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Tribeca Festival · 2016

Tribeca Festival 2016

Spotlight

Programme

36 films · 9 reviews

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All We Had

Ruthie continually makes the best of her mother Rita’s hard luck. When their attempt at settling in a new town hits a stumbling block, even Ruthie struggles to keep it together.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Katie Holmes; Writer: Josh Boone, Jill Killington, based on the novel by Annie Weatherwax; Stars: Eve Lindley, Richard Kind, Mark Consuelos, Katherine Reis, Odiseas Georgiadis, Judy Greer, Tim Markham, Richard Petrocelli, Osh Ghanimah, Michael Cavadias, Katie Holmes, Luke Wilson, Stefania LaVie Owen, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Lolita Foster)

Narrative. World premiere.

Bad Rap

The lives and careers of four Asian-American rappers trying to break into a world that often treats them as outsiders.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2016; Director: Salima Koroma; Stars: Awkwafina, Jonathan Park, David Lee, Richard Lee)

Documentary. World premiere.

The Banksy Job

The world of street art and the peculiar relationships between the artists — in particular, Banksy and the artist known as AK47.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Ian Roderick Gray, Dylan Harvey; Writer: Ian Roderick Gray, Dylan Harvey; Stars: Giles Alderson, Andy Gibbins, A.K. Forty-Seven)

Documentary. World premiere.

Burden

Illustrated with performance, private videos, and recollections from those who knew him, this detailed and innovative documentary looks at the life of the always provocative artist Chris Burden, whose work consistently challenged ideas about the limits and nature of modern art, from his notorious performances in the 1970s to his later assemblages, installations, kinetic and static sculptures, and scientific models.

(Country: US, UK, Sweden, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Richard Dewey, Timothy Marrinan)

Documentary. World premiere.

Check It

Review preview for Check It

A mixture of tragedy, laughter and wildly clashing perspectives makes Check It a compelling subject.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A documentary about a Washington DC gang made up of young LGBT people.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Dana Flor, Toby Oppenheimer)

Full review

Documentary. World premiere.

Command And Control

Documentary thriller explores the “human error” that led to an explosion at the Titan II nuclear site just outside Little Rock, Arkansas towards the end of the Cold War, and probes how mutually assured destruction might actually mean self-annihilation.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Robert Kenner; Writer: Robert Kenner, Robert Schlosser)

Documentary. World premiere.

Courted (L'Hermine)

When a feared judge of the French court encounters a French-Danish juror at a murder trial, their shared past is slowly uncovered.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Christian Vincent; Writer: Christian Vincent; Stars: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Fabrice Luchini, Marie Rivière, Miss Ming, Floriane Potiez, Claire Assali, Berenice Sand)

Narrative. North American premiere.

Custody

Legal and intimate family dynamics dovetail. Starring Viola Davis as an embattled family court judge with a fraught marriage of her own; Hayden Panettiere as a recent law-school grad flung into a custody case; and Catalina Sandino Moreno as the single mother at the center of the case who risks losing her two children over an ill-timed argument.

(Year: 2016; Director: James Lapine; Writer: James Lapine; Stars: Viola Davis, Hayden Panettiere, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ellen Burstyn, Dan Fogler, Jaden Michael, Bryce Lorenzo, Nicholas L. Ashe, Julius Tennon, Karen Pittman, Roger Robinson, Shacha Temirov, Tony Torn, Tony Shalhoub, Raúl Esparza)

Narrative. World premiere.

The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

Henry and Penny are a New Orleans couple very much in love, until tragedy strikes and Henry is forced to rebuild. Quite literally, it turns out. After he befriends a tough street teen, he helps her construct the raft she’ll use to sail across the Atlantic in search of her long lost father.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Bill Purple; Writer: Robbie Pickering, Bill Purple; Stars: Jessica Biel, Maisie Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Mary Steenburgen, Orlando Jones, Paul Reiser, Bryan Batt, Joshua Mikel, Jayson Warner Smith, Cailey Fleming, Ian Belgard, Richard Robichaux, Russ Russo, George Wilson, Alicia Davis Johnson)

Opening film. Narrative. World premiere.

