Maven's Nest

Reel Life: Flick Pix





Recommended Films at the Mandel Maven's Nest Reel Life: Flick Pix


- Director Bora Kim greeted enthusiastic admirers post-North American Premiere of her S. Korean House Of Hummingbird (Beol-sae) that went on to win three awards, including Best International Narrative Feature.

The Most Complete Annotated Overview of Women Filmmakers at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival

By Nora Lee Mandel



Tribeca Film Festival announced that in 2019 the three competition sections consist of 50% women directed films, 40% of the feature films have one or more women directors, and female filmmakers directed 45% of the shorts selections, though the Festival encompasses a myriad of categories and special screenings. “Films” now extend beyond the theatrical screen to varying lengths and intended distribution, including streaming platforms, television (pilots, “episodic” or “short form”), interactive virtual reality, and more.

By my count of what work women filmmakers were in control as creative artists, the Festival altogether presents 44 features; 32 short films; 12 in the various immersive storytelling projects; six television projects; 11 N.O.W. (New Online Work); two finalists for the X Award that use storytelling to combine advertising and entertainment. Many were World, International, U.S., or New York premieres, with their makers attending at Manhattan theaters from April 24 to May 5, 2019 for the 18th annual showcase.

The anticipated centerpiece of the Festival each year for me is the Nora Ephron Award. The guidelines this year are that the award will go to: “One narrative film directed by or written by a woman making its World or International Premiere will receive the Nora Ephron Award, which recognizes a woman who embodies the spirit and vision of the legendary filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron.” As in previous years, the Festival Press Office would not commit to identifying the award-eligible films in advance. I presumed 15 possibly eligible films, in competition and non-competition categories. I also continue to be the only film critic to follow previous Ephron Award winners.
The jurors for the 2019 Nora Ephron Award are: Debra Messing, actress/activist; Chloë Sevigny, actress/director; and DeWanda Wise, actress/producer.
My commentary on the Ephron Award, 2019 and past, is posted at FF2 Media.


I also spotlight what I call “Women Crew-Ed Films” (just don’t say it out-loud), the work of women collaborators in the Festival’s feature and short films, television offerings, N.O.W. (New Online Work) shorts for online platforms and “immersive” virtual reality projects (though I’m not sure of those nomenclatures-in-charge) – writers, cinematographers, editors, and composers. Some of these artists may be future directors, but all are in the pool for future work-to-watch.

This report is, therefore, the most complete overview with commentary of all the work by women credited at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. (Even I won’t get to see all of them, including weeks of follow-up trying, and I give up waiting for all the V.R. and games.) But let me know if I’ve accidentally excluded any work! Many of the films not already picked up for commercial theatrical or network/platform distribution continue on the festival circuit around the U.S. and world, particularly the shorts. So you will still have opportunities to see these women filmmakers’ work that I will recommend.

Five women filmmakers pitched for the AT& T- sponsored “Untold Stories” $1 million grant to a “Greenlight Committee” that included AT&T communications chief brand officer Fiona Carter, director-writer-producer Haifaa Al Mansour, actor-director-producer LisaGay Hamilton, actor-director-producer Katie Holmes, and director-producer Mira Nair. The winning director was Kate Tsang for Marvelous and the Black Hole, which will premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and run across AT&T's video platform. The other four finalist writer/directors – Ellie Foumbi, Maria Victoria Ponce, Aslihan Unaldi and Kaliya Warren -- each received $10,000. Warren won the “Film Fan Favorite Award”, based on Twitter votes, which gave her an additional $40,000 grant to produce her Expatriates. 2018 winner Lucky Grandma (辛運的奶奶) is showing at this year’s Festival.

The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund 2019 grantees did not include any women directors, unlike past years. I am particularly looking forward to seeing in the near future Jessica Oreck’s One Man Dies a Million Times, which, oddly, is premiering at other film festivals this spring.

NORA EPHRON AWARD-ELIGIBLE: FEATURE NARRATIVE FILMS BY WOMEN WRITER/DIRECTORS AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: presumed

American Woman
Blow The Man Down
Buffaloed
Clementine
CRSHD
Flawless (Haneshef)
Good Posture
Initials SG (Iniciales SG)
Lost Transmissions
Lucky Grandma (辛運的奶奶)
Pearl
A Regular Woman (Nur Eine Frau)
The Short History of the Long Road
Stray Dolls
White As Snow (Blanche Comme Neige)


OTHER NARRATIVE FEATURES WRITTEN/DIRECTED BY WOMEN DIRECTORS AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
37 Seconds
Charlie Says
Flesh Out (Il Corpo Della Sposa)
House Of Hummingbird (Beol-sae)
Knives and Skin
The Weekend


DOCUMENTARY FEATURES DIRECTED BY WOMEN AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
After Parkland
All I Can Say
American Factory
At the Heart of Gold
Circus of Books
Devil’s Pie – D’Angelo
The Dog Doc
Framing John DeLorean
Leftover Women
Martha: A Picture Story
One Child Nation
Other Music
Picture Character
Scheme Birds
Seahorse
Watson
A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem


SHORTS DIRECTED BY WOMEN AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

NARRATIVE SHORTS
Black Hat
Driving Lessons
East of the River
Hook Up 2.0
Hunting Season
I Think She Likes You
Jebel Banat
Lady Hater
Maja
My Mother’s Eyes
Night Swim
Ponyboi
Snare
Street Flame
This Perfect Day
Twist
War Paint
Westfalia


DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
After Maria
American Truths
Ballet After Dark
The Boxers of Brule
Framing Agnes
If There Is Light
Learning To Skateboard In A Warzone (If You're A Girl)
A Love Song For Latasha
Mack Wrestles
Reality Baby
St. Louis Superman
A Tale Of Two Kitchens
Who Says I Can’t
Xmas Cake – This American Shelf-Life


SPECIAL SCREENINGS
The Good, The Bad, The Hungry Gala
I Am Human
Making Waves: The Art Of Cinematic Sound
Prune Nourry and Serendipity
The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion


SPECIAL EVENTS
Marielle Heller
Rashida Jones
Sarah Silverman


TRIBECA TV
The Hot Zone
Tuca & Bertie
Vida


TRIBECA TV: PILOT SEASON
Halfway
Lady Liberty
Unimundo 45


N.O.W. (NEW ONLINE WORK) SHOWCASE
Anne+
Darlin
Frame By Frame
The Future Is Then
Motherstruck
Neurotica
Obits
Passing: A Family In Black & White
To Be Queen (La Reina De Watermelon Thump)
El Vacío
Walk Run Cha-Cha


X AWARDS FINALISTS WITH WOMEN DIRECTORS:
History of Memory
SISTERHOOD: “Action”


TRIBECA IMMERSIVE WITH WOMEN CREATORS: VIRTUAL REALITY
12 Seconds of Gunfire: The True Story of a School Shooting
Another Dream
The Collider
Dr. Who: The Runaway
Ello
Girl Icon
Into the Light
The Key
Traitor
Unceded Territories
Water Melts
Wolves In The Walls: It's All Over


WOMEN CREW-ED: WITH WOMEN WRITERS, CINEMATOGRAPHERS, EDITORS AND COMPOSERS AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Special Screenings
The Apollo
Ask Dr. Ruth
It Takes A Lunatic
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice


Narrative Features
Aamis
Burning Cane
Dreamland
Driveways
Lost Bayou
Luce
Roads
See You Yesterday
Swallow
This Is Not Berlin
Whiteout
Wild Rose


