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Tribeca Festival · 2012

Tribeca Festival 2012

Spotlight

Programme

34 films · 14 reviews

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2 Days In New York

Review preview for 2 Days In New York

This was clearly a family affair for Delpy and a labour of love, but this film inevitably is taking a risk reheating the five-year-old meal that was 2 Days in Paris.

Owen Van Spall · 2 out of 5
Trouble brews for a New York couple when French relatives come to stay.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Julie Delpy; Writer: Julie Delpy, Alexia Landeau, Alexandre Nahon; Stars: Chris Rock, Julie Delpy, Vincent Gallo, Kate Burton, Dylan Baker, Brady Smith, Malinda Williams, Alex Manette, Emily Wagner, Alexia Landeau, Erin Maya Darke, Albert Delpy, Alexandre Nahon, Darlene Violette, Tatina de Marinis)

Full review

Narrative. New York premiere

Any Day Now

Review preview for Any Day Now

Laugh out loud funny and heartbreaking without resorting to neat Hollywood set-ups or resolutions.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A gay couple fight for the right to look after a Down's Syndrome teenager.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Travis Fine; Writer: George Arthur Bloom, Travis Fine; Stars: Alan Cumming, Garret Dillahunt, Isaac Leyva, Frances Fisher, Gregg Henry, Jamie Anne Allman, Chris Mulkey, Don Franklin, Kelli Williams, Alan Rachins, Mindy Sterling, Miracle Laurie, Michael Nouri, Jeffrey Pierce, Anne O'Shea)

Full review See: Travis Fine in conversation about Any Day Now

Narrative. World premiere

As Luck Would Have It (La chispa de la vida)

Can a freak accident help a washed-up ad executive help to care for his family?

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2011; Director: Álex de la Iglesia; Writer: Randy Feldman; Stars: Salma Hayek, José Mota, Fernando Tejero, Blanca Portillo, Juan Luis Galiardo)

Narrative. New York premiere

BAM150

Go behind the scenes like never before at BAM, the United State's oldest performing arts centre.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Michael Sládek)

Documentary. World premiere

A Better Life (Une vie meilleure)

An idealistic chef falls for a single mum... but the financial and social class odds are stacked against them.

(Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Cédric Kahn; Writer: Catherine Paillé, Cédric Kahn; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Leïla Bekhti, Slimane Khettabi, Abraham Belaga, Nicolas Abraham, François Favrat, Brigitte Sy, Fayçal Safi, Annabelle Lengronne, Valérie Even, Daria Kapralska, Yann Andrieu, Atika Taoualit, Arnaud Ducret, Serkan Oba)

See: Tribeca Episode Three: The Girl, A Better Life and Rubberneck

Narrative. US premiere

Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story

Review preview for Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story

Though its central narrative is slight, the film delivers it well and is refreshingly self-aware.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
In 1966, Booker Wright shocked America by speaking out about his experiences of racism. This documentary explores what happened next.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Raymond De Felitta; Stars: Frank De Felitta, Yvette Johnson, Hodding Carter III, Leroy Jones, Governor William Winter, Senator David Jordan) , Official site

Full review

Documentary. World premiere

Broke

More money, more problems. Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical issues, and naturally prone to showing off, most pro athletes end up broke within a few years of retirement. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Marvin Miller, Jamal Mashburn, Bernie Kosar, and Andre Rison, this documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature carries them to victory on the field and ruin off it.

(Director: Billy Corben)

Documentary. World premiere

Cheerful Weather For The Wedding

On the morning of her wedding, Dolly is hiding out and dreaming of the idyllic summer before, helped along by a jug of rum. Her scatterbrained mother has perfected all the arrangements, but even she can’t prepare everyone for the arrival of Dolly’s unpredictable best friend, Joseph.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Donald Rice; Writer: Mary Henely-Magill, Donald Rice; Stars: Elizabeth McGovern, Felicity Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Emil Lager, Luke Treadaway, Ellie Kendrick, Zoe Tapper, Fenella Woolgar, Julian Wadham, Kenneth Collard, Barbara Flynn, John Standing, Olly Alexander, Luke Ward-Wilkinson, Sophie Stanton)

Narrative. World premiere

Chicken With Plums

The creators of Persepolis follow their terrific debut with an inspired adaptation of another of Marjane Satrapi's award-winning graphic novels.

