the high end, in part due to Boyer, and somewhat broader on the low end (i.e., "The Avengers")."

Gilmore admits that they are still trying to balance their self-promotional efforts, something that Toronto and Sundance have sought to do as well. "I wish we had talked about Tribeca Institute as a year-round business," he says. "Maybe in hindsight we could rethink how we play our trailers."

Perhaps the festival is angling for a Toronto feel in its attention to both lowbrow/highbrow programming that brings a certain amount of red-carpet action if not hot-market action. The market's slow pace stemmed in part from buyers' preparations for Cannes. With that ticking clock, it's simply hard to focus on Tribeca's program.

"No one's been eager to make a deal, that's for sure," said one VOD buyer. Buyers such as IFC Films, Magnolia, Oscillscope, Radius-TWC and others will inevitably find Tribeca projects to scoop up; Gilmore claims nearly 20 are in different stages of negotiation with distributors.

"It's absolutely important," says Gilmore, who points to a dealmaking environment that demands patience. "We also understand it's just one part of evaluating what a festival is. Of course we'd love to see more announcements. But that they'll take place in the near future is what I'd expect."

But even if the sales don't come, "you discover a lot of major talent there," says one exec. "We'll hear from them later."

And if one of those filmmakers turns out to be a Tarantino or Cholodenko or Soderbergh, Tribeca will finally be putting on a tux for the prom.

Criticwire at Tribeca: The Top Films and Performances Poll

Steve Greene — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:17:54 GMT

When we polled Criticwire members about their favorite films and performances four months ago at Sundance, there were clear favorites. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" was the runaway hit, as was its star Quvenzhané Wallis. The conspiracy documentary "Room 237" distinguished itself as the clear Criticwire favorite within the non-fiction category.

Our Tribeca poll lacks the same consensus. It may reflect the quality of the films or simply that different critics saw different movies. In the Narrative section, a third of the top films on our poll have an overall C+ average ("First Winter," "Room 514," and "Postcards from the Zoo"), further suggesting that the festival's buzz was somewhat diffused.

As with Sundance, we asked all Criticwire members at Tribeca to send their Top 5 lists in three categories: Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best Performance. (Critics could list fewer than five in each category.) Scores were tabulated on a simple weighted scale, with a first-place vote earning five points, second place earning 4 points, and so on.

Many of the films we highlighted in our first Tribeca recap have reappeared here. With the top two slots in the Narrative category and three Best Performances between them, "Yossi" and "Your Sister’s Sister" continue to be the standouts.

Some other interesting things to note from the results:

"Yossi" took the top spot after being named first in every ballot it appeared on, while Ohad Knoller finished as runner-up despite receiving no first-place votes.
After making the list of Sundance performers in "Keep the Lights On," Thure Lindhardt enjoyed a second wave of recognition for his role in the film after it played at Tribeca. Although he couldn’t quite crack the Top 8, if his score for the two festivals were added together, he would have snuck in right behind top vote-getter Val Kilmer, who won for "The Fourth Dimension."
The Keanu-Reeves-digital-vs.-film doc "Side by Side" graced the highest number of ballots overall. Even if the film wasn't near the top of enough of them to push it higher, it shows that we're not the only ones interested in the topic.

The full list of Tribeca ballots submitted by Criticwire members follows on the next page.

[LEGEND: Film or Performance: Number of Mentions - (First-Place Votes) - Aggregate Score]

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Yossi – 3 – (3) – 15

2. Your Sister’s Sister – 4 – (0) – 13

3. First Winter – 3 – (2) - 13

4. War Witch – 3 – (1) – 13

5. Una Noche – 4 – (0) – 12

6. Chicken with Plums – 3 – (2) – 11

7. Room 514 – 2 – (1) – 9

8. Postcards from the Zoo – 2 – (1) – 8

9. Graceland – 3 – (0) – 7

Also Receiving First Place Votes: “Resolution,” “Consuming Spirits,” “Cut,” “Nancy, Please,” “All In”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Planet of Snail – 4 – (3) – 18

2. Downeast – 4 – (2) – 17

3. High Tech, Low Life – 4 – (1) – 16

4. Side by Side – 5 – (1) – 12

5. Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story – 3 – (1) – 12

6. Francophrenia (or: Don't Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is) – 2 – (1) – 9

7. The Flat – 2 – (1) – 9

8. Searching for Sugar Man – 3 – (0) – 7

9. The World Before Her – 3 – (0) – 7

10. Wavumba – 3 – (0) – 7

Also Receiving First Place Votes: “The Revisionaries,” “Evocateur: the Morton Downey Jr. Movie,” “BAM150”

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Val Kilmer, “The Fourth Dimension” – 4 – (3) – 16

2. Ohad Knoller, “Yossi” – 3 – (0) – 12

3. Rachel Mwanza, “War Witch” – 3 – (2) – 11

4. Asia Neifeid, “Room 514” – 2 – (1) – 9

5. Emily Blunt, “Your Sister’s Sister” – 2 – (0) – 7

6. Juliette Binoche, “Elles” – 2 – (0) – 6

7. Mark Duplass, “Your Sister’s Sister” – 2 – (0) – 2

8. Alex Karpovsky, “Rubberneck” – 2 – (0) – 2

Erica Abeel

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Yossi

2. Polisse

3. Your Sister's Sister

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Karin Viard, “Polisse”

2. Mark Duplass, “Your Sister's Sister”

Joe Bendel, Libertas

Overall, this year’s slate has been significantly better than last year’s. The Cinemania selections in particularly have been more consistently entertaining. Even some of the misfires have at least gone down swinging. However, just about all the highlights came from other countries or involved American filmmakers working abroad. As has been the case at many recent major festivals, a smug lack of ambition continues to be a pronounced trend amongst the non-genre domestic indies.