Documentary Features
17 Blocks
Changing the Game
For They Know Not What They Do
Maiden
Mystify: Michael Hutchence
The Quiet One
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Rewind
Sublime
A Taste of Sky
XY Chelsea


Shorts

Narrative Shorts
Master Maggie
Metronome (In Time)
Mind My Mind
Rogers and Tilden


Documentary Shorts
Lazarus


Tribeca TV
On Tour With Asperger's Are Us


N.O.W. (New Online Work)
Kiss of the Rabbit God
Sweater


Immersive: Virtual Reality
7 Lives
Armonia
Ashe ‘68
Cave


NORA EPHRON AWARD-ELIGIBLE FILMS BY WOMEN DIRECTORS AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
American Woman
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Semi Chellas; Editor: Lindsay Allikas; Composer: Lesley Barber (Canada) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Not yet seen


Blow The Man Down
Synopsis & Trailer
Directors/Writers: Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film and Special Jury Mention for cinematography
Amazon Prime Video March 20, 2020.
My brief commentary at FF2 Media.
Unusual bi-generation of strong women characters in a small Maine town, from two sisters conflicted by their mother’s death (lesser known actresses Sophie Lowe and Morgan Saylor), and the older generation of their mothers’ friends (the always wonderful Annette O’Toole, June Squibb, and Margo Martindale) in a surprisingly twisted noir with a “Fishermens Chorus” led by the Revel’s Master of Ceremonies in New England David Coffin. (I immediately got his albums!)


Buffaloed
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Tanya Wexler (USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Magnolia is releasing in theaters nationally February 14, 2020.
Part economic class satire, part female empowerment, and part commentary on the Rust Belt, the indefatigable and determined Zoey Deutch is the whirlwind at the center of a funny and pointed effort to organize the have-nots in the titular city to succeed using the same predatory finances techniques that the Establishment has been using to keep them down.


Clementine
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Lara Jean Gallagher; Composer: Katy Jarzebowski (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Oscilloscope releases via ”Virtual Cinema” on May 8, 2020.
The intriguing attempt to explore the exploitative dynamic of the older woman (Sonya Walger) dominating the younger woman lesbian lover (Otmara Marrero) crashes when the younger woman turns that tension onto a young teen-ager (Sydney Sweeney). A hot-house atmosphere becomes, unfortunately, more uncomfortable than insightful on female relationships.


CRSHD
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Co-Editor: Emily Cohn; Cinematographer: Saaniya Zaveri; Co-Editor: Editor: Michelle Botticelli (USA) (World Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Not yet seen.


Flawless (Haneshef)
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director/Co-Writer: Tal Granit (Israel, Germany) (World Premiere in Competition)
My commentary on the Jewish women.


Good Posture
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Dolly Wells; Editor: Adelina Bichis (UK, USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Following up on their co-written comic British TV series Doll & Em, Wells takes the next step with her BFF Emily Mortimer, and stars her as a famous reclusive writer, a clever plot work-around tat was convenient for the limited time the busy actress had available. But it’s her limited availability to annoyingly aimless young Grace Van Patten staying in her Brooklyn brownstone that piques the intergenerational relationship and sweetly spurs changes in both, albeit a bit sit com solution.


Initials SG (Iniciales SG)
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director/Co-Writer: Rania Attieh (Argentina, Lebanon, USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Nora Ephron Award Winner
My brief commentary at FF2 Media.


Lost Transmissions
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Katharine O'Brien (USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Gravitas Ventures releases in theaters and on demand March 13, 2020.
It is a relief to see Juno Temple in a more responsible role than usual. But while playing an American songwriter on the brink of success, she has to go way overboard and beyond in taking on Simon Pegg’s mentally ill music producer to be sure he gets the right treatment and medications. While becoming an earnest message movie inspired by a true story, at least her youth explains her discovery of the frustrating differences between the American and British medical systems in providing affordable and appropriate care.


Lucky Grandma (辛運的奶奶)
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer: Sasie Seal; Co-Writer: Angela Cheng; Editor: Hye Mee Na (USA) (World Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Good Deed Entertainment is releasing in ”Virtual Theaters” May 22, 2020.
Octogenarian actress Tsai Chin wonderfully anchors the satire and social realism of different generations of immigrants in New York City’s Chinatown in a delightfully complicated plot, yet incorporating true elements, of greed, gangs, and grandchildren.


A Regular Woman (Nur Eine Frau)
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Sherry Hormann; Cinematographer: Judith Kaufmann; Editor: Bettina Böhler (Germany) (World Premiere in Competition)
Hormann’s ninth feature is based on court documents of an actual case from 2005, but a non-Kurdish writer and director portraying arranged marriage and honor killing in Germany is discomfiting as to authenticity. While admirably focusing on the young woman’s assimilated point-of-view, an effort is made to show that her family is more conservative than other immigrants in their neighborhood, as influenced by an extremist iman who may or may not be typical.


The Short History of the Long Road
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Ani Simon-Kennedy; Cinematographer: Cailin Yatsko; Composer: Morgan Kibby (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Special Jury Mention for Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film
Film Rise will release in theaters May 15, 2020.
My brief commentary at FF2 Media.
While I was completely unaware of Sabrina Carpenter’s career as a Disney teen star and pop princess who turned 20 at the Festival, I was a bit frustrated throughout this film as to what age her “Nola” was supposed to be, with her wide-eyed naiveté combined with such useful skills as auto repair. As captivating as Carpenter is to the camera (and she evidently responded to having the women-majority crew of an indie film compared to her commercialized work), the people she meets on the road aren’t wholly satisfying (including Maggie Siff as her mother), other than Danny Trejo getting to play a kindly role for a change.


Stray Dolls
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer: Sonejuhi Sinha; Co-Writer: Charlotte Rabate; Composer: Gingger Shankar (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Star Geetanjali Thapi garnered special mention from the U.S. Narrative Competition Jury: “For her always surprising and deeply engaging work”.
Samuel Goldwyn’s planned theatrical release April 9, 2020 had to be changed to VOD.
While admirable for taking on serious issues of abused women being trafficked into the U.S. or running away to live on the desperate margins of society and getting hopelessly entangled in mostly male-caused entanglements (let alone an unusually villainous Cynthia Nixon), the threats keep ratcheting up to turgid violence.


White As Snow (Blanche Comme Neige)
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer: Anne Fontaine; Co-Collaborator: Claire Barré; Editor: Annette Dutertre (France) (World Premiere in Competition)
Cohen Media Group will distribute in U.S.
An over-the-top sexual liberation as feminism take on “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, though I lost count of how many men “Claire” (Lou de Laâge) made their erotic dreams come true. Isabelle Huppert adds to her crazies pantheon as the Evil Stepmother.


OTHER NARRATIVE FEATURES DIRECTED BY WOMEN DIRECTORS AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

37 Seconds
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Hikari; Composer: Aska (Japan, Thailand) (North American Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Netflix will carry.
A refreshingly frank look at a 20-something woman with a disability (star Mei Kayama does have congenital cerebral palsy and is a college graduate social worker), artistic talent (anime drawing), and a mature need to rebel from her over-protective mother and experience adult life and truths about her family (that explains the Japanese filmmaker’s title choice). A real delight!


