Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Tribeca >> 2012 >> Spotlight
View other Tribeca Festival Films by strand: Cinemania, Special Screenings, Viewpoints, World Documentary Feature Competition, World Narrative Competition
Trishna and Struck By Lightning
2 Days In New York
(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)
Trouble brews for a New York couple when French relatives come to stay.
Narrative. New York premiere
Any Day Now
(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)
A gay couple fight for the right to look after a Down's Syndrome teenager.
Narrative. World premiere
As Luck Would Have It (La chispa de la vida)
(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
Can a freak accident help a washed-up ad executive help to care for his family?
BAM150
(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Michael Sládek)
Documentary. World premiere
Go behind the scenes like never before at BAM, the United State's oldest performing arts centre.
A Better Life (Une vie meilleure)
(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)
An idealistic chef falls for a single mum... but the financial and social class odds are stacked against them.
Narrative. US premiere
Side By Side and Searching For Sugar Man
Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story
(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
In 1966, Booker Wright shocked America by speaking out about his experiences of racism. This documentary explores what happened next.
Documentary. World premiere
Broke
(Director: Billy Corben)
Documentary. World premiere
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.
Cheerful Weather For The Wedding
(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
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.
Chicken With Plums
(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
The creators of Persepolis follow their terrific debut with an inspired adaptation of another of Marjane Satrapi's award-winning graphic novels.
Deadfall
(Country: US, France; Year: 2012; Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky; Writer: Zach Dean; Stars: Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Sissy Spacek, Kris Kristofferson), Trailer
A brother and sister go on the run after a casino heist, leading to big trouble for those they meet.
Narrative. World premiere
Take This Waltz and Hysteria
Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey
(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Ramona S Diaz; Stars: Jonathan Cain, Deen Castronovo, Arnel Pineda, Neal Schon, Ross Valory), Official Site
Documentary. World premiere
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?
Elles
(Country: France/Poland/Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Malgorzata Szumowska; Writer: Tine Byrckel, Malgorzata Szumowska; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Joanna Kulig, Anaïs Demoustier)
Narrative. US premiere
A researcher working with young sex workers comes to question the advantages she has enjoyed in life.
Free Samples
(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
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?
The Giant Mechanical Man
(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
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.
Headshot (Fon Tok Kuen Fah)
(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
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.
Lola Versus and Keep The Lights On
Hysteria
(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)
The story of the young doctor who invented the vibrator without understanding what it was really for.
Narrative. US premiere
Keep The Lights On
(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
An autobiographically inspired story of a passionate long-term relationship between two men driven by addiction and secrets but bound by love and hopefulness.
Narrative. New York premiere
Knuckleball
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jordan Kerfeld; Writer: Jordan Kerfeld; Stars: Timothy T. McKinney, Alexander Wruck), Official Site
Documentary. World premiere
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.
Let Fury Have The Hour
(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
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.
Lola Versus
(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)
A woman on the cusp of 30 tries to come to terms with being dumped by her fiance.
Narrative. World premiere
Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story and Any Day Now
Mansome
(Country: US; Director: Morgan Spurlock; Writer: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock)
Documentary. World premiere
In the age of manscaping, metrosexuals, and grooming products galore — what does it mean to be a man?
One Nation Under Dog
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Jenny Carchman, Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Amanda Micheli)
Documentary. World premiere
Documentary explores people’s conflicted relationships with dogs and inspires us to rethink how we treat them.
The Playroom
(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
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.
Polisse
(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
Drama delves into the lives and work of a child protection unit.
Narrative. US premiere
The Russian Winter
(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
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.
Deadfall and 2 Days In New York
Side By Side
(Country: USA; Year: 2012; Director: Chris Kenneally)
Documentary exploring the science behind the development of digital cinema technology and its effects.
Documentary. North American premiere
Searching For Sugar Man (Searching For Sugarman)
(Country: Sweden, UK, Finland; Year: 2012; Director: Malik Bendjelloul; Writer: Malik Bendjelloul, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Craig Bartholomew Strydom; Stars: Sixto Rodriguez)
The true story of a brilliant yet forgotten musician and the revolutionaries he inspired on another continent.
Narrative. New York premiere
Struck By Lightning
(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)
Even being killed by a bolt of lightning won’t keep Carson Phillips quiet.
Narrative. World premiere
Take This Waltz
(Country: Canada; Year: 2011; Director: Sarah Polley; Writer: Sarah Polley; Stars: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman, Aaron Abrams), Official Site
A romantic drama about a young woman torn between the man she has and the man she wants.
Narrative. US premiere
Trishna
(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Michael Winterbottom; Writer: Michael Winterbottom; Stars: Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth), Trailer
A young woman falls prey to a fatal attraction in this reworking of Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, transposed to modern day India.
Polisse and Your Sister's Sister
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
(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
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.
Whole Lotta Sole
(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
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.
Xingu
(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
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.
Your Sister's Sister
(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Lynn Shelton; Writer: Lynn Shelton; Stars: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass)
A tightly focused comedy drama exploring the bonds between siblings, best friends and lovers.
Narrative. New York premiere
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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