Tribeca Film Festival starts on June 4th with an opening on music superstar Billy Joel. Directors Jessica Levin and Susan Lacy’s Billy Joel: And So It Goes charts the life of the New York City born singer.
The 23rd Tribeca Film Festival starts June 4th until June 15th from New York City. Stay tuned for our coverage.
Aside from the main Emerging Greeks Competition, the festival features other competitions and prizes. The Documentary Competition has six films competing for the prize, just like the main competition. Two featurettes are screening together in one program. First Milk, by Panagiotis Papafragkos, takes a more poetic stance for its expression. Farewell: And Suddenly Memory Began to Remember, by Ada Pitsou, looks at creativity after dementia. The subject here is the renowned Greek psychotherapist Toula Vlachoutsikou.
Stray Bodies by Elina Psykou looks at choices and laws regarding the body and dignity. Abortion, IVF and euthanasia now benefit from the trans-national salvation of the increasingly popular “medical tourism”. The film therefore becomes a medical road trip through Europe. Panellinion, directed by Spyros Mantzavinos and Kostas Antarachas, is set in a central Athens chess coffeehouse. It is also the setting for ghosts, obsession, solitude and madness.
Continuing the theme of personal health challenges is Loxy by Thanasis Kafetzis and Dimitris Zahos. Young Loxandra, who has Downs syndrome, signs an acting contract with the National Theater of Greece. In this, she becomes the first disabled person to do so. Leaving her city and everyday life behind, she travels to Athens to fulfill this ambition.
Finally, Tack by Vania Turner, is a documentary on the Olympian who pioneered Greece’s #MeToo movement. Sofia Bekatorou, the 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist for Sailing, was a victim of abuse. In this film she helps a young athlete Amalia through her own ordeal. Amalia is seeking justice for the systematic abuse she endured at the hands of her coach. This happened when she was just eleven-years-old, and with Sofia’s help she has finally come forward.
The Documentary Jury is the same one as for the main Emerging Greeks Competition. It comprises of: Simone Baumann (Germany), Nikos Smpiliris (Greece) and Dr. Martin Blaney (UK).
To showcase new talent, there is also the Short Films Competition, divided into two screening programs. Complimenting this is a Student Shorts Competition.
The Shorts Jury is: Pierpaolo Festa (Italy), Karen Cifarelli (USA) and Marios Gavrilis (Greece-Germany).
The award ceremony on 30th March is followed by Athens Midnight Radio, the Closing Film.
~ By Steven Yates
Ridley Scott’s 2000 Best Picture directorial work Gladiator was a seminal moment in 21st century cinema. Oscar winner Russel Crowe’s broody Maximus made an impression on filmgoers. Gladiator 2 arrived in cinemas this week. It is best to leave well enough alone. This come twenty-four years later sequel is an out of sync spectacle.
Paul Mescal has some big sandals to fill as Lucius, the less brutal, more pondering vengeful son of Maximus. Not lacking in the spirit of role but lacking the grit, the Irish actor looked as if he was learned how to swim without an instructor for the first time.
Denzel Washington as the scheming Macrinus was relishing his role at times the twice Academy Award earner overshadowed a cast that came off as having taken a high dosage of Xanax.
The Wikipedia referenced script has the usual assortment of Roman Empire intrigue for the civic crown. I, Claudius captured these characters better.
Scott plays well with the visual, too bad the whole Gladiator 2 was just a lot of humdrum separate parts.
2.5/5 stars.
Gladiator 2 is in European Cinemas. Running Time: 2 hours 28 mins.
Release Date in the US on November 22nd.
Luther: Never Too Much is the story of performer Luther Vandross. The crooner who was “Too Black”, “Too Big” got boxed in by the music business. The color codes of the industry meant the New York born native never gained wide stream acceptance, i.e. the White Audiences embrace. After stints on Sesame Street then music arranging for super star David Bowie, Luther embarked on a R&B solo career. However his success in a “defined” Black American genre came at a price. The eight Grammy Winner’s record label refused to allow him to cross over, despite working with mainstream artists Diana Ross, Donna Summer and Bette Midler.
Director Dawn Porter’s soft touch balances presentation with a touch of grievance. “Life is a perfect line of ironies” goes the expression.
Luther Vandross passed away in 2005.
Luther: Never Too Much is in cinemas and available on MAX.
Luther: Never Too Much was screened at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival.
Awards Season has started, so has our screening of films that could get nominated for a trophy. Look for news, interviews and reviews here.
The 20th annual HollyShorts film festival is underway. Check here for coverage with reviews and interviews with filmmakers from the Hollywood gathering.
Please go to our YouTube Channel for Chat Cinema Podcasts with other filmmakers.
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.
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.
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.
