Tribeca Film Festival Pt. II
Bonus Content Includes: Tribeca Days 1-4 and Film Reviews of "POSER" and "7 Days"
Day one of the 2021st Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T®, kicked off its 20th anniversary with the world premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated musical and rich celebration In the Heights.
The film fittingly had its debut at the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights. For the first time, the festival’s opening night was screened simultaneously across all five boroughs in multiple open-air venues.
The Tony Award-winning and Jon M. Chu directorial is a musical screen adaptation by New York’s own Lin-Manuel Miranda and screenplay adapted by Quiara Alegría Hudes. In the Heights is about a bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who dreams of a better life; dreams and imagines and sings for a better life.
The film also stars Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, and Jimmy Smits. Miranda, Hudes, Scott Sanders, Anthony Bregman, and Mara Jacobs produce.
Tribeca also hosted members of its 2021 jury at the In The Heights screening at The Battery, including Sharon Stone, Helen Hunt, Delroy Lindo, Bryan Cranston, John Turturro, Hari Nef, Justin Bartha, Adria Petty, Ana Lily Amirpour, Elegance Bratton, Tig Notaro, Iyabo Boyd, Judith Godreche, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon.
On day 2 of Tribeca, highlights include featured films, games, immersive experiences, musical performances, and podcasts.
EGOT Award-winner John Legend attended two events at the Festival, including Storytellers: John Legend and Mike Jackson, and a panel with his Get Lifted Film Co. Co-lead Mike Jackson at Spring Studios.
During the conversation, Legend noted that when it comes to filmmaking, “I bring my sensibility and my taste— I have a strong sense of who I am as a person and what I want my brand to represent.” He also revealed that, especially in documentary filmmaking, he likes being able to enter into people’s worlds to humanize them to show that their lives are valuable. Emmy Award-winning producer Jackson spoke to Legend’s hands-on involvement in the production process. When choosing projects for Get Lifted, he says he employs the “mic test,” meaning he needs to imagine John speaking about it during an interview.
Musicians D’Angelo and Rhiannon Giddens performed the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack alongside Daniel Lanois, the original producer of the 2018 Game of the Year’s soundtrack. This show marks the first live show in New York City to showcase tracks from the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack and the first time that American soul and R&B artist D’Angelo joined Lanois and Rhiannon together to perform these songs live.
Day 3 of the Tribeca Festival was packed full of fantastic programming, including immersive outdoor installations across the city, compelling Tribeca Talks, special appearances by rock legends and A-list stars, and borough-to-borough mobile screenings. See some of the notable highlights below:
The day kicked off with Tribeca Games Spotlight for the first-ever official games lineup featuring creator interviews, appearances by special guests, and exclusive gameplay from the eight official selections: Harold Halibut, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Lost In Random, NORCO, Sable, Signalis, The Big Con and Twelve Minutes. In addition, game fans had the opportunity to catch the new Kena virtually: Bridge of Spirits’ trailer and hear from such celebrities and gaming industry luminaries as Guillermo del Toro, Khalief Adams, Neill Blomkamp, Japanese Breakfast, Tanya DePass, Reggie Fils-Aimé, Bing Gordon, Melissa Joan Hart, Geoff Keighley, Hideo Kojima, Sam Lake, James McAvoy, Norman Reedus, Kiki Wolfkill, Elijah Wood and Jen Zee.
Throughout the city, outdoor in-person immersive installations were located at various locations open and accessible to the public. Among the installation debuts is Breonna’s Garden, a poignant AR immersive audio ode to Breonna Taylor. Held at WarnerMedia Innovation Lab, the immersive garden was created in collaboration with her sister, Ju’Niyah Palmer, to honor Breonna’s life while cultivating a safe space online to process complex emotions such as grief. The installation is part of Tribeca’s Juneteenth programming.
Also part of the physical AR experience was the Un(re)solved installation at the Netherlands Monument in Battery Park. Creator Tamara Shogaolu provided an experience using augmented reality to bring civil rights era murders, often racist killings, out of the shadows of the past. Un(re)solved has an accompanying WebGL immersive 3D experience for at-home audiences on the Tribeca Festival website.
Created by interdisciplinary artist Annie Saunders and her collaborators, CURRENT is an immersive sound walk set in Lower Manhattan, conceived to invite both locals and visitors back to our public spaces.
Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer of the legendary rock band KISS were all in attendance for the world premiere of their documentary KISSTORY at The Battery. A line of nearly a hundred diehard fans decked out in full KISS regalia began to form hours ahead of the screening, greeting the band with cheers and screams upon their arrival. Gene Simmons, wearing his signature makeup and 7-inch platform boots, spent 20 minutes taking selfies with a line of eager NYPD officers tasked with providing security for the event. Immediately following the film, KISS performed a medley of their greatest hits set to pyrotechnics, elaborate light displays, and a firework finale. KISSTORY will premiere nationwide on A&E on June 27th and 28th.