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Cut

2. Headshot

3. Graceland

4. Whole Lotta Sole

5. Chicken with Plums

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. High Tech, Low Life

2. Journey to Planet X

3. Searching for Sugar Man

4. El Gusto

5. Side by Side

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Nopachai Jayanama, “Headshot”

2. Arnold Reyes, “Graceland”

3. Takashi Sasano, “Cut”

4. Ladya Cheryl, “Postcards from the Zoo”

5. Maria de Madeiros, “Chicken with Plums”

Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal / Green Cine Daily

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. First Winter

2. Certain People

3. Caroline and Jackie

4. Graceland

5. Resolution

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. The Flat

2. The Virgin, the Copts and Me

3. Wavumba

4. Searching for the Sugar Man

5. Everyman's Journey

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Val Kilmer, “The Fourth Dimension”

2. Yohanna Idha, “Certain People”

3. Alex Karpovsky, “Rubberneck”

4. Maugerite Moreau, “Caroline and Jackie”

5. Thure Lindhardt, “Keep the Lights On”

Jim Fouratt

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1 Room 514

2.War Witch

3.Una Noche

4. Any Day Now

5. Elles

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Downeast

2. The World Before Her

3. High Tech, Low Life

4. Burn

5. Wavumba

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Asia Neified, “Room 514”

2. Alan Cummings, “Any Day Now”

3. Riley Kepough, “Jack and Diane”

4. Thure Lindhardt, “Keep the Lights On”

5. Michele Marcelin, “Stones in the Sun”

Melissa Hanson, MovieBuzzers

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Yossi

2. Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal

3. Take This Waltz

4. Graceland

5. Replicas

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. BAM150

2. One Nation Under Dog

3. Side By Side

4. The Russian Winter

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Josh Close, “Replicas”

2. Ohad Knoller, “Yossi”

3. Emily Blunt, “Your Sister’s Sister”

Brandon Harris

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Postcards from the Zoo

2. Room 514

3. Two Days in New York

4. Supporting Characters

5. The Fourth Dimension

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Francophrenia

2. Downeast

3. Wavumba

4. Ballroom Dancer

5. The Revisionaries

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Val Kilmer, “The Fourth Dimension”

2. Asia Neifeld, “Room 514”

3. Tarik Lowe, “Supporting Characters”

4. Ladya Cheryl, “Postcards from the Zoo”

5. James Franco, “Francophrenia”

Eric Kohn, Indiewire

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Yossi

2. Your Sister’s Sister

3. First Winter

4. Rubberneck

5. Sleepless Night

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. The Revisionaries

2. Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story

3. Downeast

4. Journey to Planet X

5. The World Before Her

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Val Kilmer, “The Fourth Dimension”

2. Ohad Knoller, “Yossi”

3. Alex Karpovsky, “Rubberneck”

4. Mark Duplass, “Your Sister’s Sister”

5. Rachel Mwanza, “War Witch”

Gary M. Kramer

I saw 25 features in 6 days, many in the Spotlight program. Overall, the quality was good to very good, but few true standouts. My favorite films--FREE SAMPLES which really hit my sweet spot, and REVENGE FOR JOLLY!, which I howled through--were sleepers. I was also really taken with UNA NOCHE and EVOCATEUR. And that's what I love discovering at festivals. Biggest disappointments were JACK AND DIANE, a truly unwatchable film from a director I admired, and NANCY, PLEASE.

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Chicken with Plums

2. Una Noche

3. Free Samples

4. Revenge for Jolly!

5. Sleepless Night

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Evocateur

2. Francophrenia

3. Off Label

4. Turn Off the Lights

5. Mansome

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Jess Weixler, “Free Samples”

2. Ohad Knoller, “Yossi”

3. Guillaume Canet, “A Better Life”

4. Oscar Isaac, “Revenge for Jolly!”

5. Kate Bosworth, “While We Were Here”

John Lichman

Had a few directors and a critic tell me the sound in theaters 7/9 at Chelsea Clearview was terrible. Didn't think it was true till I saw Lola Versus there and it was horrendously flat.

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Consuming Spirits

2. The Girl

3. The Fourth Dimension

4. Any Day Now

5. Beyond The Hills

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Planet of Snail

2. High Tech, Low Life

3. Knife Trade

4. Meh

5. Anything aside from Morgan Spurlock's adventures in masturbation.

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Martiza Santiago Hernandez, "The Girl"

2. Abbie Cornish, "The Girl"

3. Bill Pullman, "Lola Versus"

4. Dylan Smith, "Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal"

5. Zhou Shuguang/Zhang Shihe, "High Tech Low Life"

Jordan Raup, The Film Stage

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Chicken with Plums

2. Sleepless Night

3. As Luck Would Have It

4. Your Sister's Sister

5. Cheerful Weather for the Wedding

Amy Taubin

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Nancy Please

2. War Witch

3. Una Noche

4. Deadfall

5. Babygirl

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Bookers Place

2. The List

3. Planet of Snail

4. The World Before Her

5. Side by Side

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Rachel Mwanza, “War Witch”

2. Rosa Arrendono, “Babygirl”

3. Daniel Arrechaga, “Una Noche”

4. Javier Nunez Florian, “Una Noche”

5. Serge Kanyinda, “War Witch”

Alan Zilberman

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

1. Resolution

2. Jackpot

3. Free Samples

4. Unit 7

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Planet of Snail

2. The Flat

3. Queen: Days of our Lives

4. Side by Side

BEST PERFORMANCE

1. Vinny Curran, “Resolution”

2. Peter Cilella, “Resolution”

3. Juliette Binoche, “Elles”

4. Jesse Eisenberg, “Free Samples”

5. Rachel Miner, “Replicas”

Tribeca Review: Morgan Spurlock's Crowd-Pleasing 'Mansome' Is Cute, But Unilluminating

The Playlist — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:41:28 GMT

What makes a man shave his chest? Sport a hirsute, ridiculously long and absurd-looking beard? Bleach his anus, thread his eyebrows or play around with his facial hair in any number of manscaping ways? These are some of the questions posed in Morgan Spurlock's latest cheery and congenial documentary, "Mansome."

And the music in Spurlock's documentaries of late are always a dead give-away of what's in store tone-wise (in case it’s not obvious): generally a jovial, breezy and blithe ol' time for what's usually an 80-minute trifle. And "Mansome," the documentarian’s latest, is an amiable look at male grooming, and therefore as a byproduct, masculinity too (though it's not a focus), and it falls safely and neatly into a pleasant tone.

Executive-produced by "Arrested Development" buddies Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, the doc frames itself around these two friends going to a spa and comically discussing and exploring the ideas of manhood and where male-grooming fits into the concept of modern masculinity, cutting back and forth to the duo as a clever device in between stories.

Featuring myriad talking heads, comedians like Judd Apatow, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifinakis, anthropologists, mustachioed directors like John Waters, the always-insufferable Adam Carolla, Old Spice guy Isaiah Mustafa, Spurlock himself and many more, one can't help but relate very subjectively to the look into the minutia of hair-grooming, especially if you're a male. "For lack of a better word, it's kind of gay," says Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian who himself sports a long billy-goat goatee, of the entire concept of manscaping and professional beard competitions. And frankly, this writer can't agree more, and that statement of Ian’s pinpoints the pointlessness of the topic at hand. It’s a cute obsession some of these people have, but the bulk of the testimonials kind of boil down to: “Who cares?” And that sentiment is one that many will be able to relate to.