Charlie Says
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Mary Harron; Writer: Guinevere Turner (USA) (North American Premiere in “Spotlight”)
IFC Films releases theatrically on May 10 with national-roll out to follow; released on DVD August 6.
In the Press Notes, Harron explained her motivation: “I come at the subject matter with a personal connection to it- I was raised in what most people would call a cult, my mother was also 19 in 1969, and I have a unique perspective on failed utopias, the unabashed replication of oppressive gender roles in these kinds of environments, and how idealism can turn to control and violence.”
At the 50th anniversary of the so-called Manson Murders, there have been TV series (including Aquarius) and films, notably Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood with its alternative reality version. But this is the first that really tries to understand the women around him, and looks at his freedom haven turned “Helter Skelter” philosophy from their point of view. Based explicitly on the book by executive producer Ed Sanders, a founder of the band The Fugs, The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion, originally published in 1971 and updated 2002 (filled out with several of Manson’s songs), and implicitly on the book by consultant Karlene Faith, Ph.D (portrayed earnestly by Merritt Wever) The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten, the film tracks Faith’s efforts to de-program the three young women imprisoned together after the death penalty was eliminated in California and they faced life in prison.
The emotional focus is primarily on “Lulu” Van Houten (sweet-faced Hannah Murray, from Game of Thrones), with her flashbacks to life inside Charlie’s cult, and how hard it was, even years later, to break through his spell to see the real world, from understanding that black folks were never going to see Charlie as the leader of their revolution, to accepting the horrible violence they participated in. A poignant scene is visually portrayed when she realizes there was one moment when she could have changed her destiny – and didn’t. (The other two women did not participate in the film at all and are more opaque.) At one point they turn to their feminist counselor, and ask something like: Didn’t you feel there was going to be a big change in 1969? - and yes, she and we did.


Flesh Out (Il Corpo Della Sposa)
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer: Michela Occhipinti; Co-Writer: Simona Coppini; Cinematographer: Daria D’Antonio (Italy) (North American Premiere in Competition)
I appreciated the introduction to the tradition in Mauritania of gavage, where young women approaching an arranged marriage are required to gain a substantial amount of weight through extensive eating, reflecting a cultural preference for a voluptuous body, considered indicative of beauty, charm, wealth, and social status. Though the star (Verida Beitta Ahmed Deiche) had such experience, and Occhipinti based her fictionalization on “many girls” she spoke to, I was still uncomfortable that this is an outsider’s film, albeit one well-traveled in north Africa. She is careful to include women and families with divergent, more modern views, habits, or cynical manipulations of the practice.


House Of Hummingbird (Beol-sae)
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Bora Kim; Editor: Zoe Sua Cho (South Korea, USA) (North American Premiere in Competition)
Best International Narrative Feature, Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film – Ji-hu Park, and Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film
Well Go USA is teaming with Kino Marquee to release in virtual cinemas supporting independent theaters starting June 26.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association included it in their Foreign Language Film Screening Series, making the film eligible for Golden Globe consideration.
One of the best films in the festival this year! With the semi-autobiographical elements that emphasize the feminist gaze, this made me realize how little Americans have seen of striving lower middle class Koreans in the 1990’s on movie screens, even as seeing them is insightful for understanding immigrants.


Knives and Skin
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Jennifer Reeder (USA) (North American Premiere in “Midnight”)
Despite its heart in a well-meaning place in defense of suburban women and girls, this is an over the top satire that doesn’t work.


Pearl
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer: Elsa Amiel; Editors: Sylvie Lager and Caroline Detournay (France, Switzerland) (North American Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Opened in French theaters at the same time.
French filmmaker Amiel’s mostly-English language debut features women seen in photography but not in film fiction before. Not just a fascinating setting in the world of professional female bodybuilders during a high-stakes competition weekend, but a sensitive portrait of the physical, social, sexist, and financial pressures the women in general, and one particular woman, have to face, in the sport and in her personal life. Central is the casting of Swiss certified physique champion for tall women Julia Föry – so professional that filming had to go around her six-hour daily workout regime to keep competing. As powerful as she’s sculpted her body to look, her “Léa Pearl” chafes (literally) under two men. Peter Mullan as her coach is something of a villain (not violent as in Tyrannosaur), but scary in his level of control to win. The surprise appearance of her sleazy ex (Arieh Worthalter), towing her abandoned son, reveals her discarded past. Whether she chooses herself, or one of their goals for her is very suspenseful.


The Weekend
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Stella Meghie; Editor: Shannon Baker Davis (USA) (New York Premiere in “Critics’ Week”)
Lionsgate releases in theaters and On Demand September 13.
This is one of the few women directors at Tribeca who has ever cited Nora Ephron as an influence! (Let alone she wants hers to seem like Éric Rohmer crossed with Spike Lee.) Returning to her indie roots with her second feature, Canadian filmmaker Meghie rescues “romantic comedy” from the “rom com” stereotypes, which is now putting her in demand on studio features. With a setting inspired from her mother’s experience running a B ‘n’ B while going through a divorce, Meghie inserts Zadie (Sasheer Zamata, of Saturday Night Live) as a stand-up comedienne who ends up in a triangle and quadrangle with the ex she never got over (comedian Tone Bell mostly playing, um, the nice straight man). With sparkling dialogue and non-clichéd romantic situations, the leads are 20-somethings worth rooting for to grow into mature relationships.


DOCUMENTARY FEATURES DIRECTED BY WOMEN AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

After Parkland
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director Emily Taguchi (USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Kino Lorber will release for award eligibility in New York and Los Angeles theaters on November 29th. It will also screen in over 100 cities across the U.S. on February 12, 2020 as part of a nationwide “Day of Conversation” to commemorate the second anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a coalition of organizations and community leaders participating to demand gun reform and conduct voter registration. The documentary will be available for streaming on Hulu starting February 19, 2020; Kino Lorber releases on DVD February 25, 2020.
Produced by ABC Documentaries, this unfortunately formulaic follow-up to yet another mass shooting is full of images and interviews that feel like we already saw them on TV. Somehow, we had thought that the activism of the articulate Florida teenagers would make a difference, but the audience doesn’t really get a sense of that, or of the full force of the antagonisms they faced in their efforts. What comes across is how young these passionate advocates for gun control are with their promises to “remember forever” – then they go on with their lives. One of the victim’s fathers keeps arguing for “school security” while never defining what the heck that means really. For all the social media posts and marches, the closing montage of the some of the mass shootings that happened after this one, is depressingly sobering. This sadly makes clear that nothing has changed.


All I Can Say
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Directors Taryn Gould and Colleen Hennessy; Editor Taryn Gould (USA) (World Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
The best of the several music bio-docs at this year’s Festival, the title comes from the repeating lyric in Blind Melon’s biggest hit “No Rain”, better known as “the music video with the Bumblebee Girl” in the prime popularity years of MTV music videos in the early 1990’s . As in the other documentaries in this genre, the director of the music video is not identified -- Samuel Bayer – while the public and journalists assumed the lead singer Shannon Hoon was the creator, which haunted his brief career to be a one-hit wonder. The familiar trope of trying to hold onto life with the heartland hometown girlfriend while dealing with the usual trappings of rock ‘n’ roll stardom is made unusually poignant because it consists mostly of Hoon’s own archive of audio and video tapes. Following his musings on being a kind of Warholian filmmaker, he demonstrated a talent for capturing irony.


American Factory
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Directed by Julia Reichert (USA) (New York Premiere in “Critics' Week”)
Available on Netflix as of August 21, under the banner of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, in cooperation with Participant Media.
Not only does this outstanding documentary give voice to working class people in America’s rust belt, specifically Ohio, the directors are fair in watching and listening to the Americans and Chinese during their uneasy partnership over time, including interviewing the entrepreneur and supervisors before, during, and after a unionizing effort. The American workers and the directors visit to their Chinese counterpart factory is a particularly striking comparison of culture and expectations on camera.