Don't Think Twice

Review preview for Don't Think Twice

In places it's very well scripted, astute and incisive, but for most UK viewers it simply won't translate.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Set in the world of New York improv comedy, where the members of a tight-knit troupe are thrown into disarray when one of their ranks lands a coveted spot on a top TV show.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Mike Birbiglia; Writer: Mike Birbiglia; Stars: Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs, Mike Birbiglia, Chris Gethard, Kate Micucci, Tami Sagher, Seth Barrish, Erin Darke, Brian Edwards, Elise Edwards, DeWitt Fleming Jr., Sondra James, Brandon Scott Jones, Jordan Kenneth Kamp, Maggie Kemper)

Full review

Narrative. New York premiere.

Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray

The self-help industry is worth $11 billion dollars a year; it captivates those seeking happiness, release from suffering, and those longing for a path and a leader to follow. James Arthur Ray, for many, was that sort of leader. But when a sweat lodge ceremony goes horribly wrong, we learn from Ray and some of his followers that their spiritual path was fraught with danger and perhaps even greater suffering.

(Year: 2016; Director: Jenny Carchman)

Documentary. World premiere.

The Family Fang

When the elder Fangs go missing under mysterious circumstances, the siblings are forced to unpack long-dormant and unresolved issues from their unorthodox childhoods as they search for their parents.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jason Bateman; Writer: Kevin Wilson, David Lindsay-Abaire; Stars: Jason Bateman, Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Marin Ireland, Josh Pais, Michael Chernus, Jason Butler Harner, Linda Emond, Eugenia Kuzmina, Robbie Tann, Scott Shepherd, Mackenzie Brooke Smith, Frank Harts, Jaiden Kaine, Maryann Plunkett)

Narrative. New York premiere.

Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Review preview for Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Taika Waititi knows growing up isn't child's play but he also respects childhood as a place of adventure, where spontaneity rules and the possibilities are only limited by imagination.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A kid and his foster uncle run off into the New Zealand bush.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2016; Director: Taika Waititi; Writer: Taika Waititi, based on the novel by Barry Crump; Stars: Julian Dennison, Rachel House, Rima Te Wiata, Oscar Kightley, Rhys Darby, Cohen Holloway, Mike Minogue, Stan Walker, Sam Neill)

Full review

Narrative. New York premiere.

A Hologram For The King

Review preview for A Hologram For The King

The film looks great if you like sand

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
A middle aged salesman is sent to Saudi Arabia to sell a complicated IT system to the king and comes up against interminable delays and the prospect of terminal failure

(Country: UK, France, Germany, US; Year: 2016; Director: Tom Tykwer; Writer: Tom Tykwer, based on the novel by David Eggers; Stars: Tom Hanks, Alexander Black, Sarita Choudhury, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Tracey Fairaway, Jane Perry, Tom Skerritt, David Menkin, Christy Meyer, Megan Maczko, Eric Meyers, Ben Whishaw,) , Trailer

Full review

Narrative. World premiere.

A Kind Of Murder

A 1960s-set Hitchcockian thriller that explores how we judge culpability in the death of another.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Andy Goddard; Writer: Susan Boyd, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith; Stars: Haley Bennett, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Vincent Kartheiser, Eddie Marsan, Lon Nease, Lucas Bentley, Michelle Poole, Corrie Danieley, Jennifer Enskat, Christine Dye, Ken Strunk, Radek Lord, Jon Osbeck, Ryan Poole)

Narrative. World premiere.

The Last Laugh

When is comedy not funny? Some would argue, when it’s about the Holocaust. Through interviews and performances featuring people on either side of the issue.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Ferne Pearlstein; Writer: Robert Edwards, Ferne Pearlstein; Stars: Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Mel Brooks, Rob Reiner, Gilbert Gottfried, Carl Reiner, Harry Shearer, Larry Charles, Susie Essman, David Steinberg, Robert Clary, Jeffrey Ross, Judy Gold, Lisa Lampanelli, Hanala Sagal)

Documentary. World premiere.

Lavender

A photographer suffers severe memory loss following a horrific car accident. Putting her life at risk, as well as those of her husband and daughter, she must piece together and confront the traumatic past that is haunting her.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2016; Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly; Writer: Colin Frizzell, Ed Gass-Donnelly; Stars: Abbie Cornish, Dermot Mulroney, Justin Long, Diego Klattenhoff, Peyton Kennedy, Sarah Abbott, Lola Flanery, Mackenzie Muldoon)

Narrative. World premiere.

Life, Animated

Review preview for Life, Animated

This is not about once upon a times or fairy tale endings but the challenges on the way and it stands as a testament to the love and determination of every member of the Suskind family.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
The story of an autistic man who was able to reconnect with his family via Disney films.