While admittedly entertaining on a TV-like, channel surfing level, what should be a fascinating exploration of the male psyche, his security, lack thereof, sense of masculinity and appearance, instead tends to be a light and unenlightening look at these various topics often because the doc is focusing on the painfully trivial. Does male grooming mean men aren't men or is daily hygiene a fact of modern life? Do you have time to even care?

Told through various interviews of the famous and not so famous, while the doc visits old school barber shops, trendy salons and everything in between, much of the picture centers on two polar opposites, the professional beardsman, Jack Passion, who competes in a famous Austrian beard contest, and a former devoted Sikh turned New York metrosexual, and while both are comical extremes of their spectrums, its impossible to connect to either of them. The latter is deeply insecure, having endured wearing a turban during the difficult and humiliating teenage years and it's manifested in a metrosexuality that's gone way overboard. The former looks at himself as a philosophical symbol of old school gentlemanliness and virility, sporting a goofishly long red beard that he wears down to his waist. The irony is in the classic hunter/gatherer sense of a man, he is the ultimate example of our culture's quiet self-created emasculation as Caucasian wealth offers some the luxury of being entirely useless. This is a guy who for all intents and purposes is worthless, provides no function in society outside of sporting a beard. In Neanderthal times, this “man,” would likely be clubbed to death and fed to some lowly and hungry unwanted tribe.

Some time is spent with an elderly hairdresser who fashions ultra-realistic toupees that even fool wives, but the psychological trauma of being follically challenged is mostly a lost opportunity throughout. And mainly because it's not that cute, funny or ridiculously quirky or absurd, which is where the doc would rather devote its time.

While clearly delightful to some audiences, there is undoubtedly a facile and easygoing tone that runs throughout. While the doc occasionally raises interesting questions about the male psyche, it generally has no interest in answering and exploring them in any meaningful way. And this is fine and all since it’s largely by design, but funny and substantive are always going to be greater than cute and cursory.

So while all filmmakers are free to make the films they want to make, the genial, maybe even somewhat dopey, "Hey guys!" tone of Spurlock's films of late ("Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope" and this film) are so pleasant but slight they make one yearn for the years of the documentarian’s "serious" years with "Super Size Me" and the TV reality show "30 Days." Now Spurlock is a veritable documentary cottage industry with a sweet spot niche of banal pop-cultural subjects that seem to find easy funding, so he'll make what he wants to make, but not only do his docs feel like they're on a affable auto-pilot, they seem better suited for something you might enjoy at home in between commercials rather than something that deserves to be on the big screen potentially eating up precious doc film space.

Ironcially, Spurlock is quickly becoming the populist McDonald's fast food brand of documentaries, palatable, easy to digest for the layman, and not too fussy or complex. We can't wait for the documentaries about Pez dispenser collections or the obsession some have with Apple products. In a way, Spurlock takes steps closer to becoming the champion of everything inessential, speaking for an audience entirely made up of people with large disposable incomes. Ultimately, while superficially pleasant and entertaining, "Mansome" is just yet another look at man-children who can spare the time and luxury to be focused on their looks: a shallow and vain endeavour if there ever was one. [C-]

Tribeca 2012 Wrap, Must-Sees and Avoids: 'War Witch,' 'Una Noche,' 'Francophrenia' Come Out on Top; 'Lola' on Bottom

David D'Arcy — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:27:31 GMT

Tribeca 2012 is over. Here's my list of what was memorable out of this year's programme --and not.

RECOMMENDED

Among all categories, it usually paid off to see documentaries, obscure foreign films, and films that had been tested at other festivals...

"War Witch" dir. Kim Nguyen, Canada 2012 (Narrative Jury Winner, Best Film and Actress)

Nguyen’s violent journey through war-ravaged Congo, adapted from a story that took place in war-ravaged Burma, takes a girl through kidnap, combat and rape--- in shifting sequence, sometimes overlapping, always violent. Rachel Mwanza gives a performance that Hollywood can’t afford to ignore. As a portrait of a traumatized teen, this reaches much farther than "Precious." (at Berlinale 2012)

"Una Noche" dir. Lucy Milloy, UK/Cuba/USA 2012 (Best Actor, Cinematography, New Narrative Director)

Dead-end kids in the ruins of Havana – most of the city – scramble for crumbs as “civilized” tourists chase prostitutes. Is their flight in shark-filled waters part of Tribeca’s salute to Universal, which made Jaws? The view of Havana is so realistic, it’s a surprise that the Cuban government allowed the film to be shot there. (at Berlinale 2012)

"Unit 7 (Grupo 7)" – dir. Alberto Rodriguez, Spain , 2012 (Special Narrative Jury Mention)

Police fight drug gangs in historic Seville, as the city prepares to host the 1992 World Exhibition, in honor of Christopher Columbus’s voyage in 1492. It’s hard for street-fighting cops to preserve their integrity, but they do preserve the historic architecture of this wondrous city. No 17th century palaces were damaged in the making of this movie?

"Francophrenia" dirs. Ian Olds / James Franco, USA, 2012

James Franco at a shoot for General Hospital triggered this “experiment,” which proves that lights, a star and editing and a shake-well-and-serve approach can turn a rejected episode appearance into a “cutting edge” formal probe of the boundaries of cinema. There must be a PhD thesis on the way. Does Franco have time to write that, too?

"The List" dir. Beth Murphy, USA, 2012

Kirk Johnson worked on infrastructure projects during the Iraq War, and learned that US tax dollars didn’t create the infrastructure to protect Iraqis who worked for the US there. Many of them die in retribution as Johnson struggles to help those left behind. No good deed goes unpunished, once again.

"The Flat" dir. Arnon Goldfinger, Israel, 2011

Arnon Goldfinger helps his mother empty his German-born grandparents’ apartment in Tel Aviv, and he finds that the couple who fled Germany were friends with a Nazi propagandist who worked for the SS, and that this friendship endured even after the Holocaust. Try to find stranger bedfellows. Goldfinger’s family archaeology takes him into a fascinating maze of memories, and to the denial of troubling historical facts by some people whom he meets.

"Yossi" dir. Eytan Fox, Israel, 2012

Israel had one of the strongest delegations at Tribeca this year. "Yossi" is the sequel to "Yossi & Jagger," Fox’s 2002 drama about gay love at an Israeli army outpost. His latest follows the surviving soldier of that couple, a cardiologist, into hospital rooms and on a long journey with today’s soldiers. Poignant and clever, it’s a wry comedy, and a reflection on casualties in a country that exalts its military and lives with war.

"Room 514" dir. Sharon Bar-Ziv, Israel 2012 (Special Jury Mention)

A young ballsy investigator probes into mistreatment of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, and finds the tables turned on her. Sharon Bar-Ziv shot his drama in one room on a tiny budget. It is a gripping work of theater, and deft editng of close-ups in a confined space make it a subtle work of cinema.

