From the Tribeca Film Festival there were more titles screening on the subjects of music and Climate Change.
Saddled with the description “Too Black, Too Fat,” this label would shadow the acclaimed singer for his entire career.
Drew Porter pulls back the sparkling curtain, presenting a story of a singer whose zig zag rise to stardom did not come at a price, more from a silent suffering. Using archival footage with interviews from close friends, the documentary peels away the layers of Vandross move from a New York back-up singer ton the kids show Sesame Street, working with David Bowie and Bette Midler to becoming the top voice of RnB music. Luther: Never Too Much will inspire many to investigate Spotify.
After listening to the opening musical beats, I was hooked on yet another musical themed documentary. Anyone on the Spanish Isle of Ibiza during the summer knows Carl Craig. Form a set at one of the massive Beach Disco locales. The Detroit born techno music maestro is the center of Desire: The Carl Craig Story. As a major figure in the Motor City Music scene the DJ and director Jean-Cosme Delaloye embark on a personal trip beginning in industrial ruins to the global party going capitals.
Subtle
Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play is one of those works with the subtlety of a 10lb brick in the face. Jeremy O. Harris goes behind the curtain to show the word his process for creating his controversial sexually charged Tony Nominated drama Slave Play. Many writers are great manipulators, able to play with emotions with a naughty wordsmith veneer. Many will have a problem dramatising a 280-year-old tragedy being reduced to carnal fetish. On the other hand, some will praise Harris’s vision. The world would be a boring place if everyone had the opinion.
Effects on Kenya
The continued drought in Kenya is causing havoc on communities. Last year I screened a film on the violence caused by lack of water for farmers. This year another entry came on my screen, Searching for Amani. Once again, it is a story involving conflict over scare resources. Nicole Gormley and Debra Arko’s camera accompany a minor’s journey to understanding the reason for his father’s murder while trying to understand the fast-changing world around him.
There is a part of Nairobi Kenya where the raw Earth is no longer visible. The area is covered with fabric strips from discarded clothing dumped by global clothing brands in the capital neighbourhood. This shocking scene encapsulates fashions footprint on the environment. Japanese fashion designer Yuima Nakazato traveled to the African nation to see the piles of excess clothing waste. Kossai Sekine’s makes an environmental statement on how Climate Change consequences have been compartmentalized by consumers and the fashion business in his film Dust to Dust.
Tribeca Film Festival ran from June 6th to 16th.