(Country: US, France; Year: 2015; Director: Roger Ross Williams; Writer: Ron Suskind)

Full review See: Article about the early bird highlights of DOC NYC 2016 , Article about the 2016 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards

Documentary. New York premiere.

Little Boxes

It's the summer before sixth grade, and Clark is the new-in-town biracial kid in a sea of white. Discovering that to be cool he needs to act ‘more black,' he fumbles to meet expectations as rifts are exposed in his tight-knit family, his parents also striving to adjust.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Rob Meyer; Writer: Annie J Howell; Stars: Melanie Lynskey, Nelsan Ellis, Armani Jackson, Oona Laurence, Miranda McKeon, Janeane Garofalo, Nadia Dajani, Veanne Cox, Julie Hays, David Charles Ebert, Maliq Johnson, Christine Taylor, Dierdre Friel, Christian Whelan, Mark Gessner)

Narrative. World premiere.

Magnus

Review preview for Magnus

Ree embraces the music as a collaborator, a voice that can channel the feelings of both the character and the story.

Paul Risker · 4 out of 5
Documenting the 'Mozart of Chess'.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2016; Director: Benjamin Ree; Writer: Linn-Jeanethe Kyed, Benjamin Ree; Stars: Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand)

Full review See: Benjamin Ree interview about documentary Magnus

Documentary. World premiere.

The Meddler

Adoting, mother supreme crosses coasts to drop into the life of her screenwriter daughter Lori after her husband dies.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Lorene Scafaria; Writer: Lorene Scafaria; Stars: Rose Byrne, Laura San Giacomo, Megalyn Echikunwoke, J.K. Simmons, Susan Sarandon, Michael McKean, Lucy Punch, Cecily Strong, Casey Wilson, Jason Ritter, Billy Magnussen, Harry Hamlin, Jerrod Carmichael, Randall Park, Amy Landecker)

Narrative. US premiere

Midsummer In Newtown

From auditions to opening night, we witness the children of Sandy Hook Elementary find their voice, build their self-confidence, and ultimately shine in a rock-pop version of A Midsummer’s Night Dream.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Lloyd Kramer)

Documentary. World premiere.

Mr. Church

When a dying mother hires a talented cook to help take care of her young daughter, a lifelong friendship blooms.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Bruce Beresford; Writer: Susan McMartin; Stars: Britt Robertson, Lucy Fry, Eddie Murphy, Natascha McElhone, Xavier Samuel, Jenica Bergere, Mckenna Grace, Madison Wolfe, Christian Madsen, Thom Barry, Lincoln Melcher, Darius Cottrell, Amy Sutherland, Natalie Coughlin, Michael Leone)

Narrative. World premiere.

My Blind Brother

Robbie is a champion blind athlete and local sports hero whose brother Bill is always overlooked, even though he runs every marathon by his side. When both fall for the same lady, Bill must decide if he will put himself second again, or finally stand up to his blind brother.​

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Sophie Goodhart; Writer: Sophie Goodhart; Stars: Jenny Slate, Zoe Kazan, Adam Scott, Nick Kroll, Talia Tabin, Heidi Lewandowski, Charlie Hewson, Ryan Kearney, Jeffrey Grover, Peter Aylward, Allison Rowe, Kenny Santiago Marrero, Conner McVicker, Sofia Plass, Kellen Boyle)

Narrative. New York premiere

My Scientology Movie

Review preview for My Scientology Movie

Louis Theroux does not pretend to know everything. He waits to be informed and in the waiting good things happen.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Louis Theroux explores the Church of Scientology. Or tries...

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2015; Director: John Dower; Writer: John Dower, Louis Theroux; Stars: Louis Theroux, Marty Rathbun, Andrew Perez, Rob Alter, Jefferson Hawkins, Stacia Roybal)

Full review

Documentary. International premiere.

National Bird

Sonia Kennebeck takes on the controversial tactic of drone warfare, and demands accountability through the personal accounts—recollections, traumas, and responses—of three American military veterans whose lives have been shaken by the roles they played in this controversial method of attack.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Sonia Kennebeck)

Documentary. International premiere.

The Phenom

Review preview for The Phenom

Simmons is generally convincing but it's difficult for him to combine this with holding centre stage, especially in scenes alongside Ethan Hawke, who is cast against type as a low rent Tyler Durden and clearly enjoying every minute of it.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A young baseball pitcher struggles to cope with success.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Noah Buschel; Writer: Noah Buschel; Stars: Paul Giamatti, Ethan Hawke, Elizabeth Marvel, Paul Adelstein, Johnny Simmons, Louisa Krause, Marin Ireland, Sophie Kennedy Clark, John Ventimiglia, Alison Elliott, Yul Vazquez, Melissa LeEllen, Frank Wood, Meg Gibson, Walter Hendrix III)

Full review

Narrative. World premiere.