"The Revisionaries" dir. Scot Thurman, USA 2012 (Special World Doc Jury Mention)

Don’t send your children to school in Texas, but if it’s already to late, beware of the science textbooks, unless you think that dinosaurs walked with men at the same time 6000 years ago. Scott Thurman takes us to meetings of the Texas Board of Education as they agree on language used in textbooks which will be published to met the clients’ requirements, and used to teach millions of students in Texas and elsewhere. And you thought the problem was that Dan Quayle couldn’t spell potato.

"Any Day Now" Travis Fine, USA 2012 (Audience Award Best Feature)

A drag queen and a handsome prosecutor find love in 1970’s LA, but they can’t convince any court in California to allow then to take care of a teenager with Down Syndrome who’s abandoned when his junkie mother is taken off to prison. Allan Cumming as a queen with an invincible conscience keeps this from being a tear-fest. The hair and suits from those days in this prequel to the equal rights debates of later decades are also good for laughs.

"Booker’s Place" dir. Raymond DeFelitta, US 2012

This doc builds on DeFelitta’s father’s network doc from 1965 in which a proud black waiter in Mississippi speaks frankly about how he smiles in the face of racism. This is as tame as you can imagine in the days of Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, but it led to a campaign of vindictive violence which may have gotten Booker Wright killed (or saved his killer from execution) in 1973. Parts of this film are heartbreaking- what’s encouraging is that Wright passed his bravery and honest on to later generations.

"Consuming Spirits" dir. Chris Sullivan, USA 2012

This epic gothic tale is handmade, every frame of it, and the music sounds as if it was improvised in a room with Sullivan leading the voices. Every taboo is under attack here in a probe of local crime and culture that Faulkner would have enjoyed. Sullivan is a master of the grotesque, with the driest of wit. Consuming Spirits is an original – and one of the best at Tribeca 2012.

THE DISAPOINTMENTS

"Lola Versus" dir. Daryl Wein, USA 2012

Greta Gerwig can’t save this jilted bride romantic comedy from being a trite silly bore. Actors in an impromptu improv with no script could have done a better job making fun of Sundance-style musical beds. Will it disappear like most trash? "Lola Versus" is getting a theatrical release, one of the few films at Tribeca to achieve that.

"Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie" dir. Daniel A. Miller USA, 2012

The title makes you think of a film that might have been made by Andre Techine. The doc looks like it was made by Andre the Giant. A missed opportunity for scrutinizing Downey and the audience that made him popular. Still, Downey is a great poster child for the campaign against smoking.

"First Winter" dir. Benjamin Dickinson," USA 2012

This feature debut takes a group of young yoga freaks and puts them in a country house with no heat -- and no script. As the food runs out, things turn bad, but not much happens. Even if this film makes no money, and it won’t, DP Adam Newport-Berra will take his extraordinary indoor and outdoor work here to the bank.

Tribeca Be Over! Here's 20 Posts To Remember It By

The Lost Boys — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:51:28 GMT

The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival came to a close yesterday. Here's a bunch of stuff to remember it by!

And once again, a big fat calorie free thank you to the sponsor of The Lost Boys @ Tribeca, Diet Coke:

"The Avengers" Premieres at Tribeca, Weirdly Enough

Austin Dale — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:49:31 GMT

Remember when the Tribeca Film Festival hosted the World Premiere of "New York Minute," the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen vehicle? The U.S. premiere of "The Avengers" at BMCC Tribeca on Saturday falls into place as Tribeca's 2nd most egregious bow towards movie stars regardless of their merit. And that's sad. I can think of countless other major films in need of visibility who would have no doubt been aided by a gala slot. What does "The Avengers" gain from a Tribeca gala? It's already one of the most anticipated movies of 2012.

First of all, in purely technical terms, a film like this shouldn't be playing at Tribeca. The BMCC's theater is basically a junior high auditorium, an unlikely atmosphere for a Hollywood premiere of this scale. The screen is tiny, and the audience in the rear might as well have seen this big, bombastic superhero epic at home on a TV with tinny speakers and running commentary from a talkative aunt. Marvel is planning to break box office records here. Even though I didn't love the film, I still believe it warrants a gala premiere on par with its aim as the be-all-and-end-all of superhero blockbusters. Perhaps the film would have won me over, at least on a visual level, in a more cinematic space. I mean, come on. They even left some of the lights on in the theater.

Obstensibly, as Robert Downey Jr. put it when introducing the film, the reason for this Tribeca premiere was to honor New York's "real heroes," the 9/11 first-responders, who sat in the front row and received a standing ovation. It was a dignified moment we've come to expect from Tribeca, which took it upon itself to launch a new downtown cultural tradition in the aftermath of the WTC attacks. But "The Avengers" is, if anything, a film that plays with our emotions about 9/11 with about as much dignity as "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" did. "The Avengers" bases its show-stopping showdown in midday Manhattan to exploit New Yorkers' 9/11 memories. The enemies swoop down from the sky, kill thousands of innocent New Yorkers and blast off the faces recognizable landmarks. Instead of writing superheroes who use their strengths to fight for good in Marvel's expansive fictional universe, Whedon breaks the fourth wall, brings the story into our world and aligns the superheroes with the NYPD. I'm guessing he was attempting to give "The Avengers" a departure from the fabulously entertaining comic book frivolity of its first two acts and wrap up with some quick and easy real-world drama, but it's not really a ploy I liked being dragged into, even when there's some distracting jokes.

Full disclosure: I don't know the first thing about superhero movies - The last one I watched all the way through was "Spiderman 2" - so I actually don't know whether this sort of reimagining of 9/11's carnage is commonplace, but it didn't really sit right with me. I'm happy to suspend my disbelief if an comic book movie earns it, but that doesn't mean I'll surrender my bullshit meter as well.

The Lost Boys @ Tribeca, brought you by Diet Coke. Diet Coke is giving away free Tribeca screenings online. Just go to Tribecafilm.com and hit the “Shift” and “X” keys at the same time and a special film will be unlocked for you to view. Do it now!

Here is Everything You Need to Know About the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival

Nigel M Smith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:24:48 GMT

The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival came to a close on Sunday. Indiewire was on the scene for the 11th edition of the event. Below find all of Indiewire's coverage, in addition to that of our Blog Network.

Winners

'War Witch' and 'The World Before Her' Take Top Prizes at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Kim Nguyen's "War Witch" and Lucy Mulloy's "Una Noche" were the big winners of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival narrative competition, while Nisha Pahuja's "The World Before Her" took the top documentary competition prize at the fest.

Interviews

Juliette Binoche Talks About Her Personal Connection to 'Elles,' Masturbating on Film, and What Scares Her
"Habit would scare me. Of being sure of yourself would scare me. Not being frightened would scare me. Not working with intelligent people would scare me."

