A Quick Look Back at Tribeca
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This year’s Tribeca Film Festival went by so fast! Ten days of world and New York premieres, narrative and documentary, feature-length and short films. Some of the past venues changed, or expanded into more downtown neighborhoods, like Chelsea. I managed to catch quite a few of the doc selections, an eclectic bunch overall.
More significantly, I’m happy to report that I saw several of the films that were awarded prizes at the festival. Of those, my highlights include Best Documentary Feature winner Monica & David by Alexandra Codina, which follows two adults with Down’s Syndrome as they embark on a new life as a married couple; Julia Bacha’s Budrus, which depicts the successful use of non-violence to deflect tension in the West Bank, recipient of a Special Jury Mention; and Best New York Documentary The Woodmans, a heartfelt portrait of a family of artists whose photographer daughter, Francesca, commits suicide at age 22 and becomes an art world success posthumously, by veteran television producer C. Scott Willis.
Sons of Perdition by Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten, also deserves mention. This doc follows the young men who choose exile from their community rather than submit to its commands. The community in question happens to be the one led by Warren Jeffs, of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints. The film is a fascinating inquiry into contemporary masculinity and how some young men are choosing to reject its most oppressive manifestations. More context would have rounded out the story nicely, and I could have done without some of the scenes that resembled teen reality shows. But the young people featured in it are remarkable and the film deserves to be seen widely.
It was also wonderful to catch the new work of a longtime friend of Arts Engine, producer Dallas Brennan-Rexer, who was presenting Christy Turlington Burns’ directorial debut, No Woman, No Cry. The documentary is a look at pregnancy care throughout the world, and was shot by the amazing Kirsten Johnson, another close member of the Arts Engine family. Attending the event with my colleagues Jolene and Angela, we were proud to know all these fantastic women once again making their creative mark. Kudos!
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| Posted on May 3, 2010
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