(Country: France, Germany, Belgium; Year: 2011; Director: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud; Writer: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud; Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Edouard Baer, Maria De Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Chiara Mastroianni)

Narrative. US premiere

Deadfall

Review preview for Deadfall

Ruzowitzky bobs and weaves around the cliches in ways that lift Deadfall above many of its genre contemporaries.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A brother and sister go on the run after a casino heist, leading to big trouble for those they meet.

(Country: US, France; Year: 2012; Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky; Writer: Zach Dean; Stars: Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Sissy Spacek, Kris Kristofferson) , Trailer

Full review

Narrative. World premiere

Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey

It sounds like a dream: A charismatic Filipino singer from the slums of Manila posts videos of his cover band to YouTube, and soon he’s fronting an iconic rock band. Sounds crazy, but it’s the real-life rock-and-roll fairy tale that Arnel Pineda is living as the new lead singer of Journey. The pressure’s on Pineda as this rockin’ doc follows Journey’s dizzying world tour—can a man who has already overcome so many obstacles deal with the demands of his newfound fame?

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Ramona S Diaz; Stars: Jonathan Cain, Deen Castronovo, Arnel Pineda, Neal Schon, Ross Valory) , Official site

Documentary. World premiere

Elles

A researcher working with young sex workers comes to question the advantages she has enjoyed in life.

(Country: France/Poland/Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Malgorzata Szumowska; Writer: Tine Byrckel, Malgorzata Szumowska; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Joanna Kulig, Anaïs Demoustier)

Narrative. US premiere

Free Samples

Jillian is having a bad day. She’s got a raging hangover, she’s starting to think dropping out of Stanford Law to become an artist wasn’t the best career move, and things are weird with her faraway fiancé. Can spending the day parked in an ice cream truck doling out samples — and a good dose of sass — to oddball Angelenos shake her out of her quarter-life crisis?

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Jay Gammill; Writer: Jim Beggarly; Stars: Jess Weixler, Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Halley Feiffer, Tippi Hedren, Keir O'Donnell, Jocelin Donahue, Whitney Able, Eben Kostbar, Jordan Davis, James Duval, Matt Walsh, Craig Gellis, Suzy Nakamura, Cory Knauf) , Official site

Narrative. World premiere

The Giant Mechanical Man

Thirtysomethings Janice (Jenna Fischer) and Tim (Chris Messina) haven’t quite learned how to navigate adulthood. Tim is a street performer whose unique talents as a “living statue” don’t exactly pay the bills. Janice is out of work and under pressure by her sister (Malin Akerman) to date an egotistical self-help guru (Topher Grace). In this comedic romance, these two strangers help each other to realize that it only takes one person to make you feel important.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Lee Kirk; Writer: Lee Kirk; Stars: Malin Akerman, Lucy Punch, Topher Grace, Jenna Fischer, Bob Odenkirk, Chris Messina, Rich Sommer, Travis Schuldt, Sean Gunn, Nick Holmes, John Cabrera, Sarab Kamoo, Matt Champagne, Rachel Avery, Ella Anderson)

Narrative. World premiere

Headshot (Fon Tok Kuen Fah)

Tul, a hit man, is shot in the head and wakes up to find that he sees everything upside down. Working backwards (and often upside down) the film tells a brooding and convoluted tale of underworld double-dealings.

(Country: Thailand / France; Year: 2011; Director: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang; Writer: Win Lyovarin, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang; Stars: Nopachai Jayanama, Celine Horwang, Chanokporn Sayoungkul, Apisit Opasaimlikit, Krerkkiat Punpiputt)

Narrative. US premiere

Hysteria

Review preview for Hysteria

It's rare to see a film that is at once so playful and so openly political.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The story of the young doctor who invented the vibrator without understanding what it was really for.

(Country: UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg; Year: 2011; Director: Tanya Wexler; Writer: Jonah Lisa Dyer, Stephen Dyer, Howard Gensler; Stars: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Felicity Jones, Rupert Everett, Ashley Jensen, Sheridan Smith, Dominic Borrelli, Anna Chancellor, Kim Criswell, Georgie Glen, Elisabet Johannesdottir, Gemma Jones, Kate Linder, Teresa Mahoney)

Full review

Narrative. US premiere

Keep The Lights On

Review preview for Keep The Lights On

A gently paced but unsparing and unglamorous portrait of a gay relationship where love doesn't and perhaps never could conquer all.