'Cheerful Weather' Star Elizabeth McGovern Talks 'Downton Abbey' and Why She Left America
"Just looking at "Downton Abbey" I'll be standing in a room with Penelope Wilton and Maggie Smith, and I'm just thinking, 'How did I get so lucky?' That wouldn't happen in America. But it was never anything that I manipulated, just total dumb luck."

Chris Colfer Talks His Screenwriting Debut 'Struck By Lightning,' and Explains Why He Didn't Cast His 'Glee' Co-Stars
"I honestly wrote this script on set on 'Glee,' in between scenes, in between lighting setups on set. Which doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but we’re there so much it actually was quite a bit of time to sit down and write. I just wrote it on set."

'While We Were Here' Breakout Jamie Blackley Talks Bulking Up for '300' Prequel
"To be honest with you, it still doesn't make sense now. I'm just going to keep on and keep myself myself. I just want to make a good impression, really."

Meet the Filmmaker Series

Get to Know 39 Tribeca Film Festival Filmmakers
Indiewire invited directors with films in the Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition and Viewpoints section to take part by submitting responses to a series of questions in their own words.

Reviews

Here Are 15 Reviews of Tribeca Film Festival Titles
Indiewire was on the scene at this year's Tribeca Film Festival to grade this some of the most anticipated titles and hidden gems playing at the event.

The Lost Boy's Tribeca Coverage

Go HERE for The Lost Boy's coverage of the festival.

The Playlist Tribeca Coverage

Go HERE for The Playlist's coverage of the festival.

Thompson on Hollywood's Tribeca Coverage

Go HERE for TOH!'s coverage of the festival.

Criticwire's Tribeca Coverage

Go HERE for Criticwire's coverage of the festival.

The Top 4 Great Gay Moments at the Tribeca Film Festival

Austin Dale — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:22:00 GMT

1. Kylie Minogue's "Jack and Diane" Cameo

Bradley Rust Gray's lesbian werewolf movie "Jack and Diane" would have been plenty gay even without an appearance by the international pop diva, but a Kylie Minogue cameo could launch a film devoid of all things gay into the highest homo stratospheres. And Kylie went all the way with this one, playing a tattooed lesbian rocker. It's not like she needed any confirmation as the world's greatest gay icon, but damn, she looked ferosh. Work, Kylie! We love you!

2. "Any Day Now" Takes an Audience Award!

2012 is turning out to be a pretty good year for gay films with festival filmgoers. Audiences at the Berlin Film Festival voted for the Serbian gay dramedy "The Parade," and Tribeca's audiences fell in love with the courtroom drama "Any Day Now." It's about a pair of unlikely gay parents in 70's Los Angeles, fighting for custody of the abused child with Down's Syndrome who lives next door. Check out our interview with the movie's star, Alan Cumming, here!

3. "Keep The Lights On" has an Emotional NYC Premiere

I believe that being a gay man in New York is different from being gay somewhere else. "Keep The Lights On" is a New York film about men who fall in love in the years after AIDS ravaged the city's gay community. It's a story steeped in New York history, and it resonated beautifully with a Tribeca audience packed with NYC's gay community. (And I think I also saw Lou Reed there!) And at the end of the screening, director Ira Sachs brought fifty members of the cast and crew to the stage! It was great to be there.

4. Alan Cumming Wearing "Beetlejuice Pants" in the Press Lounge

I just wish there was a picture.

Here Are 15 Reviews of Tribeca Film Festival Titles

Indiewire — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:47:59 GMT

Indiewire was on the scene at this year's Tribeca Film Festival to grade this some of the most anticipated titles and hidden gems playing at the event. Below find 15 reviews of films that screened at the festival:

"2 Days in New York"
Julie Delpy's genial 2007 directorial effort "2 Days in Paris" worked well enough; it delivered a small, uncomplicated romantic comedy and never left that safety zone. Her next film, "2 Days in New York," repeats the same formula so specifically that it's practically the same movie imported to a new setting.

"The Avengers"
A movie that yells at you and geeks out in equal measures, the Marvel-Paramount excursion marks the triumphant climax of a five-year effort to merge several tentpole movies into a single explosive whole.

"Deadfall"
"Deadfall," an understated, slow-burn thriller, doesn't reinvigorate those rules but illustrates their lasting value. Director Stefan Ruzowitzky ("The Counterfeiters") takes an inoffensively straightforward approach to first-timer Zach Dean's old-fashioned screenplay, turning its blunt character types and derivative scenarios into enjoyable pulp fodder.

"Downeast"
Over the course of their five non-fiction features, Redmon and Sabin have demonstrated a tremendous ability to convey social problems with a straightforward véríte approach. At the same time, the duo -- credited for shooting and editing their films as well as directing them -- infuse most scenes with provocative imagery that transcends the specifics of the scenario.

"Jack & Diane"
It turns out the "lesbian werewolf" hype was an extreme misnomer, but the beast that Diane imagines for herself represents her psychological instability to an excessively cryptic effect, and looks fearsome enough to legitimize her frustrations. One might call it Grey's "Requiem for a Dream," but that overstates its significance. "Jack and Diane" showcases a terrific filmmaker tripping over his own daunting material.

"Journet to Planet X"
Because Swain and Bernier aren't career-oriented filmmakers, "Journey to Planet X" is an ode to the value of hobbies. It just happens that this hobby involves absurd sci-fi ingredients and terrible green screen effects, although "Journey to Planet X" never portrays the project in a derogatory manner. The directors' commitment to their filmmaking as an escape from the mundane suburban reality that consumes the rest of their days recalls the medieval role players in "Darkon," while the commitment to the process against all odds imbues the documentary with shades of "American Movie."

"Keep the Lights On"
On a most basic level, the movie begs comparison to last year's breakout queer drama, "Weekend." Certainly "Keep the Lights On" maintains a similarly mournful quality, but it whereas "Weekend" portrayed two men falling in love in spite of their divergent philosophies, Sachs emphasizes his characters' struggle to maintain a commitment that may have run it course.

"Lola Versus"
"Lola Versus" deserves the bulk of the ire being misdirected at the new HBO series "Girls," which at least deals with its overprivileged young white urbanities in a (some might say radically) self-aware fashion. By comparison, even when "Lola Versus" nails that sense of free-falling in the wake of a lifestyle shake-up, it's inoffensively familiar. Funny moments abound, but it never strays from predictability. With its blasé resolution and a tidy lineup of sitcom-ready characters, the best thing one can say about "Lola Versus" is that it successfully underwhelms.