At the Heart of Gold: Inside The USA Gymnastics Scandal:
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Erin Lee Carr; Editor: Cindy Lee (USA) (World Premiere at “Spotlight”)
HBO premieres May 3, and provides a viewing support guide with resources, specifically for survivors, parents, athletes, and communities. HBO is also scheduling theatrical screenings in NYC for awards eligibility.
The ending of the documentary has already been carried live on TV – when Ingham County (MI) Judge Rosemarie Aqualina allowed any female who had been abused by osteopathic physician Dr. Larry Nassar at training centers, with teams, at University of Michigan, or from his community, to give victim statements, and 156 angrily and tearfully testified against him for days in January 2018, as the #MeToo Movement was exploding across social media and in the press. But, based on years of research by producers Dr. Steven Ungerleider and David Ulich, the documentary answers the question we were all asking that week, and since 2016, when Rachael Denhollander told her story to the Indianapolis Star, and gradually national press picked it up and more women came forward, including Olympic Gold Medalist Aly Raisman: How could this happen? The details of how the abuse went on for over 20 years, mostly told, with great bravery, to the camera by the survivors who were trapped by him from young ages, in every phase of his personal and professional life, and how he manipulated coaches, parents, and young women in collusion with a staggering array of authorities, particularly within the tightly controlling world of competitive gymnasts that accepted cruelty to females as a requirement for success is horrifying and even left my audience of film critics shaken and in tears. Even worse is learning that girls had reported his behavior for years, and they were either not believed, including a neighbor by her family, or the accusations were bureaucratically buried. The sport is still failing to reconstitute in a way to protect females from predators.


Circus of Books
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Rachel Mason; Cinematographer: Gretchen Warthen; Editor: Kathryn Robson (USA) (World Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Will be available on Netflix worldwide.
In very personal interviews, the director gets her parents Barry and Karen to reveal what they hid from their three children and their Los Angeles neighbors for over 40 years – they ran a bookstore and distribution company for hardcore gay pornography that was a legend in the “Boystown” of West Hollywood, CA. Her unprepossessing parents are now willing to talk (well, mom talks a lot more than the genial dad does) to help their artist daughter and because their business was closing this year; after surviving such crises as the Reagan administration and the AIDS epidemic, the internet had finally made this unprofitable. Despite their constant protestations that they are really boring and uninteresting people, notorious publisher Larry Flynt cites them as the most responsible dealers of his material, their First Amendment expert lawyer describes their important resolve in fighting a Federal government lawsuit, young and old employees and gay artists tell anecdotes of what the bookstore meant to them and their social lives. But even as they kept their work, which paid the bills including college tuitions, and home lives very separate, the director gets much more personal when she interviews her brother about how he came out as gay to them, and what their reaction was, from first surprised, to thoughtful, to supportive. Too bad she doesn’t explore her own biases. The whole family attended the premiere screening.
So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.


Devil’s Pie – D’Angelo
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Cinematographer: Carine Bijlsma; Editors: Yael Bitton and Annelotte Medema (Netherlands, UK, USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
For the past decade, I had assumed I hadn’t been hearing the music of D’Angelo around because his sophisticated soul music was out of fashion. Turns out he hadn’t recorded an album since “Voodoo” in 2000 (with a track that’s the film’s title) and was out of sight with personal problems that he sees happened to the real him Michael Archer, the usual drug and alcohol issues, worsened by a car accident and family tragedies as well. But Dutch filmmaker Bijlsma was in the studio when he recorded “Black Messiah” in 2014, as he put together a big touring band with back-up singers, and set out to take them out on the ambitious “Second Coming” world tour, all intense musical activities, aided by a crew of long-time supporters. In between is wonderful archival footage that gives insightful context to how he separates the man Michael Archer and the performer with the stage name D’Angelo, from extraordinary family home movies of the boy they all proudly recognized as talented in early days at his grandmother’s church, to informal backstage talk from the “Voodoo” tour with Questlove, then a rising star in his Roots period, as they marvel at the impact of music videos on the size and expectations of their audience, particularly the sexy “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”. (Like fans and critics, Bijlsma doesn’t identify it as directed by Paul Hunter and Dominique Trenier.) That all these years later D’Angelo is still out of touch with marketing to R & B audiences is both charming and assures that he will primarily attract now mature faithful fans nostalgic for the Old School soul with a contemporary touch that he has uniquely mastered.


The Dog Doc
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Cindy Meehl (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
In Theaters March 13, 2020 in NY and March 20, 2020 in LA and then other theaters.
So I’m not a dog fan, but I do appreciate that holistic veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein has demonstrated that most practices are over-medicating and over-vaccinating their canine patients, without adjusting treatments to the individual. However, this documentary makes the same points over and over with super-grateful owners of adorable pets before climaxing with his professional vindication at his Cornell alma mater.


Framing John DeLorean
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director Sheena M. Joyce; Co-Writer for Narrative Scenes: Alexandra Orton; Co- Composer: Brooke Blair (USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Sundance Selects releases in select U.S. theaters and VOD on June 7.
Like a category in the amusing TFF promotion, this is something of an ingenious documentary/docu-drama hybrid, through the points of view of the actors trying to figure out the motivations of the real people caught up in an otherwise almost unbelievable situation of greed and risk. What also helps this be much more convincing that last year’s wholly fictional Driven, is the inclusion of interviews with people who witnessed the rise and fall, particularly DeLorean family members whose lives were ruined by the father.


The Good, The Bad, The Hungry
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Nicole Lucas Haimes (USA) (World Premiere in “Gala Special Screenings”)
In Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival
Shown on ESPN as Season 4, Episode 3 of the 30-by-30 doc series, timed with the Fourth of July annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY.
Intimate interviews, conducted over years, turns this into fascinating portraits of obsessions by two men from very different cultural and family backgrounds, reigning six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi, of Nagano, Japan, and American Joey Chestnut, who won more than the contest.



Leftover Women
Synopsis & Trailer
Directors/Writers: Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia; Editor: Joelle Alexis (Israel) (World Premiere in Competition)
In the effort to document the pressures on single women in China, the interviewees followed and their families are a confusing group, but enough insights come through to make this worth watching.


Making Waves: The Art Of Cinematic Sound
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Midge Costin; Writer: Bobette Buster; Cinematographer: Sandra Chandler; Composer: Allyson Newman (USA) (World Premiere in “Movies Plus”)
After the Premiere screening: A master class conversation with sound designers and editors from the film includes sound editor Midge Costin, Kay Rose Professor in the Art of Dialogue & Sound Editing at USC Cinematic Arts.
Matson Films releases in theaters nationally starting October 25.
Fascinating! I learned so much – now I search the credits for the “Foley Artists” and I understand what they do. This is a must see for cinéphiles.


Martha: A Picture Story
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Selina Miles (Australia, Germany, USA, Brazil) (World Premiere in “This Used To Be New York”)
Wonderfully informative bio-doc of photographer Martha Cooper, whose documentation of 1970’s Bronx and downtown cultural renegades is only now being appreciated. The director also follows her as she continues with her risky style of up close and personal.


One Child Nation
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director/Co-Cinematographer/Editor: Nanfu Wang; Co-Director: Jialing Zhang (China, USA) (New York Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Amazon releases in theaters August 9.
My review for FF2 Media at Human Rights Watch Film Festival.


Other Music
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director/Co-Cinematographer: Puloma Basu; Co-Editor: Amy Scott (USA) (World Premiere in “This Used To Be New York”)
I was an obsessed fan of eclectic music for many pre-internet years, like the many devoted customers of the titular NYC downtown “record” store repetitively interviewed here. But unlike them I was also a cheapskate bargain-hunter, so rarely bought there. While the documentary kept getting me confused between the devoted customers and the staff members, I appreciated the points of view of the owner and his family, and the women who wryly noted that these fanatics tend to be more male than female.