Once again on the Tribeca Film Festival platform I screened a movie on a musical artist who got cheated in three categories; historical, financial and recognition. BAM BAM: The Sister Nancy Story fills in the blanks concerning one of the most sampled musical pieces in history from a ground breaking performer, Jamaican songstress Ophlin Russell, better known as Sister Nancy.
The 62 year old recorded a 1982 low budget music track in Jamaica titled “BAM BAM”. A tune that would travel the world, earning millions, sadly, none for the singer. Director Alison Duke traces the roots of the Reggae beat from inception to Nancy’s new found global appreciation in this up-tempo documentary.
The second documentary based on a music subject, They All Came Out To Montreux is a homage to a Jazz Festival and the vision of its unconventional founder Claude Nobs. Using archival footage of stars ranging from Nina Simone, David Bowie to Prince, the film is an inspiring salute not only for melody lovers, but for creatives around the world.
Being too hyped can be a curse, just ask a Brat Pack Member. For a few moments in the 80’s a handful of young actors dominated the entertainment headlines not for their acting work, but as celebrities supposedly living the Hollywood Dream. Andrew McCarthy’s Brats explores the youth phenomenal. Did the term hinder careers? As a member of the “It Click”, McCarthy along with Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy and Rob Lowe talk about the effects and pressures of having a label with a baggage. Thank Goodness there was no St Elmo’s Fire 2.
Are formal balls inspiring? An uplifting a path way to a different life or an out-of-date ritual in need of reinvention? The Debutantes charts young Black Women’s social coming out in Canton Ohio. The dedication and romanticism do not come easy during the countdown to the big day. There is no mystery about Contessa Gayles’ intentions: dignity, self-esteem and hope.
Do Scandinavians have a sense of humor? After watching Eirik Tveiten’s short film of “Camping in Paradise”, Yes! This story of personal fragility braking down in a nudist camp is a cock-a-hoop laugh.
Jean Liu’s short film Learning English used the perfect formula for modern comedy. The set-up, execution and pay-off should be studied in film schools. Learning a second language should be pleasurable.
Blood, revenge and perhaps slightly personal, that is how I would describe Bo Zhang’s animation short Ruthless Blade. A cat’s tale with fantasies of being a warrior tiger packs some strong renderings.
All films were screened on the Tribeca Film Festival Online Platform.
The Hollywood Strikes hit the entertainment industry in 2023. Work stoppages caused disruptions along the chain from Hollywood to independent cinema. The film festival circuit did escape the five-month long actors and writer’s dispute. As I cover the Tribeca Film Festival there is a marked difference in the level of entrants. A number of foreign filmmakers along with titles from female directors made the cut this year. The New York City film event unveiled 114 narrative and documentary titles.
Hot masculine top, athletic body, how hard would it be for a guy with this description on his profile to hook-up on Grindr? Nicolas Finegan’s Some Kind of Paradise short film handles the challenges of a Gay Life based on isolation, fast food sex and the ins and outs of emotional intimacy. John Brodsky makes a subtle impression of a sexually in demand man boxed in, suddenly tapping into awakening feelings.
Since the fall of Jim Crow, African Americans have made inroads to higher education, however not without challenges. Recent headlines of the US Supreme Court tossing College Admission Affirmative Action Programs are the latest struggles. For People of Color, navigating certain spaces can be tricky, a balancing act of fitting in, yet trying to retain identity. Black Table, is the story not just about race but of social economic class attending Yale University in the 1990’s. The film is a soft chronicle of unconscious prejudices faced at an Ivy League Institution with the always hanging question, “Do You Belong Here?” Co-Directors John Antonio James and Bill Mack offer an honourable perspective about New Haven.
Recently, I noticed more filmmakers focusing on the plight of women in the Middle East. Once upon Beirut was called The Paris of the Middle East. A once prosperous city with a freewheeling spirit population made up of diverse groups. Now, the Mediterranean capital struggles with corruption, simmering conflict and citizens looking for an escape hatch. All if these elements come together in Mira Shaib’s first film Arze describes itself as a comedy drama of titular character Aze trying to stay afloat with a teenage son and an emotional challenged sister while dreaming of a way to earn more money by buying a scooter. The irony of making life easier turns into a nightmare when the moped is stolen. What follows is a tale of urban frustration rooted in survival.
How do you make a touching film short about hair lice? Hindu director Vindhya Gupta’s eloquently shot Lice shows the answer. The story of a blossoming friendship coming to life under ticklish circumstances.
All films were reviewed online. The Tribeca Film Festival runs until June 16th.
The 22nd Tribeca Film Festival starts June 5th. With 103 films and 86 premieres this yer looks promising.
Get the news, reviews and interviews here and on the Chat Cinema Podcast.