"Nancy, Please"
Competently shot to accentuate the uncomfortable tone, it never earns its dedication to making Paul so utterly despicable, although Semans ably constructs his anti-hero's worldview in a way that makes it difficult to realize the limitations of his perspective until the very end.

"The Revisionaries"
First-time director Thurman avoids the trappings of didactic filmmaking by rooting his issue-driven movie in entertaining personalities and an engaging visual style that contrasts lovely images of Texas nature with the darker qualities of the feuds at hand. Despite the regional nature of the movie, the conversations threaded throughout the movie echo larger divisions in society, allowing "The Revisionaries" to address vast educational concerns with a broad philosophical scope.

"Rubberneck"
For those unfamiliar with Karpovsky's work, "Rubberneck" only works as a generally watchable, sometimes confounding genre exercise. Karpovsky emulates Hitchcock with a lot more restraint than Brian DePalma brought in his prime. But while the movie suffers from a dry and ponderous first hour, it quietly builds velocity for its compelling finale, including a "Psycho"-like revelation that redefines everything from before.

"Supporting Characters"
"Supporting Characters" struggles with the issue of whether Nick deserves to sort out his issues or simply cope with them once they blow up in his face. By the end, it's clear that he's only the smartest guy in the room because he insists on it; the illusion fades whenever someone else speaks up. That's the essence of Karpovsky's best work.

"The World Before Her"
As a conversation starter, "The World Before Her" gets the job done. By virtue of the topic and interviews, Pahuja showcases plenty of tensions between old world values and idealistic goals. That's hardly enough to make its narrative persistently alluring or emotionally sound.

"Yossi"
If "Yossi and Jagger" explored the restrictive framework of Israeli society, its reverberations have been interiorized by the star of the sequel. It's as if the first movie plays on an endless loop in his mind until someone finally rescues him from the void. Yossi's salvation comes from the progress around him. Although more advanced to have purely symbolic value, Yossi is nevertheless an eloquent representation of Israeli society coming to terms with itself.

"Your Sister's Sister"
While not an unbridled crowdpleaser on par with "Humpday," this smaller achievement is endearing for other reasons.

Tribeca Fest: Controversial Art Doc 'Portrait of Wally,' Audience Award Winners

Anne Thompson — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:15:44 GMT

Andrew Shea's art doc 'Portrait of Wally,' which documents the tug-of-war surrounding a controversial Egon Schiele painting, played at Tribeca Saturday night, and earned some strong early reviews:

Variety:

It's the rare film about art that warrants the warning label "bombshell," but "Portrait of Wally" isn't just about stolen art: It's about cultural skulduggery, political sleaze, institutional hypocrisy and the virtues of persistence. Turning over rocks in and around the New York art world, helmer Andrew Shea finds a lot of ugly stuff while chronicling what amounts to a 60-year hostage drama centered around the Egon Schiele oil painting that gives the film its title. Docu may have a tough time breaking out of its art niche, but will scandalize auds who take the plunge.

THR:

A blow-by-blow account of an art-world scandal with far-reaching implications, Andrew Shea's Portrait of Wally may be too narrowly focused for some viewers, but offers an engaging narrative and high-profile subject that should attract audiences at fests and in specialized theatrical bookings.

Here's the LAT's 2005 coverage of the case: and NPR's original audio report by David D'Arcy, one of the film's producers, who stopped working for NPR afterwards, complete with subsequent MoMA-dictated "corrections."

Meanwhile the festival announced its audience awards for documentary and narrative films. They went to "BURN," about Detroit firefighters, and "Any Day Now," a family drama about two men in the 70s, respectively. The festival ends Sunday.

Eytan Fox's "Yossi": The Best Film I Saw At Tribeca

Peter Knegt — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:09:20 GMT

I wasn't the biggest fan of Eytan Fox's 2002 film "Yossi & Jaggar." A love story between two male Israeli soldiers, it was most certainly an affecting, sexy portrait of a doomed gay relationship in a very specific milieu. But I found it a little too soap-operatic, a little too unrealized...

Ten years later, however, it is clear that Fox has matured significantly as a filmmaker with his sequel of sorts to "Yossi & Jaggar," titled simply "Yossi." It's a lovely little film about grief and aging and life's second chances.

World premiering at Tribeca, the film plays like a sort of Israeli cross between Tom Ford's "A Single Man" and Andrew Haigh's "Weekend." Ohad Knoller reprises his role of the now singular title character, now an overweight, closeted 34 year old doctor living in Tel Aviv. Still struggling with the tragic events that came at the end of the first film (spoiler alert: Jagger died), Yossi lives a sad, lonely life.

The film's first act establishes his rather pathetic routine: He works a lot, he masturbates to bad gay porn, he eats shitty food, and in one of the film's saddest, best scenes, he meets dudes off the internet by utilizing a misrepresentative photo from a good 5 or 6 years ago.

But thankfully for Yossi, it gets better. After he randomly meets a group of young Israeli soldiers, "Yossi" gives us a hopeful second act set on an Israeli resort. It is here a romance begins between Yossi and Tom (the ridiculously gorgeous sexpot that is Oz Zehavi), which slowly brings life back into Yossi's faded mojo. While that's certainly a storyline we've seen before, "Yossi" is a handed with such restraint and tenderness by Fox (and Knoller, who gives a fantastic performance) that that doesn't matter. It also lacks the soap-operatics of "Jagger," and feels wholly complete as the screen fades to black and the your heart jumps for Yossi and perhaps finds a little more hope for itself.

Tribeca Review: 'Knife Fight' Is Political Mud-Slinging For Dummies

Gabe Toro — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:22:00 GMT

For those of you who felt “Ides Of March” was entirely too cerebral and challenging, here comes the dunderheaded “Knife Fight.” A political satire that treads no new ground, this name-heavy comedy wastes an engaging central performance by Rob Lowe, who is completely game to play all sides of the political machine, swinging from the gubernatorial rafters like a contemporary “Phantom Of The Paradise,” bent on sabotaging his opposition, screwing the system and leaving little more than scorched earth for his clients to walk over.

Lowe is Paul Turner, a strategist nearly surgically attached to his Blackberry. His clients include an aw-shucks Kentucky governor with a penchant for extramarital relations (Eric McCormack, miscast) and a California senator staring sexual blackmail in the face (David Harbour). Providing damage control for both, Turner and his young assistant (Jamie Chung) are naturally inclined fight dirty to protect both of them.

The dirty fight, in this case, involves slander and discredit. “Knife Fight” and last year’s “Ides Of March” seem to push forward the narrative that, for rich white men to succeed, young women need to be fed to the machine. The problem is, neither film seems to understand the weight, or even the darkly comic potential, of such an idea. “Ides Of March,” like many other lesser political films prior, simply skated by with the tacit acknowledgement that “this is how things work,” which did little to expose the misogynist notions prevalent in the political world, instead finding more interesting material in the idea of once-principled white men compromising their values. Yawn.