Picture Character
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director: Martha Shane; Co-Cinematographers: Emily Topper and Lucy Martens (USA, Germany, Japan, Argentina, Austria, UK, Scotland) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Everything you always wanted to know about emojis and the process of getting them added to official approval, and the lobbying efforts that go on behind each.


Prune Nourry and Serendipity
- Artist Prune Nourry at World Premiere last month at Doc Fortnight: The Museum of Modern Art’s International Festival of Nonfiction Film and Media
Synopsis & Trailer
After the Screening: A conversation with Director/Artist Prune Nourry and Columbia University Professor and author Rita Charon. Followed by “drinks and bites inspired by Nourry’s work”.
Cohen Media Group is releasing in theaters October 4.
Her self-promotion overwhelms the insightful visual points she makes about women’s bodies fighting breast cancer.


The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion
Synopsis & Trailer
After the Premiere Screening: A special musical performance inspired by the film
Co-Director: Lisa Cortés; Co-Director/Co-Editor: Farah X; Cinematographers: Alice Brooks, Nausheen Dadabhoy and Jendra Jarnagin; Editors: R.A. Fedde and Sarah Laties (USA) (World Premiere in “Movies Plus”)
Amidst an overpoweringly loud soundtrack, the black women proudly promoting Black Pride in fashion culturally appropriate white beauty tropes, an American designer with long dyed blonde hair and a British editor with exaggeratedly straightened hair. Regardless, the case is made that the stylists serving the rap community did not get full credit and remuneration for their influential innovations.


Scheme Birds
Synopsis & Trailer
Directors/Writers: Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin; Cinematographer: Ellinor Hallin; Editor: Hanna Lejonqvist (Scotland, Sweden) (World Premiere in Competition)
Best Documentary Feature and Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award
In need of a subtitles and glossary for the thick Scottish-like brogue and slang around drugs and government benefits programs, this intimate, longitudinal look at poverty and parenting is unflinching, with little expectation of any uplifting conclusion.


Seahorse
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Co-Cinematographer: Jeanie Finlay; Editor: Alice Powell; Composer: Tara Crème (UK) (World Premiere in Competition)
Virtual release June 1, 2020, as part of Finlay retrospective.
A frankly intimate view of a trans-person seeking to be a parent, without giving up a hard-earned sense of personal identity vs biological determinism. This challenges many stereotypes of trans-people
.
Finlay also directed HBO Docs’ The Last Watch, the wonderful inside look at the people too behind the scenes and under the costumes who made the last, gigantic, expensive season of Game of Thrones.


Watson
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Producer: Lesley Chilcott (USA, Costa Rica, Tonga) (World Premiere in Competition)
Runner-up for the Documentary Audience Award
Obscured Pictures will release in New York theaters November 8, then on Animal Planet in December.
I followed the activism of the Sea Shepherd captain on his various Animal Planet series, but this in-depth profile, mostly conducted when he was restricted on land in legal limbo for challenging the Japanese whale hunters, among others after him, is fascinating biography. With access to the organization’s archives, this very visual film beautifully captures his passion for the oceans and marine life.


A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem
- Director Yu Gu introducing her team at the World Premiere, and with whistleblowers Lucy Thibodeaux-Fields (holding microphone) and Maria Pinzone
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Cinematographer: Yu Gu; Editor: Victoria Chalk; Composer: Allyson Newman (USA, UK) (World Premiere in Competition)
In Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival
Screening next at AFI Docs in Washington, D.C.
Director Gu persevered alongside the whistleblowers since 2014, who through this experience realized they are now feminists.


SPECIAL EVENTS WITH WOMEN CREATIVE MULTI-HYPHENATES AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
Marielle Heller
- interviewed by writer Jo Piazza
Description
Actor, director, and screenwriter in “Tribeca Talks – Directors Series”
Heller on now finishing up A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood: “It’s not a bio-pic! Mr. Rogers [Tom Hanks] is not the lead –he’s too good, there’d be no conflict. It’s about his impact on people whose lives were changed by their friendship with him.” Sony Pictures releases in theaters November 22 – a film that should become a family-watching annual Thanksgiving ritual!


Rashida Jones
- interviewed by comedian Hasan Minhaj
Description
Actor, director, screenwriter and producer in “Tribeca Talks – Storytellers”
Minhaj asked Jones about the influence of her father (subject of her Quincy documentary last year) and her Harvard cohort (writers of her breaks in show biz) - but nothing about her mother actress Peggy Lipton, who happened to die 10 days later; together they did a poignant episode of TLC’s Who Do You Think You Are tracing their ancestors murdered during the Holocaust in Latvia.


Sarah Silverman
Description
Comedian, writer, performer and producer in “Tribeca Talks – Storytellers”

SHORTS BY WOMEN DIRECTORS AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Narrative Shorts

Black Hat
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Sarah Smith; Editor: Inger Longren (USA) (New York Premiere in “Roads Less Traveled”)

Driving Lessons
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Marziyeh Riahi (Iran) (North American Premiere in “Express Yourself”)

East of the River
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Editor: Hannah Peterson (USA) (New York Premiere in “Roads Less Traveled”)

Hook Up 2.0
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Dana Nachman; Cinematographer: Dominique Martinez USA) (New York Premiere in “Funhouse”)

Hunting Season
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Shannon Kohli; Writer: Hannah Levien (Canada) (New York Premiere in “WTF”)

I Think She Likes You
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Bridey Elliott; Writers: Teresa Lee and Christine Medrano; Cinematographer: Carissa Dorson (USA) (New York Premiere in “Funhouse”)

Jebel Banat
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Editor: Sharine Atif (Egypt) (North American Premiere in “Roads Less Traveled”)
Student Visionary Award

Lady Hater
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Alexandra Barreto (USA) (World Premiere in “Funhouse”)

Maja
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer: Marijana Jankovic; Editor: Jenna Mangulad (Denmark) (New York Premiere in “Express Yourself”)
Best Narrative Short Award

My Mother’s Eyes
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Cinematographer/Editor: Jenny Wright (UK) (New York Premiere in “Animated Shorts Curated by Whoopi Goldberg”)
Shorts Animation Award
Night Swim
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer/Co-Editor: Victoria Rivera; Co-Writer: Neda Jebelli; Co-Editor: Julienne Jones; Cinematographer: Allison Anderson (USA) (World Premiere in “Streetwise”)

Ponyboi
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director/Writer: River Gallo; Co-Director: Sadé Clacken Joseph; Cinematographer: Madeline Leach (USA) (New York Premiere in “Express Yourself”)

Snare
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-writer: Madeleine Gottlieb (Australia) (New York Premiere in “Roads Less Traveled”)

Street Flame
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Editor: Katherine Propper (USA) (New York Premiere in “Express Yourself”)

This Perfect Day
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Editor: Lydia Rui; Cinematographer: Alice Stephens (Australia) (World Premiere in “Express Yourself”)

Twist
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Editor: Aly Migliori (USA) (World Premiere in “WTF”)

War Paint
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director: Taylor Bracewell (USA) (New York Premiere in “Express Yourself”) br>
Westfalia
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Haley Finnegan; Editor: Montana Loran (USA) (New York Premiere in “Funhouse”)

Documentary Shorts

After Maria
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Cinematographer: Nadia Hallgren (USA) (World Premiere in “No Short Cuts”)
Premiere on Netflix May 24.

