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
For its tenth anniversary, the Greek Film Festival in Berlin offers another five days of screenings. The innovative program has benefitted both German and international audiences alike. Once again the screenings take place at Berlin’s legendary Babylon Mitte Cinema. Originating in 2016 the festival was initially known as Hellas Filmbox Berlin. Festival director Sofia Stavrianidou and her team rebranded to its current name in 2020. Since 2022 the festival has also travelled to Frankfurt and from 2023 in Cologne too.
This year the Opening Film is Stelios, directed by Yorgos Tsemberopoulos. It showcases the life of legendary singer Stelios Kazantzidis. Coming from a Pontic refugee family, his immense talent helped him overcome social and personal challenges. With his “Laiko” (a Greek folk-pop music genre) songs he won the hearts of a nation. For an opening film on the festival’s tenth edition, Stelios has an appropriately Greek celebratory factor.
Another intriguing main competition section features this year. Six films are competing for the best prize award in the section called Emerging Greeks Competition. All films are Berlin, German or International Premieres. Brando with a Glass Eye is directed by Antonis Tsonis. Set in the Greek capital, Athens, it concerns a heist that goes wrong and subsequent redemption. Killerwood by Christos Massalas blends fiction with perceived notions of reality. The premise of a young director’s film is a list of unsolved murders in Athens. However, could they be the work of a real-life serial killer?
Aside from Athens, images of Greece that come to mind are the countless Islands. In Kyuka: Before Summer’s End by Kostis Charamountanis, the island of Poros is the setting. It is summer and a single father and his adolescent twin children sail to the island. By chance they will meet their mother, who abandoned them when they were babies. More remote exotic islands are the setting for Maldives by Daniel Bolda. This time the family is a man and his dog in the secluded mountains. However the man’s world turns upside down when the dog disappears.
Back to Greece and domesticity again is Riviera by Orfeas Peretzis. When her mother announces they will leave, Alkistis contemplates one final summer living on the Athenian Riviera. Finally, Meat, by Dimitris Nakos is set in a village in the Greek countryside. After opening his butcher shop, Takis is confronted with truth and loyalty. When his son kills a neighbor who claimed part of their land there is one witness. Trouble is that he is also a long-term employee of Takis.
The 2025 Competition Jury is: Simone Baumann (Germany), Nikos Smpiliris (Greece) and Dr. Martin Blaney (UK). They are also the Documentary Jury.
~ By Steven Yates
The 75th Berlinale is coming to a close. Did the film festival make a sharp turn upward? For this Chat Cinema podcast round up discuss the cinema event under new leader head Tricia Tuttle.
The Critic: Strong performance from McKellen
Finally released in German cinemas, The Critic stars renowned stage and screen actor Sir Ian McKellen. It is London, 1934, and McKellen is an infamous theatre critic called Jimmy Erskine. For fifty years Erskine has written biting theatrical reviews for respected national newspaper The Daily Chronicle. When the newspaper proprietor dies, his son David Brooke (Mark Strong) takes charge. However, Brooke wants to implement immediate changes to compete with its rival The Daily Mail. He also advises Erskine to tone down his writing style, and public proclivities.
Meanwhile, struggling theatre actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton) also admires Erskine’s work. Therefore, she is upset by his cruel reviews of her performances, and this also infuriates Brooke. When Erskine is arrested for drunken and lewd behavior, the editor issues him a final warning. This will soon culminate in Brooke ending Erskine’s contract with one month’s notice.
Needing to save his job, Erskine watches Nina’s performance in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Brooke is also in the audience and Erskine notices him emotionally moved. Therefore he writes Nina the glowing review she has always wished for. However, this praise for Nina will come at a cost. In return, she must do him a favor and seduce the already besotted Chronicle editor.
The Critic is McKellen’s film, he almost singlehandedly saves it from oblivion. Although Arterton and Strong give excellent supporting performances, no other characters are foregrounded or resonate. Patrick Marber’s previous scripts for Closer (2004) and Notes on a Scandal (2006) had tangible sensitivity. However, in The Critic witticisms take precedent over progressive characterization.
Anand Tucker is multi-talented and experienced in all aspects of film production. Here, however, the effect is counter-productive. There is no conspicuous director imprint and so the trajectory becomes jarring. Indeed, The Critic premiered at Toronto IFF in September 2023 to mixed reviews. It was considered that the dark ending was unpopular with the audience. Therefore, the film’s distributor requested re-shoots. The September 2024 general release had a new cut and a new ending.
By Steven Yates
Here is a quick overview from the Chat Cinema Podcast on the 75th edition of the Berlinale. There is a PLUS and a Minus.
For this episode of Chat Cinema we talk about the Berlinale. The 75th edition starts February 13th. Has the film gathering event turned a major corner with a new head? The Honeymoon period was pleasant. Now comes the hard part. Turning the Berlin gathering into a true “A-List” festival.
But, beneath the mixed headlines, we also found some gems that will screen over the course of ten days.
Check out the podcast with co-host Steven Yates.
Chat Cinema interviews Award Winning Directors, talking about their short films and future work. Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm Winner The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent from filmmaker Nebojsa Slijpcevic and Meal Ticket by Wes Andre Goodrich are works concerning choices. Stay Tuned for the new episodes.
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.
Do you need a few films to watch this Halloween? These are titles we recommend for night at home with popcorn.