“Knife Fight” doesn’t even approach that level, as Turner gives no second thought to bringing up past prostitution arrests and prior drug use in the accusers’ past. It backfires in one instance, while in the other case it results in the suicide attempt of an aide just because she once snorted a line of cocaine. Turner attempts to destroy this girl’s life without a second thought, but when it leaves blood on his hands, he’s distraught. It’s the typical trope of a heartless efficiency machine suddenly held accountable for his actions and growing a heart, and it’s entirely unconvincing. The film Lowe is acting in is a scabrous political satire where people do anything to succeed. Not only is “Knife Fight” meant to show the arc of a man distraught about his life decisions, but it completely fumbles the ball in a last act reversal that again shows the ugliness of the political arena, and how Turner continues to sleep well at night.

A San Francisco free-clinic nurse (Carrie-Anne Moss) powers the last act of the film, a principled, low-profile candidate who enters the California state senate race with no prior experience. Turner’s attempts to dissuade her from running are unheeded, and suddenly he finds himself advising a campaign with a chance to do something other than merely keep the wheels moving. At this point, “Knife Fight” shifts gears from an entirely cynical comedy about the incestuous political system to a happy-go-lucky film about ambitious go-getters reinventing the system. Either way, it’s implausible, as the film can’t help but show its seams as a cheap, somewhat amateurish production, utilizing as-few-as-possible extras and limited locations (it's also obnoxiously, and perhaps unintentionally, scored like a bad campaign commercial) despite a story that spans an entire country.

In Turner’s moments of crisis, he sits down clandestinely with an older independent investigator who digs up the dirt so his hands stay clean. That character’s played with a salt-and-pepper beard by Richard Schiff, in a mini-”West Wing” reunion, and the two of them have an easy rat-a-tat chemistry that comes naturally from old friends (or, in this case, people who spent multiple years together on a television series). These scenes crackle with low-key wit, the two of them intellectually appealing as they map out otherwise barbaric plans. It's a hint of the cutthroat, honest movie "Knife Fight" could have been, and not the compromised, wet blanket lecture for which it settles. [D+]

Tribeca Review: 'Una Noche' A Funny, Bawdy, Hopeful Debut Picture From Lucy Mulloy

Gabe Toro — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:16:00 GMT

There’s a youthful energy running through “Una Noche” that threatens to overwhelm, from it’s sun-kissed first image to its final moments on the sands of the beach. Alive and vibrant, Lucy Mulloy’s often bawdy first feature is narrated by Lila, a blossoming teenage girl confused by her sexuality, alienated from the local girls. The language is Spanish, but teenage cruelty is universal, as her peers mock her slight body hair and tomboyish interest in taekwondo.

Lila shares a deep bond with her twin brother Elio, though he has grown distant. She watches as he slaves away in the kitchen of a Cuban hot spot, serving over-privileged tourists as they eat under the safety of vigilant guards. Elio and Lila’s family can starve, and no one would bat an eyelash. But when Elio’s best friend Raul is approached by a young British girl for directions, men with guns converge to ensure he doesn’t even breathe on her improperly.

Raul works in the same kitchen Elio, forming a bond that in some ways has replaced the closeness of the two siblings. While they count the hours, Lila is stuck at home, watching her father and mother argue, only venturing outside to vicariously pursue the secrets of others. A spark lights inside her when she sees her father leave their home to seduce a local woman. She watches them embrace and is confused. She sees them kiss and is repulsed. She remains, as the two curse each other in passion and he mounts his mistress against the wall.

Elio is broad-chested and carries a wide, contagious smile, a beautiful boy with open features and gentle hands who vows to stay out of trouble. Raul is his fractured mirror image, dark, brooding, sexy and youthful like the “edgy one” in a boy band, quick to throw a punch or toss insults anyone’s way. Or, ahem, to “spit game” as he immediately corners Lila like a tiger, immediately intrigued by this take-no-shit tomboy. Raul’s sexuality fascinates: clearly uncomfortable around homosexuals, and deeply attracted to women, he nonetheless seems to figure out far too late that a prostitute he attempts to seduce is transgendered. In a quieter moment, one of few, he speaks admiringly of Lila’s light arm hair.

Lila soon learns that Elio and Raul have made big plans. Together, they’ve been assembling the supplies to build a raft, long ago reasoning that a ninety-mile distance wasn’t impossible to reach. Raul, caring for his dying mother, believes he has the opportunity to find the father who long abandoned him. But a gruesome freak accident sends a tourist to the hospital, sending Raul fleeing. The timetable accelerates considerably, and at the mid-point of “Una Noche,” it kickstarts into something of a high-octane, no-budget heist movie. Raul and Elio evade the police as they procure a laundry list of necessary items, now in danger for Raul’s innocent mistake as well as their theft of a considerable amount of supplies.

Despite the bleakness at the center of “Una Noche,” it’s focus stays squarely on Raul and Elio. Despondent over his mother’s illness, Raul spends a large portion of the picture at the bottom of a bottle, and while some moments of the picture carry strong momentum, there’s far too much time of Raul spent sullen, essentially absent from the narrative. A crisis of conscience emerges from leaving his mother behind, though this point is belabored. “Una Noche” doesn’t ever really drag, though there’s so much packed into that first forty five minutes or so that any rote contemplation would feel like a massive shift in tone, if only to relay information we can already understand. Raul’s drunken detour does give a chance for Elio to take him to a local witch doctor, in a moment that feels like authentic local color than a quick punch line.

There’s been a bit of a scandal surrounding the lead actors of “Una Noche,” as they arrived from Cuba for the Tribeca Film Festival but opted to stay in Miami, avoiding the trip back. While the film may be the text, it’s impossible to not watch “Una Noche” and feel those pangs of bittersweet emotions, knowing that these actors have found the happiness of which their characters fought. It’s a tender coda to a film that is at times funny, heartfelt, naughty and nice, a tale of three youngsters who deserve better than the forces that limit them, the corruption that eats away at their powerfully-beating hearts. [A-]

New Yorkers, Go Get Yourself a Free Diet Coke!

The Lost Boys — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:10:00 GMT

Alright so, yes, Diet Coke is sponsoring the Lost Boys coverage of Tribeca so it's hard to appear objective in this suggestion, but: There's a Diet Coke sampling truck handing out free bottles somewhere in Manhattan this weekend.

a) I can say with complete honesty that my go-to caffeinated cold beverage was Diet Coke well before I had this blog.

b) Who doesn't like free things?