American Truths
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director/Producer Clementine Briand; (USA) (World Premiere in “Animated Shorts Curated by Whoopi Goldberg”)
Third (1820s) episode in the series The History of White People in America - 16 animated, musical shorts on race in America from the 17th century to the 21st.
With ITVS support, the first three episodes will be available online Summer 2019 on PBS’s Independent Lens.

Ballet After Dark
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: B. Monét; Co- Cinematographer: Colleen Kwok; Editor: Leticia Akel Escárate (USA) (World Premiere in Queen Collective Shorts screening with Queen Latifah with Dee Rees)

The Boxers of Brule
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer/Cinematographer/Editor Jessie Adler; Composer: Alexandra Kalinowski (USA) (New York Premiere in “Sport Shorts”)
In Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival
Is this assured showing on ESPN? Usually, the women directors in their 30-by-30 doc series are only of such shorts.


Framing Agnes
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director Kristen Schilt; Cinematographer: Aubree Bernier-Clarke; Editor: Brooke Sebold; Composer: Becky Gebhardt (USA) (North American Premiere in “Forces of Nature”)

If There Is Light
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Haley Elizabeth Anderson; Co-Editor: Cheree Dillon (USA) (World Premiere in Queen Collective Shorts screening with Queen Latifah with Dee Rees)

Learning To Skateboard In A WarZone (If You're A Girl)
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Carol Dysinger; Cinematographer: Lisa Rinzler; Editor: Mary Manhardt; Composer: Sasha Gordon (UK) (World Premiere in “Life Preserver”)
Best Documentary Short Award

A Love Song For Latasha
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Sophia Nahli Allison; Composer: Minna Choi; Animator: Adebukola Bodunrin (USA) (World Premiere in “No Short Cuts”)
Netflix release September 2020.
While the audience can get an uneasy exaggerated “honor student” (from Bonfire of the Vanities) tone to a cousin’s and BFF’s memories and tributes to Latasha Harlins, the 15-year-old Black girl shot by a Central Los Angeles shopkeeper in 1992, the visual elements thoughtfully and creatively do not just re-enact the voice-overs, but imitate the style of period video home movies to add poignant context that’s relevant to today’s #BLM movement. In addition to meeting Allison’s goal for the film to be ready for the 30th anniversary of Latasha’s death, Netflix also financed a restoration of a memorial mural in the neighborhood.


Mack Wrestles
Synopsis & Trailer
Directors: Taylor Hess and Erin Sanger (New York Premiere in “Sports Shorts”)
In Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival)
Is this assured showing on ESPN? Usually, the women directors in their 30-by-30 doc series are only of such shorts.


Reality Baby
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Nodlag Houlihan; Cinematographer: Kate McCullough; Editor: Maeve O'Boyle (Ireland) (International Premiere in “No Short Cuts”)

St. Louis Superman
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director: Smriti Mundhra (USA) (New York Premiere in “Forces of Nature”)
Special Jury Mention for Documentary Short
MTV Documentary Films inaugural short.

A Tale Of Two Kitchens
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Co-Writer: Trisha Ziff; Co-Writer: Sheerly Avni (USA, Mexico) (World Premiere in “Life Preserver”)
Available on Netflix globally as of May 22, 2019.

Who Says I Can’t
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Kristen Lappas (World Premiere in “Sports Shorts”)
In Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival)
Is this assured showing on ESPN? Usually, the women directors in their 30-by-30 doc series are only of such shorts.


Xmas Cake – This American Shelf-Life
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: May Yam; Writer: Petra Hanson (USA) (World Premiere in “On Tour”)

TRIBECA TV

The Hot Zone

- Kelly Souders, Co-Showrunner, and with panel: (from left) Souders; Richard Preston, book author; Brian Peterson, Souders’ partner/Co-Showrunner; Dr. Michael Smit, infectious disease technical advisor; actress Julianna Margulies (starring as “Lt. Col. Nancy Jaax”); Nichole Sobecki, “National Geographic” photographer; actor Noah Emmerich (starring as “Lt. Col. Jerry Jaax”); Dr. Wan Yang, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Columbia U; and Lynda Obst, Executive Producer, who first secured the rights to the book in 1992, and had been trying get the adaptation on screen since.
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Co- Creator: Kelly Souders (USA) (World Premiere)
After the Screening Conversation moderated by Jen Schwartz, Scientific American
National Geographic Channel premieres on May 27, over three nights. This is a re-adaptation of Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus (1994), whose research was supported by a grant by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a TFF sponsor.

Tuca & Bertie
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Lisa Hanawalt (USA) (World Premiere)
After the Screening: A conversation with stars Ali Wong and Tiffany Haddish, and creator Lisa Hanawalt.
Netflix premiered globally on May 3, but did not renew for an additional season. However, Adult Swim (the overnight Cartoon Channel) picked up Season 2 for 10 episodes.

Vida

- Showrunner Tanya Saracho with her cast Melissa Barrrera (“Lyn”), Mishel Prada (“Emma”), Ser Anzoategui (“Eddy”), Chelsea Rendon (“Mari”), Carlos Miranda (“Johnny”), Roberta Colindrez (“Nico), and Raul Castillo (“Baco”)
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Tanya Saracho (USA)
After the Screening Conversation moderated by Lynda Lopez , ABC Nightline. (World Premiere of Season 2)
Starz premiered Season 2 of Vida on May 23, when the entire season is available for bingeing on the Starz app and On Demand. A week later, Starz renewed the series for Season 3, which became the final season in Spring 2020.
The ebullient Saracho was not only proud of her Latinx LGBTQ cast and crew, but all expressed the friendly benefits of sexy scenes shot considerately with female writers, directors and DPs. [On a personal note as a fan, I appreciate that there are also appealingly complicated heterosexual relationships.]


TRIBECA TV: PILOT SEASON

Halfway House
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator/Writer: Katherine Craft; Cinematographer: Alison Kelly; Editor: Nena Hsu Erb (USA) (World Premiere)

Lady Liberty
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator/Writer: Julia Lindon; Director: Taylor Lee Nagel; Cinematographer: Sara Kinney (USA) (World Premiere)

Unimundo 45
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator/Writer: Claudia Forestieri; Director: Thembi Banks; Editor: Jessica Hernandez; Composer: Germaine Franco (USA) (World Premiere)
HBO commission.

N.O.W. (NEW ONLINE WORK) SHOWCASE

Anne+
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Valerie Bisscheroux; Writer: Maud Wiemeijer; Editors: Tessel de Vries and Augustine Huijsser (Netherlands) (World Premiere in “Reality Check”)

Darlin
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Cinematographer: Isabel Castro (USA) (World Premiere)
Streaming on New York Times “Op-Docs–Featuring Stories of Immigration” as of August 13.
For all the news coverage about the implementation of child separation of migrants at the southern U.S. border, this intimate portrait of the titular dark-skinned Honduran woman who fled discrimination by following her husband and son into Texas, movingly demonstrates the high personal impact on these families. The beweildering lack of information each receives on their detentions in different places adds considerably to the depression and pain we see them suffer, even as their son starts the temporary new life they so hope to make permanent for him.