Pistol Shrimps

Documentary about women who play in an LA recreational basketball league, focusing on the Pistol Shrimps, a rag-tag group of actresses (including Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation), comedians, musicians, and mothers who brought nationwide attention to the league that could.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Brent Hodge; Writer: Brent Hodge; Stars: Angela Trimbur, Maria Blasucci, Molly Hawkey, Melissa Stetten, Jesse Thomas)

Documentary. World premiere.

Reset

Documentary follows renowned choreographer and dancer Benjamin Millepied (also known for choreographing the dance sequences in Black Swan) as he attempts to rejuvenate the Paris Opera Ballet in his new position as director.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Thierry Demaizière, Alban Teurlai; Stars: Benjamin Millepied)

Documentary. International premiere.

Shadow World

The shadow world of the global arms trade, where corruption, lies, and greed drive covert relationships between politicians, industry executives, military and intelligence officials, and arms dealers. Their aim: to perpetuate war in order to generate more profit, no matter what the human cost.

(Country: Belgium, US; Year: 2016; Director: Johan Grimonprez; Writer: Andrew Feinstein, Andrew Feinstein, Johan Grimonprez)

Documentary. World premiere.

Strike A Pose

To the fans, they were the unforgettably talented men who supported the career of one of the world's most beloved and controversial music artists: Madonna. Behind the scenes they were an impressionable group of young dancers whose lives were forever changed by her influence. Strike a Pose reunites the men 25 years later, providing the chance to learn about the emotional truth behind the glamorous facade.

(Country: Netherlands, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Ester Gould, Reijer Zwaan; Stars: Madonna)

Documentary. North American premiere

Team Foxcatcher

Chronicles the paranoid, downward spiral of millionaire John E. DuPont that led to the tragic murder of Olympic wrestler David Schultz. Never-before-seen home videos shot during Schultz’s time at Foxcatcher Farms shed light on the disturbing events and serve as a poignant memoir to the legacy of the champion wrestler, husband, and father.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Jon Greenhalgh)

Documentary. World premiere.

Vincent N Roxxy

Review preview for Vincent N Roxxy

Though she's following in the footsteps of many an exploitation movie heroine before her, Kravitz carries it well.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A man steps in to help a woman attacked in the street, and gets more than he bargained for.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Gary Michael Schultz; Writer: Keith Kjarval, Gary Michael Schultz; Stars: Emile Hirsch, Zoë Kravitz, Zoey Deutch, Emory Cohen, Scott Mescudi, Beau Knapp, Jason Mitchell, Jeff Gum, Kim Collins, Joey Bicicchi, Sheldon Frett, Lance Tafelski, Jared Bankens, Hakim Callender, Juan Gaspard)

Full review

Narrative. World premiere.

Win!

With inside access to the players, decision makers, and supporters who were central to the formation of New York City Football Club and its historic inaugural season, Win! offers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to build a Major League Soccer team from the ground up, in the country’s most competitive sports market.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Justin Webster; Writer: Justin Webster)

Documentary. World premiere.

Wolves

The star of his NYC high school basketball team is riding his way to Cornell on a sports scholarship. He can only maintain his popular jock facade for so long, as his troubled father Lee has a gambling addiction that threatens to derail his dreams both on and off the court.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Bart Freundlich; Writer: Bart Freundlich; Stars: Carla Gugino, Michael Shannon, Chris Bauer, Lynn Marocola, Cindy Cheung, Luis Da Silva Jr., Nicole Bonifacio, Taylor John Smith, Matthew Porretta, Marko Caka, Jessica Rothe, Danny Hoch, Wayne Duvall, Richard Kohnke, Nancy Cejari)

Narrative. World premiere.

Youth In Oregon

Comedy drama about an ailing man travelling to Oregon to be legally euthanised.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Joel David Moore; Writer: Andrew Eisen; Stars: Nicola Peltz, Billy Crudup, Christina Applegate, Josh Lucas, Frank Langella, Rebecca Blumhagen, Mary Kay Place, Alex Shaffer, Carla Quevedo, Will Janowitz, Robert Hogan, Maryann Plunkett, Keenan Jolliff, James Murtaugh, Michael Godere)

Narrative. World premiere.