Yesterday was day four of the 2021 Tribeca Festival, presented by AT&T®, which was filled with an exciting lineup; highlights include:
Legendary chef Wolfgang Puck and acclaimed filmmaker and Tribeca alum David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Chef’s Table) attended the world premiere of their documentary, Wolfgang with supportive friends and family alongside them on the carpet, including Tribeca Executive Vice President Paula Weinstein. With Gelb’s wealth of archival material of the chef and mouth-watering food shots, the audience was left hungry. The documentary begins streaming on Disney Plus on June 25.
Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajkowski participated in a Storytellers conversation discussing their friendship, motherhood, activism, and going back to work.
While Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. and guests hosted a special live recording of a Fuck Your Water Fountain episode from Resistance, a widely acclaimed narrative nonfiction podcast from Gimlet Media and Spotify. This segment on the podcast celebrates little-known stories of historical resistance. In addition, the event included a musical performance by Ivy Sole, a poetry reading by Dominique Christina, and a stand-up set from Elsa Waithe.
Jason Hirschhorn, Chief Executive Officer of the REDEF Group, hosted a compelling conversation around the future of podcasting at Rooftop Spring Studios. He joined EVP, Head of US Content at Audible Rachel Ghiazza, Los Angeles-based podcast creator James Kim, and Chief Executive Officer of the iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group Conal Byrne.
Actress and trailblazer Rita Moreno, actress Fernanda Gordon, director/producer Mariem Pérez Riera, and co-producer Ilia J.Vélez-Dávila were all in New York attendance for Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It.
Chronicling Rita’s remarkable career as a multi-talented Puerto Rican actress, the film challenges stifling stereotypes and becoming a role model for women and Latinx people in the industry. Guests included Brian d’arcy James, Tony Plana (Ugly Betty hive, where y’all at), Armando Riesco. I’m so excited to see this film. Growing up watching Rita Moreno with my dad, I’m honored to add it to my viewing list.
Fascination, admiration, and obsession often go hand in hand, especially in the music scene. Often, those lines get blurred and culminate into an unhealthy fixation; Lennon is one such fan,
A timid wallflower closely watching the thriving indie music scene in Columbus, Ohio, with a secret dream to be included with her musical talents. She uses her desire to host a podcast interviewing to connect with the indie artists she researches and secretly reveres in local mom and pop record stores.
Quickly and stealthily inserting herself into the depths of the cutting-edge Columbus hot spots, Lennon finds herself more in demand while getting invites to house parties, concerts, and other exclusivities. Gaining more self-confidence, Lennon begins to assert dominance over herself and focuses more on writing music and new material.
Adding fuel to the incandescent flames is the alluring and talented half of a vastly popular indie-pop duo, Bobbie Kitten, whose magnetic aura bewitches Lennon.
Intrigued by the suspected timid Lennon, Bobbi Kitten befriends her. Helping nurture her shyness and introducing her to the wonderland of her world, not realizing an underlying sinister shift in dynamics as Lennon has weaved into an entangled spidery web of lies.
Another digital screen genre and pandemic featured film executive produced by Mark Duplass, 7 Days, joins As of Yet in wildly endearing and entertaining films.
Also filmed during the pandemic while featuring the pandemic, 7 Days provides a closer look into arranged marriages. While many of us Westerners may think it’s a seemingly archaic tradition, the film helps give another perspective into a practice unbeknownst to many; something unfamiliar for viewers like myself.
7 Days centers around Ravi (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan) being set up on a pre-arranged date by their respective Indian parents. The latter wants nothing more than to see their kids happily settle down just as they have.
In theory, Ravi and Rita have a lovely picnic in a dank pond ambiance giving nothing but mosquitos and sweat. Of course, poor Ravi couldn’t be any more of an awkward mess while Rita tried to save face, but there’s power in her expressive eyes and beautifully full eyebrows (as a girl with thick eyebrows, it’s nice to see).
When you think this date is over and done with, the inconceivable happens; the Covid-19 outbreak heightened, and the world completely changed. Including a mandatory lockdown in place, as the two were on their date.
Ravi is forced to make rearrangements and scrambles for a rental car since he came to visit her, to no avail. He’s forced to stay the night at Rita’s, something extremely out of his comfort zone as a gawky but endearing engineer. Meanwhile, Rita is perfectly pleasant and poised throughout the ordeal— or so she lets on, revealing herself and her quarantine fashion, which was freeingly accurate. Discovering that she’s not the straight-edged girl and unassertive person Ravi thought, for instance, she’s not vegan or even vegetarian as described.
Rita cheerfully devours fried chicken and beer for breakfast, and she’s also not shy about cavalierly leaving her vibrator on her bathroom sink. Shocking Ravi, to say the least, the duo has no choice but to be stuck in quarantine together.
As the days meld into nights, their time stretches into an entire week, forming a bond along the way. Director and co-writer Roshan Sethi, it’s also co-written by Soni, delightfully captures a stomach-churning too-real-turn of events that is also charmingly heartfelt.
We still have so much to watch and review, not to mention Q and A’s to post, which I’m working on in between viewings. Which I’ll continue as soon as I hit send.