Frame By Frame
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Yvonne Michelle Shirley; Co-Editor: Stefani Saintonge (USA) (World Premiere “Reality Check”)

The Future Is Then
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator/Writer/Co-Editor: Sarah Salovaara; Cinematographer: Arlene Muller; Co-Editor Lucy Munger (USA) (World Premiere in “Headspace”)
BRIC TV

Motherstruck
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Co-Creator/Co-Writer: Staceyann Chin (based on her one-woman play); Project Co-Creator/Director/Co-Writer: Micaela Birmingham; (USA) (World Premiere in “Reality Check”)

Neurotica
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Project Creator: Laura Moss; Composer: Ariel Marx (USA) (World Premiere of episode 1, eureka! in “Headspace”)

Obits
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator/Writer; Alix Lambert (USA) (World Premiere)

Passing: A Family In Black & White
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Robin Cloud; Cinematographer: Amber Fares; Editor: Nathalie Karouni; • Composers: Amanda Delores and Patricia Jones (USA) (World Premiere)
Episode 1: “Lost & Found” and Episode 2: “Homecoming”
Topic is streaming all six episodes as of 7/26/2019.

To Be Queen (La Reina De Watermelon Thump)
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director: Farihah Zaman (USA) (World Premiere)
Streaming on the New York Times “Op-Docs–Featuring Stories of Immigration” as of June 1.

El Vacío
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Cinematographer/Co-Editor: Deborah S Esquenazi (USA) (World Premiere)
Streaming on the New York Times “Op-Docs–Featuring Stories of Immigration” as of May 18.

Walk Run Cha -Cha
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator/Writer: Laura Nix; Cinematographer: Shana Hagan; Composer: Laura Karpman (USA) (World Premiere in “N.O.W. Showcase: Headspace”)
Also streaming on New York Times “Op-Docs–Featuring Stories of Immigration”

X AWARD FINALISTS

History of Memory
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Director: Sarah Klein (USA) (Short & Episodic)
Best Episodic Film

SISTERHOOD: “Action”
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Amirah Tajdin; Editor: Neda Ahmed (Short & Episodic)

TRIBECA IMMERSIVE WITH WOMEN CREATORS: VIRTUAL REALITY

12 Seconds of Gunfire: The True Story of a School Shooting
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Co- Creator: Suzette Moyer (USA) (World Premiere in “Cinema 360 - Change Is Gonna Come”)
In collaboration with The Washington Post

Another Dream
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Co-Creator/Director: Tamara Shogaolu; Writers: Tamara Shogaolu, Lauren Dubowski; Lead VR Animator: Ytje Veenstra; Lead Developer: Anastasia Semenoff; Installation Set Designer: Chika Shimizu; Installation Touch Designer Developer: Jessica Palmer (Netherlands, USA, Egypt) (World Premiere in “Storyscapes”)
Part 2 of Queer In A Time Of Forced Migration

The Collider
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creators: May Abdalla and Amy Rose; Developer: Clarice Hilton (UK) (International Premiere in “Storyscapes”)

Dr. Who: The Runaway
Synopsis & Trailer
Director: Victoria Asare-Archer (UK) (World Premiere in “Virtual Arcade”)

Ello
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator/Director/Writer: Haodan Su (China) (World Premiere in “Virtual Arcade”)

Girl Icon
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Sadah Espii Proctor (USA, India) (New York Premiere in “Cinema 360”)

Into the Light
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Project Creator: Jessica Brillhart (USA) (World Premiere in “Virtual Arcade”)

The Key
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Celine Tricart; Key Collaborator: Gloria Bradbury (USA, Iraq) (World Premiere in “Storyscapes”)
Storyscapes Award

Traitor
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Lucy Hammond (UK) (World Premiere in “Storyscapes”)

Unceded Territories
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Paisley Smith (Canada) (World Premiere in “Virtual Arcade”)

Water Melts
Synopsis & Trailer
Project Creator: Lilian Mehrel and Mary Evangelista; Key Collaborator: Ting Liu; Composer: Ariel Marx; Animator: Maya Edelman (USA) (World Premiere in “Cinema360”)
Premieres August 15 on Tribeca Film Institute’s You Tube Channel.

Wolves In The Walls: It's All Over
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Project Creator: Jessica Yaffa Shamash (USA) (World Premiere in “Virtual Arcade”)

WOMEN CREW-ED: FILMS BY WOMEN WRITERS, CINEMATOGRAPHERS AND EDITORS AT 2019 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Narrative Features

Aamis (Ravening)
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Shweta Rai Chamling; Composer: Quan Bay (India) (World Premiere in Competition)

Burning Cane
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor: Ruby Kline (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Wendell Pierce, and Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film

Dreamland
- Director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte introduced his “old-fashioned” 1930s-set film appropriately in one of NYC’s few beautifully restored “old-fashioned” theaters, Theater 1 of the Village East Cinema, a l925 landmark from when 2nd Avenue was the Yiddish Rialto.
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor: Abbi Jutkowitz (USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)

Driveways
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Writer: Hannah Bos; Editor: Katherine McQuerry (USA) (North American Premiere in “Critics’ Week”)
An usual set up of characters, families, and situations rarely seen on film. Lovely!


Lost Bayou
Synopsis & Trailer
Cinematographer: Natalie Kingston (USA) (World Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Atmospheric Lovely!


Luce
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Madeleine Gavin (USA) (New York Premiere in “Movies Plus”)
Neon and Topic release in theaters on August 2.
The editing is key to keeping up the suspense by only gradually revealing who really knows what about whom.


Roads
- Director Sebastian Schipper brought his stars Stéphane Bak, Fionn Whitehead, and many of his crew.
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Monica Coleman (Germany) (International Premiere in Competition)
A convincing road movie keyed into the refugee crisis of Africans trying to get into Europe, through the eyes of two surprising teen friends.


See You Yesterday
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Writer: Fredrica Bailey; Editor: Jennifer Lee (USA) (World Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Netflix premiere May 17.
Charming rom com crossed with syfy!


Swallow
Synopsis & Trailer
Cinematographer: Katelin Arizmendi (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
IFC Films releases in NY and L.A. theaters on March 6, 2020.
Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Haley Bennett

This Is Not Berlin
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor: Ximena Cuevas (Mexico) (New York Premiere in “Critics’ Week”)

Whiteout
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Writer: Sarah Tihany (USA) (New York Premiere in “WTF”)

Wild Rose
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Writer: Nicole Taylor (UK) (New York Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
Neon release in theaters June 14.
My review.


Documentary Features

17 Blocks
Synopsis & Trailer
Writer/Editor: Jennifer Tiexiera (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Best Editing in a Documentary Film
MTV Documentary Films inaugural feature film. In Virtual Cinemas nationwide February 19th, 2021
An accidental friendship led to an unintentional longitudinal study of an extended African-American family in Washington, D.C. trying to do everything right to avoid drugs and violence, yet grievously caught up, then reeling from the impact. Unusually intimate and empathetic, the audience has to try to understand how this happens.


The Apollo
Synopsis & Trailer
Writers: Cassidy Hartmann and Jean Tsien (USA) (World Premiere - Gala)
Showing at The Metrograph November 8 – 14, before premiering on HBO.
A mix of fun archival footage, performers’, staff, and fan interviews provide endless accolades for the role of this theater in Harlem’s cultural history.


Ask Dr. Ruth
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor: Helen Kearns (USA) (New York Premiere in Special Screenings)
After the Premiere Screening: A conversation with subject Dr. Ruth Westheimer will be moderated by Columbia University Film Professor Annette Insdorf.
Magnolia Pictures will release in theaters May 3; Hulu will stream June 1.
My review: Ask Dr. Ruth
My commentary on the Jewish women.


Changing the Game
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor Amanda Griffin (USA) (World Premiere in “Viewpoints”)
In Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival and in the inaugural 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival
Premiering on Hulu June 1, 2021 will be a director's cut with new footage and a new original song called "Chasing Dreams" by Gozé featuring Old Man Saxon and singer-songwriter & trans activist Shea Diamond. The song was written and produced by Sebastian Fritze, Old Man Saxon and Tyler Strickland.
A portrait of brave young people insisting on doing it their way, helped by the editing.