So tweet the hashtag #TheAdMadeMeDoIt and Diet Coke will direct message you the location of this:

They'll be there today and tomorrow.

Tribeca Announces TAA Creative Promise Winners

Aaron Bogert — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:11:35 GMT

The winners for the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Awards were announced last night. Winners included Jeff Barnaby's "Rhymes for Young Ghouls," while Yoruba Richen's "The New Black" took home the prize for documentary. Each project received $10,000, as well as an original piece of art from a contemporary artist.

Go HERE for the rest of the winners in the narrative and documentary competition.

Full press release and list of winners & grantees below:

[New York, NY – April 27, 2012] –The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced the winners of the Tribeca All Access (TAA) Creative Promise Awards presented by Time Warner at a ceremony last night. The narrative Rhymes for Young Ghouls and the documentary The New Black were selected from 11 projects based on the strength of their vision and filmmaking promise. Each project received$10,000, as well as an original piece of art from a contemporary artist. Rhymes for Young Ghouls took home Stephen Hannock’s Study: A Recent History of Art in Southern California (Mass MoCA #169), 2012 andThe New Black received Hugo Tillman’s The Echeverria, 2008. The Institutealso announced this year’sTAA alumni grants and fellowships during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. The grants, all presented last night, total $92,000 in funds.

Now in its ninth year, TAA was created to help foster and nurture relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities. The 2012 TAA Creative Promise narrative jurors were Rosario Dawson, Cuba Gooding, Jr., MekhiPhifer, and GaboureySidibe. The award’s documentary jurors were Claire Aguilar, Julie Goldman, Eugene Hernandez, Jean Tsien, and Debbie Zimmerman.

“Tribeca All Access represents a community of truly remarkable artists, and we are proud to support both the completion and effective dissemination of their work,” said Beth Janson, Executive Director of TFI.

This year’s Tribeca All Access Creative Promise winners included:

TAA Creative Promise Award for Narrative

Rhymes for Young Ghouls

This filmis a raucous coming of age tale about Aila, a young Mi’gMaq girl embroiled in the family drug trade who is coping with the suicide of her mother and the recent release of her imprisoned father.

Jeff Barnaby (writer/director); John Christou & Aisling Chin-Yee (producers)

TAA Creative Promise Award for Documentary

The New Black

Thisdocumentary uncovers the complicated and often combative histories of the African-American and LGBT civil-rights movements.

Yoruba Richen (director); Yvonne Welbon & Angela Tucker (producers)

TAA Creative Promise Honorable Mention for Narrative

Bypass

20 year-old Katie is popular, high-achieving and obese, but all of this is about to change when she undergoes a series of radical gastric and plastic surgeries. BYPASS is a modern day twist on Frankenstein in which the protagonist is herself both creator and monster.
Liliana Greenfield-Sanders (writer/director); Amy Basil & Rowen Riley (producers)

TAA’s programming and support for alumni this year included grants and fellowships for past TAA projects in development or new works by program alumni. The following grant recipients were announced:

AA Alumni Documentary Grants

Support made possible by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The Path

In a dusty Pakistani village lives an 80 year-old barber who has rescued over 8,000 kidnapped children. The Path follows his journey from personal barber to Pakistan’s president to savior of thousands.

SenainKheshgi (director/producer); Rasheed Ahmed (producer, Pakistan)

Out Run

Thisfeature documentary follows two pioneering LGBT activists in conservative parts of the world as they undertake highly visible and dangerous new struggles as openly gay candidates running for public office.

S. Leo Chiang & Johnny Symons (directors/producers)

TAA OnTrack Grants

A grant to assist TAA alumni with the completion of their past TAA project or further the development of a new work-in-progress.

God Loves Uganda(Documentary)

This documentary isa journey into the heart of East Africa, where Ugandan pastors and their American counterparts spread God’s word and evangelical values to millions desperate for a better life. Inspired by his own roots in the African American Baptist church, director Roger Ross Williams seeks to explore a place where religion and African culture intersect.
Roger Ross Williams (producer/director); Julie Goldman (producer)

I Am Nojood(Narrative)

Based on the true story of Nojood, a 10-year-old Yemeni girl married off by her impoverished family and repeatedly abused by her 30-year-old husband. With the help of an activist lawyer and sympathetic judges, she becomes the youngest person ever to be granted a divorce in Yemen.

KadijaAl-Salami (writer/director); Anne Hubbell & Amy Hobby (producers)

TAA Adrienne Shelly Foundation Filmmaker Grant

A grant to aid in the advancement of talented women filmmakers.

Xanadu

An inveterate tomboy tries to win over the new girl in town, despite her flamboyant brother’s amusingly ineffectual attempts to sabotage her.
Rose Troche (director); Susan Austin (writer); Amy Lo (producer)

TAA Marketing & Web Fellowship

A collaboration between TAA and Push Creative, a full service branding agency, to encourage audience development – including a newly-designed website.

An American Promise

This documentary, 12 years in the making, chronicles the intricate school experiences of two African American boys and their families, offering an intimate look at the complexities of race, parenting, privilege and education at the dawn of the 21st century.

Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster (directors/producers)

The Games for Change Fellowship for TAA Alumni

A collaboration between TAA and Games for Change (G4C), to support one alumnus in creating a game as part of the filmmaking process.

Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

From the birth of the comic book super-heroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, WONDER WOMEN! looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation.

Kristy Guevara-Flanagan (director); Kelcey Edwards (producer)

TAA Packaging the Pitch Grant

A grant to support Alumni who need assistance developing a visual-based pitch for their project (i.e. trailer, location shooting, sample scene).

Spies of Mississippi(Documentary)
This documentary will bring to light in chilling detail how a secret shadow state government, determined to maintain segregation, spied on its own citizens in brazen defiance of the law. The dead, and some still living…will finally reveal their secrets.

Dawn Porter (director/producer)

Akilla’sEscape(Narrative)

Akillais a narcotics trader who finds himself at the centre of a robbery and soon discovers the crime syndicate he once belonged to orchestrated the heist. Akilla’sEscape follows a man forced to face ethical dilemmas around his chosen path, while confronting a vicious cycle of youth violence.

Charles Officer (writer/director) Christina Piovesan (producer)

During this year’s Tribeca Film Festival (April 18-29), TFI filmmakers from Tribeca All Access participated in one-on-one industry meetings on Wednesday, April 25 and Thursday, April 26 to network with film industry executives, potential investors, development executives, producers and agents.

The TAA Creative Promise Awards and the alumni grants were presented at an evening reception at The Box in Manhattan on April 26, 2012.

TAA is made possible by Bloomberg, with major support from Time Warner and additional support from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), New York State council on the Arts (NYSCA), The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, The Puffin Foundation, and The National Endowment of the Arts.