Owen Van Spall · 3.5 out of 5
An autobiographically inspired story of a passionate long-term relationship between two men driven by addiction and secrets but bound by love and hopefulness.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Ira Sachs; Writer: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias; Stars: Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson, Souleymane Sy Savane, Paprika Steen) , Official site

Full review

Narrative. New York premiere

Knuckleball

The trials and triumphs of two of the best known knuckleball pitchers currently playing in the MLB: Tim Wakefield, a Red Sox veteran struggling to clinch his 200th career win, and R.A. Dickey, an up-and-comer with the Mets looking to make a name for himself.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jordan Kerfeld; Writer: Jordan Kerfeld; Stars: Timothy T. McKinney, Alexander Wruck) , Official site

Documentary. World premiere

Let Fury Have The Hour

A generation of artists used their creativity as a response to the reactionary politics that came to define our culture in the 1980s. This documentary brings together more than 50 big-name musicians, writers, artists, and thinkers to trace a momentous social history from the cynical heyday of Reagan and Thatcher to today — and impart a message of hope.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Antonino D'Ambrosio; Writer: Antonino D'Ambrosio; Stars: Eve Ensler, Suheir Hammad, Edwidge Danticat, Staceyann Chin, Elizabeth Streb) , Official site

Documentary. World premiere

Lola Versus

Review preview for Lola Versus

Essentially, this is Gerwig's natural charm versus her character and script's lack of it.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
A woman on the cusp of 30 tries to come to terms with being dumped by her fiance.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Daryl Wein; Writer: Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister Jones; Stars: Joel Kinnaman, Debra Winger, Bill Pullman, Greta Gerwig, Zoe Lister Jones, Hamish Linklater, Cheyenne Jackson, Maria Dizzia, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Jay Pharoah, Ray Iannicelli, Rob Yang, Victor Cruz, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Kathryn Kates)

Full review

Narrative. World premiere

Mansome

In the age of manscaping, metrosexuals, and grooming products galore — what does it mean to be a man?

(Country: US; Director: Morgan Spurlock; Writer: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock)

Documentary. World premiere

One Nation Under Dog

Documentary explores people’s conflicted relationships with dogs and inspires us to rethink how we treat them.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jenny Carchman, Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Amanda Micheli)

Documentary. World premiere

The Playroom

In 1970s suburbia, Maggie and her younger siblings spend the night telling each other stories in the attic. Downstairs, as their parents entertain guests over the course of a gin-soaked evening, truths are unearthed and betrayals come to light.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Julia Dyer; Writer: Gretchen Dyer; Stars: John Hawkes, Molly Parker, Cody Linley, Jonathan Brooks, Alexandra Doke, Jonathon McClendon, Lydia Mackay, Olivia Harris, Ian Veteto) , Official site

Narrative. World premiere

Polisse

Review preview for Polisse

The camera is always very close to the actors, in their faces, capturing what can only be done in fiction.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Drama delves into the lives and work of a child protection unit.

(Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Maïwenn; Writer: Maïwenn, Emmanuelle Bercot; Stars: Karin Viard, Joey Starr, Marina Foïs, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Maïwenn, Karole Rocher, Emmanuelle Bercot, Frédéric Pierrot, Arnaud Henriet, Naidra Ayadi, Jérémie Elkaïm, Riccardo Scamarcio, Sandrine Kiberlain, Wladimir Yordanoff, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Narrative. US premiere

The Russian Winter

Brooklyn-born John Forté was a Grammy-nominated musician in The Fugees at 21 and a federal prison inmate at 26. When his prison sentence was remarkably commuted in 2008, Forté was given a second chance to share his talents with the world. Chronicling his concert tour across Russia, this documentary takes us on Forté’s personal journey.

(Country: US, Russia; Year: 2011; Director: Petter Ringbom; Stars: Petra Nemcova, Natasha Bedingfield, Raekwon, John Forte, Corey Smyth, Brian Satz, Patrick Firth, Ryan Vaughn, Viktor Logachev, Alina Orlova)

Documentary. World premiere

Side By Side

Review preview for Side By Side

You will learn a few things here, even if you are a film buff.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
Documentary exploring the science behind the development of digital cinema technology and its effects.

