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Tribeca Festival · 2009

Tribeca Festival 2009

World Narrative Feature Films

A diverse array of unique voices, this international film collection includes premieres from a wide range of directors.

Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival Nancy Schafer said: "The films this year will either entertain you, allow you to escape to faraway places, or encourage you to think about familiar stories in new ways."

Awards will be presented for Best Narrative Feature and Best New Narrative Filmmaker (for first or second time feature directors).

In addition, films predominantly shot in New York and/or produced by a New York-based production company will be up for the following awards: Best New York Narrative and Best New York Documentary.

The Heineken Audience Award will be given to a film showing as part of the World Narrative Competition, World Documentary Competition, Encounters, Discovery, Midnight, Spotlight or Showcase section.

Programme

12 films · 8 reviews

Jump to a film

About Elly (Darbareye Elly)

Review preview for About Elly

By allowing a slow-build to his drama, he ensures we get a feel for the extended family dynamic before wrong-footing the characters and his audience with the suddeness and deftness of a heartbeat.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A matchmaking trip to the coast leads to tragedy.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2009; Director: Asghar Farhadi; Writer: Asghar Farhadi; Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidoosti, Marila Zare'i, Rana Azadvar, Shahab Hosseini, Saber Abbar)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival Diary and Film/Movie reviews: Departures, The Eclipse, Timer, Fish Child , Tribeca Film Festival Movie Reviews/Diary 2009

North American Premiere

Accidents Happen

Review preview for Accidents Happen

What emotional life there is in this set up - and with so much is going on, there isn't much - is crushed by dreadful narration.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
The struggles of a dysfunctional family in the years following a tragic accident.

(Country: Australia, UK; Year: 2009; Director: Andrew Lancaster; Writer: Brian Carbee, based on his own book; Stars: Geena Davis, Joel Tobeck, Erik Thomson, Sebastian Gregory, Morgan Griffin, Rebecca Massey, Harry Cook, Harrison Gilbertson, Katrina Retallick, Viva Bianca) , Official site

Full review

World Premiere

The Exploding Girl

Review preview for The Exploding Girl

A minor mumblecore treat.

Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
Two long-time confidants negotiate feelings and friendships during their college break.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Bradley Rust Gray; Writer: Bradley Rust Gray; Stars: Zoe Kazan, Mark Rendall, Franklin Pipp, Maryann Urbano)

Full review

North American Premiere

The Fish Child (El Niño Pez)

Review preview for The Fish Child

It is the central love story - beautifully realised both in terms of camerawork and acting - that underpins all the rest of the directorial flourishes.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A middle-class teen and her lesbian maid find plans to forge a life together thwarted by a death.

(Country: Argentina, France, Spain; Year: 2009; Director: Lucía Puenzo; Writer: Lucía Puenzo; Stars: Inés Efron, Mariela Vitale, Carlos Bardem, Pep Munné, Arnaldo André, Diego Velázquez, Julián Doregger, Sandra Guida)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival Diary and Film/Movie reviews: Departures, The Eclipse, Timer, Fish Child

North American Premiere

Handsome Harry

Review preview for Handsome Harry

Wonderful performances abound.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A phonecall from his past prompts a man to go on a journey in the hopes of redemption.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Bette Gordon; Writer: Nicholas T Proferes; Stars: Jamey Sheridan, Steve Buscemi, Mariann Mayberry, Aidan Quinn, John Savage, Campbell Scott, Titus Welliver, Karen Young, Bill Sage, Emily Donahoe)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival diary, movie/film reviews, inc Handsome Harry

World Premiere

Here And There (Tami i Ovde)

Review preview for Here And There

Although teetering on the brink of soppiness in places, and treading a well-worn path, the soft in the middle script is lifted immeasurably by towering performances.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A miserable musician finds love comes lately after he heads to Serbia for a marriage of convenience.

(Country: Serbia, US, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Darko Lungulov; Writer: Darko Lungulov; Stars: David Thornton, Mirjana Karanovic, Cyndi Lauper, Branislav Trifunovic, Jelena Mrdja, Antone Pagan, Max King, Fredda Lomsky, Eliezer Meyer, Goran Radakovic)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival Movie Reviews/Diary 2009

World Premiere

North (Nord)

A former ski ace finds himself working as a piste patroller - but will a blast from his past give him a new lease of life.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2009; Director: Rune Denstad Langlo; Writer: Erlend Loe; Stars: Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Marte Aunemo, Lars Olsen, Mads Sjogard Pettersen, Astrid Solhaug, Kyrre Hellum)

North American Premiere

Queen To Play (Joueuse)

Sandrine Bonnaire plays an inquisitive hotel maid captivated by a vacationing couple (Jennifer Beals, Francis Renaud) playing chess. Thus begins her obsession with mastering the game and transforming her uninspired life.

(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Caroline Bottaro; Writer: Caroline Bottaro; Stars: Jennifer Beals, Sandrine Bonnaire, Laurence Colussi, Maxime Delauney, Didier Ferrari, Alexandra Gentil, Dominic Gould, Kevin Kline, Valérie Lagrange, Daniel Martin)

World Premiere

Seven Minutes In Heaven (Sheva dakot be gan eden)

A young woman struggles to reconstruct her memory of the events immediately following the Jerusalem bus bombing that took the life of her boyfriend and left her badly scarred.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2008; Director: Omri Givon; Writer: Omri Givon; Stars: Raymonde Amsalem, Eldad Fribas, Nadav Netz, Ronit Yudkevitz)

International Premiere

Stay Cool

Review preview for Stay Cool

While there is no denying that a post-modern examination of John Hughes’ high school is interesting, there is an aloofness here which plays badly against the central will they/won't they romance.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A man returns to his old high school and finds its as though he never left.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Michael Polish; Writer: Mark Polish; Stars: Mark Polish, Winona Ryder, Hilary Duff, Sean Astin, Josh Holloway, Michael Gross, Chevy Chase, Marc Blucas, Frances Conroy, Joanna Cassidy)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival Movie Reviews/Diary 2009

World Premiere

Vegas: Based On A True Story

The film takes place away from the glittering strip of luxury mega casinos, but the judgment-clouding greed of Sin City is just as pervasive on the desert outskirts of town, where an otherwise happy family is thrown into turmoil after learning of a forgotten fortune that may be buried underneath their scrubby little home.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Amir Naderi; Writer: Susan Brennan, Bliss Esposito, Charlie Lake Keaton, Amir Naderi; Stars: Mark Greenfield, Alexis Hart, Nancy La Scala, Zach Thomas, Walt Turner, Benjamin Weil)

North American Premiere