For They Know Not What They Do
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Writer/Editor: Nancy Kennedy; Cinematographer: Amy Bronson (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Very sympathetic interviews with evangelical Christians trying to reconcile their faith with acknowledgment of gays in the family. But the documentary chickens out by never having these anguished parishioners directly talk to, let alone confront, the people who caused their family so much pain with their narrow rigidity. So this is ultimately, literally, just another talking to the choir.


Halston
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor: Elia Gasull Balada (USA) (New York Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Dogwoof will distribute in select theaters May 24, on VOD June 7; CNN broadcast debut in 2019

I Am Human
Synopsis & Trailer
Directors/Writers: Taryn Southern and Elena Gaby; Co-Editor: Cody Rogowski (USA) (World Premiere in “Movies Plus”)
After the Premiere Screening: conversation with co-directors and producers Taryn Southern and Elena Gaby will include Duke University Professor of Law and Philosophy Nita Farahany.

It Takes A Lunatic
Synopsis & Trailer
Composer: Vanessa Gould (USA, UK, Germany) (World Premiere in “Movies Plus”)
Netflix will distribute.

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Cinematographer: Nancy Schreiber; Co-Editor: Heidi Sharfe (USA) (World Premiere in “Movies Plus”)
After the Premiere Screening: a special performance by Sheryl Crow in celebration of Linda Ronstadt
CNN Films will broadcast in 2019.
While the interviews are with Ronstadt and friends who direct personal knowledge of her career, there is little new information. Enjoyable, but strictly for nostalgic fans.


Maiden
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Katie Brye (New York Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Sony Pictures Classics releases in U.S. theaters June 28.
Thrilling! But why wasn’t this in Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival?


Mystify: Michael Hutchence
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editors: Lynn-Maree Milburn and Tayler Martin (Australia) (World Premiere in Competition)
Fathom Events is showing in theaters January 7, 2020.
The usual sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll bio-doc is complicated by a sad child custody story.


The Quiet One
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Anne Perri (UK) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)
Sundance Selects releases in theaters June 21 and on VOD June 28.
Absolutely nothing new about the Rolling Stones.


Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Keiko Deguchi (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Zeitgeist Films/Kino Lorber releases in New York on November 15, with a national rollout to follow, including Philadelphia on Nov. 22 and Los Angeles on Nov. 29.
My commentary on 9/11 images.


Rewind
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Avela Grenier (USA) (World Premiere in Competition)
Special Jury Mention for Editing in a Documentary Film
Available to stream or download on demand on May 8, just before broadcast, then streaming on PBS’s Independent Lens on May 11.
Grenier’s insightful editing is key to bringing to poignant life this shocking story of generations of child sexual abuse within one family, and recovery. Courageous director Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s father took 200 hours of home video from his birth through high school, in many formats, of what look like happy occasions, plus the many family photographs. Not only does the footage introduce the three generations, but the images provide strikingly illustrative flashbacks during interviews with the director’s mother, father, sister, psychiatrist, police detective, and prosecutor who brought successful cases against his uncles and cousin, then, as seen in a hopeful epilogue, used his case to change the system for other survivors. The audience can actually see the happy child turn aggressive and nasty, while the abusers are smilingly present at birthdays and holidays, making it clear how difficult it was for the child to report what was happening.
My commentary on the Jewish women.


Sublime
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Writer: Nayeema Raza (USA) (World Premiere in “Spotlight”)

A Taste of Sky
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor: Sofia Subercaseaux (USA, Bolivia, Denmark) (US Premiere in “Spotlight”)

XY Chelsea
Synopsis & Trailer
Editors: Enat Sidi and Andrea Scott (UK) (World Premiere in “Movies Plus”)
After the Premiere Screening: conversation will include producer Isabel Davis.
Showtime will premiere on June 7.
Admirable, but sad how an isolated person can be manipulated with misleading information.



Shorts

Narrative Shorts

Master Maggie
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Writer: Julianna Gelinas Bonifacio (USA) (World Premiere in “Streetwise”)

Metronome (In Time)
Synopsis & Trailer
Composer: Ariel Marx (USA) (World Premiere in “Streetwise”)

Mind My Mind
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Floor Adams (Netherlands) (International Premiere in “Animated Shorts Curated by Whoopi Goldberg”)

Momster
Synopsis & Trailer
Director/Writer: Drew Denny; Cinematographer: Ava Berkofsky; Co-Editor: Ann Husaini; • Composer: Aska Mastumaya (USA) (World Premiere in “WTF”)

Rogers and Tilden
Synopsis & Trailer
Cinematographer: Minka Farthing-Kohl (USA) (World Premiere in “Streetwise”)

Zero
Synopsis & Trailer
Composer: Carly Paradis (USA, UK) (World Premiere in “Down To Earth”)
Dust premieres on May 9.

Documentary Shorts

Lazarus
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Mary Ahlman (USA, Malawi, UK) (World Premiere in “On Tour”)

Little Miss Sumo
Synopsis & Trailer
Editors: Rebecca Gin and Isabel Freeman (Japan, Taiwan, UK, USA) (North American Premiere in “No Short Cuts” and “Sports Shorts”)
In Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival
The edits add to the audience’s involvement. Inspiring!


Tribeca TV
On Tour With Asperger's Are Us
Synopsis & Trailer
Co-Editor: Page Marsella (USA) (World Premiere)
After the Premiere Screening: A comedy performance by the featured comedy troupe Asperger’s Are Us.
HBO broadcasts six half-hour episodes of the docu-series beginning April 30 to May 2.

N.O.W. (New Online Work)

Kiss of the Rabbit God
Synopsis & Trailer
Cinematographer: Rina Yang (USA) (World Premiere in “N.O.W. Showcase: Headspace”)
My vote for the best short in the Festival! Written and directed by experimental video artist Andrew Thomas Huang, Yang’s cinematography added significantly to the late night atmosphere of a young man ricocheting between Chinatown reality and culturally specific red fantasy dreams that were universal awakenings of desire.


Sweater
Synopsis & Trailer
Editor: Cecilia Delgado (USA) (World Premiere in “N.O.W. Showcase: Headspace”)

Immersive: Virtual Reality

7 Lives
Synopsis & Trailer
Key Collaborators: Celine Tricart and Marie Blondiaux; Co-Writer Sabrina Calvo (France, Luxembourg, Belgium) (World Premiere in “Virtual Arcade”)

Armonia
Synopsis & Trailer
Key Collaborator: Anja Moreno-Smith (USA) (World Premiere in “Cinema 360”)
Premieres August 8 on Tribeca Film Institute’s You Tube Channel.

Ashe ‘68
Synopsis & Trailer
Key Collaborator: Beth Hubbard (USA) (New York Premiere in “Cinema 360”)

Cave
Synopsis & Trailer
Key Collaborator: Jess Bass (USA) (US Premiere in “Virtual Arcade”)


NB: I update for film release or other viewing in wider distribution .



updated 4/22/2021




Nora Lee Mandel is a member of New York Film Critics Online and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Her reviews are counted in the Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter:


Complete Index to Nora Lee Mandel's Movie Reviews

Since August 2006, edited versions of most of my reviews of documentaries/indie/foreign films are at Film-Forward; since 2012, festival overviews at FilmFestivalTraveler; and, since 2016, coverage of women-made films at FF2 Media. Shorter versions of my older reviews are at IMDb's comments, where non-English-language films are listed by their native titles.






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