Tribeca Film Festival

The Edward Douglas Guest Interviews: The Israeli director Rama Burshtein of THE WEDDING PLAN, talks about taking a more optimistic look at a woman’s wedding-based dilemma

By Edward Douglas 9 years ago

I think I’m lighter than Fill the Void. The Wedding Plan is more of who I am and more of my world, and this is a film that speaks about hope and you don’t wrap hope in grey colors, so it is lighter, because I think when you speak about hope, but people watch the film and they feel very differently. A lot of people cry the whole time and don’t laugh at all.

TRIBECA 2017 REVIEWS: Rainer Sarnet's NOVEMBER and Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson's THE ENDLESS offers up scares and WTF moments aplenty highlighting this year's Tribeca Midnight fare

By Miguel Cima 9 years ago

For all of the heady titles a fancy fest like Tribeca boasts, there’s also a nice bit of midnight movie material floating around. Two standouts grabbed my attention, albeit for very different reasons. One is a bizarro bit of dark folklore from deep within the Baltic states. The other is an old-fashioned supernatural yarn set in rural America in the mold of The Twilight Zone. Both are great examples of how a discerning festival can find sublime treasures even in the over-trodden tropes of fantasy flicks.

TRIBECA 2017 REVIEWS: Dome Karukosi's TOM OF FINLAND bio-pic is an entertaining and well-told reminder of the reality of bigotry toward gay people that is currently having a resurgence (as our reviewer was reminded yet again following the screening)

By Miguel Cima 9 years ago

The film itself is very well-handled. It hits most of the standard biopic tropes with exceeding competence and sensitivity. Setting the stoic nature of Finnish culture aside, Pekka Strang’s performance as Tom evokes a great deal of the frustration and longing which surely the artist felt. It’s a maddening proposition.

TRIBECA 2017 REVIEWS: Zefrey Throwell and Josephine Decker’s FLAMES, is a doc/narrative hybrid depicting a couple "arting" themselves to death

By Miguel Cima 9 years ago

Prepare to witness jarring scenes of the couple having sex – not regular sex – it’s almost at a genuinely daredevil level. No, this isn’t a porno, but it certainly edges up against those borders at times. Thankfully, there isn’t too much of this, and it really does serve a purpose. This film is all about vulnerability. These are people slicing themselves open on screen, going to a lot of trouble to show us in piercing detail all of their flaws and frailty.

TRIBECA 2017 REVIEWS: Kevin Phillips ‘s SUPER DARK TIMES is a dramatic thriller thinly disguised as a suspense piece without easy characters or nifty resolutions

By Miguel Cima 9 years ago

While a sort of mystery does brew as the story moves on – with a surprisingly more shocking ending than one may expect – the draw here is the focus on how sudden life-altering experiences impact the minds of children entering young adulthood. The lingering horror tropes become almost a welcome distraction from the tension generated by immature confusion.

TEN (OKAY, EIGHT) BURNING QUESTIONS: Elina Psykou’s Tribeca Film Festival Award-winner, SON OF SOFIA

By Miguel Cima 9 years ago

It was almost shocking to discover this gentle, cheery person with a disarmingly childlike smile was the same person who made such a dark and challenging movie. The contrast between who I encountered in a hotel lobby and what audiences will encounter with Son of Sofia only augments the sense of humanity both the film and filmmaker so strongly convey.

TRIBECA 2017 REVIEWS: Marc Meyers's MY FRIEND DAHMER examines the real terror behind the creation of a killer

By Miguel Cima 9 years ago

Could the savage butcher Jeffrey Dahmer been brought back to a course that could have led to a normal, fulfilling life? Obviously, we can never know. What we can know is that a lot of people failed him. And to be fair, it certainly seems like a dark cloud was lodged deep in his psyche, perhaps one which could not be repaired. But this film attempts to find the humanity within this real-life character, employing an organic approach which gives the figure perhaps the best chance his life could ever get to a fair trial.

TRIBECA 2017 REVIEWS: Oren Jacoby’s engaging documentary SHADOWMAN doggedly profiles New York's enigmatic East Village artist, Richard Hambleton

By Miguel Cima 9 years ago

In concert with celebrating Hambleton’s achievements, the film looks unflinchingly at the insanity and degradation which is the artist’s very messed up life. As the details unfold, we find some of the usual suspects behind self-destructive geniuses. More surprising are the nuances of this troubled man’s path, the almost pure motivations which repulsed him away from success, intermingling with the frailty of a human being succumbing to an endless parade of indulgence and personal neglect.