Last year, Robert De Niro, co-founder of the Tribeca Festival, stated, “The Tribeca Film Festival was born out of our mission to bring people together in the aftermath of 9/11.” With that mission still leading the charge, the annual festival is returning to New York this week, June 8-19, to bring artists together and allow them a platform to grow their audience and their network. With films from 40 different countries, we believe the festival will do just that again this year.
The full lineup includes 109 feature films, some of which we’ve seen in previous festivals such as “A Love Song” which was an official selection at Sundance, “Beba” which first premiered at TIFF last fall, and “Cha Cha Real Smooth” which we fell in love with when it took Sundance by storm earlier this year. These films are all raw, poetic stories that will be hard to compete with, however, there are standouts in every category of the festival that the internet can’t stop buzzing about. Cinetic Marketing seems to be leading the pack as they will be handling publicity for the three aforementioned films along with world premieres of “Somewhere in Queens” and “Lynch/Oz”. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see what films leave the festival either with awards or having gotten picked up for distribution.
“American Dreamer”
Phil Loder is a twice-divorced, frustrated, underpaid professor who often ponders the questions “what do we need to be happy?” “What do we want?” and “How far are you willing to go to get it?” with his economic students. He is hoping for bigger and better things in his life, so he takes matters into his own hands. Starring Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine, Matt Dillon, and Danny Glover, this comedy is a pointed film that highlights things not going as smoothly as Phil hoped.
“A League Of Their Own”
The 1992 film of the same name told the story of women who can do anything as long as they believe. Taking a deeper look into race and sexuality, “A League of Their Own” widens the lens of Penny Marshall’s beloved classic. Following the journeys of a whole new cast of characters as they carve their paths toward the field, this television series seems long over-due in the current state of reboots and sequels.
“The Bear”
A comedy about food, family, and the insanity of the grind, “The Bear” is the story of Carmen Berzatto, a young fine-dining chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to run his family’s sandwich shop after a loss. This is the first return to television since coming off of “Shameless” for Jeremy Allen White who plays Carmen. Other cast includes Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce, and Liza Colón-Zayas, most of whom will be in attendance for a conversation after the screening.
“Aisha”
This film opens a window into the plight of people fleeing their homes due to danger and the bureaucracy that keeps them helpless. Aisha, played by Letitia Wright, is a young Nigerian woman who is seeking asylum in Ireland. In a maze of social services and bureaucracy and unwilling to sacrifice her dignity, she finds Connor. With a troubling past of his own, they find allyship and friendship in Aisha’s situation. The film was written and directed by Frank Berry.
“Corner Office”
Joachim Back and Ted Kupper seem to be playing off of “Office Space” and the relatability of a mundane office job with a heartless boss with their new film, “Corner Office.” Jon Hamm is Orson, a mustached, rigid office worker who is annoyed by his co-workers and feels as though he is the only one who knows what is appropriate and what is not to create a successful work environment. Rakesh can’t stick to his side of the desk and Shannon is incompetent so Orson finds solitude in an empty corner office, but that’s when the drama starts.
“Don’t Make Me Go”
“This Is Us” broke everyone who watched it with its emotional story of the Pearson family, and just off the series finale, writer Vera Herbert’s most recent emotional journey will premiere at Tribeca. “Don’t Make Me Go,” which is directed by Hannah Marks, is the story of a single father (John Cho) who learns he has a terminal illness. In hopes of reuniting his daughter (Mia Isaac) with her mother and hoping he can cram in all the love and experience he is going to miss out on, he convinces her to take a road trip from California to Louisiana for his 20th college reunion.
“The Forgiven”
David and Jo are trying to save their marriage by taking a vacation to Morocco. One would think that taking a vacation with someone you would like to divorce would be just about as bad as it gets, but one would be wrong. On this already tense trip, they accidentally hit and kill a young boy, causing them to split off and reconcile their actions on individual introspective journeys. “The Forgiven” is based on the novel by Lawrence Osborne and stars Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain.
“There There”
Andrew Bujalski has made appearances from Sundance to SXSW with his previous films, this festival circuit hitting Tribeca with his seventh feature, a satire on modern life. Starring Jason Schwartzman, Lili Talyor, Lennie James, and Molly Gordon, “There There” tackles timely issues with humor in a way that constructs a delirious mirror image of the everyday. Structured with musical interludes between each scene performed by Jon Natchez, Bujalski continues to shine as an innovative voice for independent cinema.