Screenings, And Events, And Awards, Oh, My!
I've got the latest Tribeca Fest mash-up for you. Here we go. It's action-packed. (all images, courtesy of Getty Images)
Last night at the Tribeca Festival, Common received the second annual Harry Belafonte Voices For Social Justice Award presented by Robert De Niro and held a conversation with Charles Blow discussing the Common Ground Foundation. I didn't make this but heard it was hot. New York City Mayor Eric Adams made a special appearance as well. I didn't make it, but I heard it was hot.
Meanwhile at BMCC, Bryan Cranston, Rainn Wilson, and Larry Wilmore attended the premiere of their new movie Jerry & Marge Go Large. Later in the evening, Emma Thompson attended the premiere of her new film, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, along with co-star Daryl McCormick and director Sophie Hyde. Ending the night downtown at Brookfield Place, the Festival hosted an outdoor screening for the premiere of Fate of a Sport. Was a little breezy to be right on the river last night, but still. Great atmosphere.
By the way, Season Two of Lena Waithe and Indeed’s Rising Voices premiered earlier this week at Tribeca as a part of our Juneteenth programming. This is a cool program that provides new opportunities to discover, invest in and amplify stories created by BIPOC filmmakers. The Emmy Award-winning writer, creator and actor Waithe and program mentors Calmatic, Destin Daniel Cretton, Justin Chon (I interviewed him first back at Sundance 2018. Nice guy!), Rayka Zehtabchi and Melina Matsoukas chose 10 screenplays from over 850 applications. And it doesn't stop there. Tribeca seems super committed to programming for the Juneteenth holiday. There is def no shortage of options. You can see a full list right here, if interested.
I almost forgot to tell you that the night before last Katie Holmes premiered her directorial debut at Alone Together at SVA theater where she was joined by boyfriend Bobby Wooten III and cast members Jim Sturgess and Derek Luke.
And over at BMCC, Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas hosted the U.S. premiere of their new film, Official Competition.
Let's talk a minute about this film because we really need to do that. Indeed, it may just be Cruz's and Banderas' best work yet. The synopsis on the Tribeca Film site (which is an architectural triumph in categorizing, btw) states: When a billionaire entrepreneur decides to get into the movie business, he commissions international auteur director Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz), Hollywood heartthrob Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), and titan of the stage Ivan Torres (Oscar Martínez) to collaborate on a cinematic masterpiece. But when these larger-than-life egos arrive for the shoot, they encounter an unexpected series of "rehearsals" set by Lola in this sharp showbiz satire. It really is a perfect summation. People were screaming with laughter in the theater. It's satire, comedy, industry critique, cultural critique, and more all rolled into one. It's smart. It's funny. It's thought-provoking. Some of us in the theater after said that we felt it paid homage to Pedro Almodovar in the very best way. Absolutely do not miss this film!!! LdC rating: 💄💄💄💄
Had just a couple hours' break then hit the premiere of "The Rebellious Life Of Mrs. Rosa Parks." Packed theater. This film is based on the bestselling biography by Jeanne Theoharis and executive produced by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien formerly of CNN. This is a well-produced docu that showed that there was much more to the icon than the demure, soft-spoken images. Mrs. Parks was, in fact, a firebrand, powerful speaker, and had a massively devoted husband. The topics within this film are timed perfectly in an era that continues to examine the race model, voting, and more. It's well-told, but there are no tricks here. Would love to see a bit more compelling soundtrack and/or notable interview subjects to bring this important legend more fully into today. You'll be able to check out this film on Peacock, btw. LdC Rating: 💄💄💄
Also the premiere of "Katrina Babies" took place. Interesting approach here. This film is a docu-style consisting of first-person accounts from people who were between 3 and 19 years old when the Katrina hit. Here they are on the red carpet. (so cute)
And that's not all...
The 2022 Jury Award winners of the 21st Annual Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX were announced earlier today. The cool thing is that many of the award-winning titles will be avail on Tribeca At Home until June 26th. So if you want, you can buy a pass to stream these and other Festival films and talks you may have missed.
U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION
The Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Sarah Elizabeth Mintz, Good Girl Jane
Catch It on Tribeca At Home
Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature: written by Ben Snyder & Elizabeth Rodriguez, Allswell
Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Azuli Anderson, Next Exit
Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Rain Spencer in Good Girl Jane
Catch It on Tribeca At Home
Special Jury Mention for Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Liz Carbel Sierra in God’s Time
Catch It on Tribeca At Home
Peep the full list here. It's massive.
And, finally, for today, the premiere of The Gratitude Project took place at the very cool Crosby Hotel. The documentary short features real stories from individuals who use regular acts of self-gratitude as a tool for overcoming life’s challenges and bettering themselves, inside and out. Then Emmy Award-winning actress and documentary co-producer of the project, Samira Wiley, along with director, Carrie Stett, led a small panel discussion how gratitude has enriched the participants' lives. Ideal vibe for these days in which we are now living!
Samira Wiley - courtesy, Shutterstock
Stay tuned for tomorrow's dispatch! Good night!