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Tribeca Festival · 2017

Tribeca Festival 2017

Documentary Competition

These films will compete for Best Documentary Feature, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

Programme

12 films · 2 reviews

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Bobbi Jene

Documentary follows American dancer Bobbi Jene Smith as she returns to the US, leaving behind a loving boyfriend and a successful 10-year run as a star dancer of the famous Israeli dance company Batsheva.

(Country: Denmark, Israel, US; Year: 2016; Director: Elvira Lind)

World premiere

Copwatch

The story of We Copwatch, an organization that films police activity as a non-violent form of protest and deterrent to police brutality.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Camilla Hall)

World premiere

The Death And Life Of Marsha P Johnson

Documentary, follows a new investigation into the mysterious death of self-described “street queen” Marsha P Johnson, one of the courageous black transgender activists who spearheaded the modern gay civil rights movement.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: David France; Writer: David France, Mark Blane; Stars: Victoria Cruz, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Taylor Mead, Michael Baden, Vito Russo, Agosto Machado, Kitty Rotolo, Mark Segal, Pat Bumgardner, Chelsea Goodwin, Karla Jay, Randolfe Wicker, Rusty Mae Moore, Coco Rodriguez)

World premiere

The Departure

Profile of Ittetsu Nemoto, a Buddhist priest renowned for saving the lives of countless suicidal people. But Nemoto, suffering from heart disease and supporting his wife and young son, risks his life carrying the heavy emotional load to support those who no longer want to live.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Lana Wilson)

World premiere

No Man's Land

An on-the-ground account of the stand-off between ranchers occupying Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and federal authorities.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: David Byars)

World premiere

The Reagan Show

Review preview for The Reagan Show

It's more an assortment of clips showing Reagan doing what Reagan did best, which was to project a sort of all-pervasive bonhomie through the camera lens.

Jane Fae · 2.5 out of 5
A documentary constructed entirely from clips of archive footage, exploring Ronald Reagan's media persona.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Pacho Velez, Sierra Pettengil; Writer: Josh Alexander, Pacho Velez, Francisco Bello; Stars: Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush)

Full review

World premiere

A River Below

Deep in the Amazon, a renowned marine biologist and a reality TV star are each working to save the indigenous pink river dolphin from being hunted to extinction. When a scandal erupts, ethical questions are raised.

(Country: Colombia, US; Year: 2017; Director: Mark Grieco)

World premiere. Earth Day screening

The Sensitives

Meet the Sensitives, people who are debilitatingly sensitive to modern life — electricity, chemicals, you name it. Their symptoms and coping mechanisms might vary, but they all face the unusual and heartbreaking choice of either living in dangerous and uncertain conditions with their loved ones, or in physical and technological isolation.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Drew Xanthopoulos)

World premiere

Shadowman

In the early 1980s, Richard Hambleton was New York City’s precursor to Banksy, a rogue street artist whose silhouette paintings haunted the sides of Manhattan buildings. Like so many other geniuses of his time, he fell victim to drug addiction, even as his work continued to rise in both demand and value. Shadowman doubles as both a time capsule of a forgotten New York City era, and a redemption story.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Oren Jacoby)

World premiere

A Suitable Girl

Review preview for A Suitable Girl

The camera is always up close and the effect is to make us acutely aware of the smallness and familiarity of homes, the closeness - both physical and metaphorical - of family.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Three young women go through the process of arranged marriage.

(Country: US, India; Year: 2017; Director: Sarita Khurana, Smriti Mundhra)

Full review

World premiere

True Conviction

There’s a new detective agency in Dallas, Texas, started by three exonerated men, with decades in prison served between them, who look to free innocent people from behind bars.

(Year: 2017; Director: Jamie Meltzer; Writer: Jamie Meltzer, Jeff Gilbert)

World premiere

When God Sleeps

The story of rapper Shahin Najafi, whose bold style and transgressive lyrics put him in the crosshairs of religious clerics in his native Iran.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Till Schauder)

World premiere