(Country: USA; Year: 2012; Director: Chris Kenneally)

Full review

Documentary. North American premiere

Searching For Sugar Man (Searching For Sugarman)

Review preview for Searching For Sugar Man

A delightful experience for musos and the uninitiated alike, Searching For Sugar Man deserves to reach as wide an audience as its underdog hero eventually did himself.

David Graham · 4 out of 5
The true story of a brilliant yet forgotten musician and the revolutionaries he inspired on another continent.

(Country: Sweden, UK, Finland; Year: 2012; Director: Malik Bendjelloul; Writer: Malik Bendjelloul, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Craig Bartholomew Strydom; Stars: Sixto Rodriguez)

Full review

Narrative. New York premiere

Struck By Lightning

Review preview for Struck By Lightning

Some of the dialogue could be more polished, but the brutal honesty... makes up for it.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 3 out of 5
Even being killed by a bolt of lightning won’t keep Carson Phillips quiet.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Brian Dannelly; Writer: Chris Colfer; Stars: Sarah Hyland, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Allison Janney, Chris Colfer, Rebel Wilson, Allie Grant, Matt Prokop, Ashley Rickards, Angela Kinsey, Robbie Amell, Carter Jenkins, Graham Rogers, Charlie Finn, Polly Bergen)

Full review

Narrative. World premiere

Take This Waltz

Review preview for Take This Waltz

The idea of the cyclical nature of love and life is ripe for exploration and Margot is a pleasingly complex character, whose motivations are believable.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A romantic drama about a young woman torn between the man she has and the man she wants.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2011; Director: Sarah Polley; Writer: Sarah Polley; Stars: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman, Aaron Abrams) , Official site

Full review See: San Sebastian Film Festival: Albert Nobbs, Shame, The Deep Blue See, Take This Waltz

Narrative. US premiere

Trishna

Review preview for Trishna

In the central role, Frieda Pinto shows that she has come of age, delivering the story's most powerful screen heroine yet.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A young woman falls prey to a fatal attraction in this reworking of Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, transposed to modern day India.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Michael Winterbottom; Writer: Michael Winterbottom; Stars: Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth) , Trailer

Full review

Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

Long before the days of Jersey Shore or Glenn Beck, there was one man who gleefully gave those on the fringes of the society a national mouthpiece. Witness Morton Downey Jr.’s meteoric rise and fall as the original shock television emcee, and check your sense of decorum at the door.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Seth Kramer, Daniel A Miller, Jeremy Newberger; Writer: Daniel A Miller; Stars: Chris Elliott, Victoria Jackson, Morton Downey Jr., Gloria Allred, Ron Paul, Al Sharpton, Sally Jessy Raphael, Glenn Beck, Wally George, Pat Buchanan, Michele Bachmann, Bill Boggs, Alan M. Dershowitz, Richard Bey, Herman Cain)

Documentary. World premiere

Whole Lotta Sole

In a rowdy little corner of Belfast, hapless young father Jimbo tries to protect his family from the gangster he’s in debt to by robbing the local fish market… which turns out to be a front for the same gangster! On the run, Jimbo holes up in a local antique shop run by a long-lost man from his past.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Terry George; Writer: Thomas Gallagher, Terry George; Stars: Brendan Fraser, Colm Meaney, Yaya DaCosta, David O'Hara, Martin McCann, Emma Hamilton, Michael Legge, Jonathan Harden, Marie Jones, Rupert Wickham, Jamie Kierans, Amanda Girvan, Amanda Hurwitz, Darran Watt, Mary McCrossan)

Narrative. US premiere

Xingu

Three brothers stumble upon the Xingu tribe during an exploration of central Brazil and subsequently devote their lives to protecting and preserving the Xingu culture in the face of encroachment from the contemporary world.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2011; Director: Cao Hamburger; Writer: Cao Hamburger, Anna Muylaert, Helena Soarez; Stars: João Miguel, Felipe Camargo, Caio Blat, Maria Flor)

Narrative. North American premiere

Your Sister's Sister

Review preview for Your Sister's Sister

What you get out of Your Sister's Sister is likely to depend quite a bit on the audience you see it with.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A tightly focused comedy drama exploring the bonds between siblings, best friends and lovers.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Lynn Shelton; Writer: Lynn Shelton; Stars: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass)

Full review See: Q&A with Lynn Shelton about Your Sister's Sister , Glasgow Film Festival 2012 diary article

Narrative. New York premiere