The Tribeca Festival's 21st edition--live and in person--started Wednesday and continues through June 19 in New York City.
In 2021, it was the first major festival to return to in-person audiences, featuring over 250 events and a screening series which brought the festival directly to open-air venues in neighborhoods across all five boroughs. Over 100,000 attended.
We didn't get to be among them, but we will this year, continuing our tradition of attending nearly every festival since its inception in May 2002 (we missed one because of an airline flight cancellation).
The festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff following the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan as a gathering place for filmmakers, artists, innovators, and film fans.
I founded the Democrat-Gazette's MovieStyle section in 2000, with the lead review being "The Patriot" starring Mel Gibson, which Philip Martin and I screened in Dallas a week before its release in June that year.
Along with attending Tribeca, we made regular treks to South by Southwest, Palm Springs, Cleveland, Savannah, Nashville, Toronto, and many other festivals; we almost went to Cannes one year.
Tribeca has always been my favorite. Not all the films I've seen there are fabulous, but I got so many good stories by attending Tribeca Talks, press conferences, one-on-one interviews, and schmoozing with media ilk.
I'm so happy to be heading back to that neighborhood in the Triangle Below Canal that I grew to know well, to visit not only the theaters in Tribeca, Chelsea, and the Lower East Side where screenings are held, but eateries like Tai Pan Asian Bakery at the east end of Canal Street, and the wine shop of Trader Joe's (home of two-buck Chuck) at Union Square. Along with zillions of films, it was terrific to see Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas at the third festival (an outdoor show that was way too chilly for the cropped denim jacket I was wearing) and a 2018 tribute to Patti Smith at the Beacon Theater, at 77th and Broadway on the Upper West Side (a long walk from Tribeca, but worth it to see so much of the city), where Michael Stipe and Bruce Springsteen showed up.
We didn't get much sleep during these visits. That's what airline flights are for.
Then covid-19 decided to intervene. The festival went virtual, then semi-virtual. Now it's at full force, and I can hardly wait to get there.
This year's event includes feature-length and short narrative, documentary, and animated films.
The features program showcases 111 feature films and 16 online premieres from 151 filmmakers across 40 countries. The lineup includes 88 world premieres, two international premieres, seven North American premieres, two U.S. premieres, and 11 New York premieres. There are 32 directors returning to Tribeca with their latest projects, and 50 first-time directors.
World premieres include "Corner Office," starring Jon Hamm and Danny Pudi, and "Somewhere in Queens," directed by Ray Romano with a cast that includes Laurie Metcalf, Tony Lo Bianco, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Jennifer Esposito.
Then there's "American Dreamer" with Peter Dinklage, Shirley Mac-Laine, Matt Dillon, and Danny Glover; "The Cave of Adullam," produced by Laurence Fishburne; "Jerry & Marge Go Large" starring Bryan Cranston, Annette Bening, and Rainn Wilson; "Aisha" with Letitia Wright; "Alone Together," directed, written, and starring Katie Holmes alongside Jim Sturgess, Zosia Mamet, and Melissa Leo; "My Name Is Andrea" with Ashley Judd; "Space Oddity," directed by Kyra Sedgwick; "Acidman" with Thomas Haden Church and Dianna Agron, and "The Integrity of Joseph Chambers" with Clayne Crawford, Jordana Brewster, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
"This 2022 feature film program leaves us proud and humbled by the boundless ingenuity and passion of our indefatigable filmmaking community," said Festival Director and VP of Programming Cara Cusumano. "Whether a comedic breath of fresh air or a trenchant expose of the most urgent contemporary issues, this year's official selections again remind us of the vitality and urgency of independent film in a world that needs it more than ever."
"Halftime," a Netflix documentary by director Amanda Micheli, follows Jennifer Lopez as she navigates the second half of her career. Other docs include the world premieres of "After Selma," directed by Sam Pollard; "Geeta Gandbhir; All Man: The International Male Story" narrated by Matt Bomer; "Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex," a musical documentary featuring U2, Joan Jett with Ringo Starr, Nick Cave, Hal Willner, and David Bowie; "Body Parts" featuring Jane Fonda and Rose McGowan; "It Ain't Over," about the life and times of Yankee Yogi Berra with Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Bob Costas, Vin Scully, and Billy Crystal; "Rudy! A Documusical," focusing on Rudy Giuliani; "Turn Every Page--The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb," directed by Lizzie Gottlieb with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Caro, Robert Gottlieb, Ethan Hawke, Conan O'Brien, David Remnick, Bill Clinton, and Majora Carter, and "The Wild One" narrated by Willem Dafoe.
The festival closes with the world premiere of the documentary "Loudmouth," written and directed by Josh Alexander, concerning Rev. Al Sharpton, who will participate in a conversation following the screening.
Feel like you're missing out? The 'Tribeca at Home" platform invites U.S. audiences to enjoy many of these narrative, and documentary films. You can see them online through June 26 with an At Home Festival Pass (tribecafilm.com/festival/tickets) that provides access to all virtual content, including features and short films.
But it's not the same as being there.
Karen Martin is senior editor of Perspective.
kmartin@arkansasonline.com