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Tribeca Festival · 2017

Tribeca Festival 2017

Spotlight Narrative

Focused on marquee filmmakers and star performers

Programme

15 films · 4 reviews

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The Boy Downstairs

Review preview for The Boy Downstairs

As a film about non communication it feels real

Angus Wolfe Murray · 2 out of 5
A woman finds a jewel of a home in New York until realising her downstairs neighbour is her ex whose heart she broke. Like a true New Yorker, she keeps the apartment.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Sophie Brooks; Writer: Sophie Brooks; Stars: Zosia Mamet, Matthew Shear, Deirdre O'Connell, Sarah Ramos, Diana Irvine)

Full review See: Sophie Brooks in conversation on The Boy Downstairs

World premiere

Buster's Mal Heart

A fugitive hotly pursued by rangers reviews the pathway to his present circumstances and finds conflicting stories.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Sarah Adina Smith; Writer: Sarah Adina Smith; Stars: Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lin Shaye, Toby Huss, Mark Kelly, Teresa Yenque, Bruce Bundy, Jared Larson, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Nicholas Pryor, Kimberly Arland, Lance Barber, Greg Behrendt, Kate Berlant)

NYC premiere

Chuck

The true story of Chuck Wepner, the man who inspired the billion-dollar film series Rocky

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Philippe Falardeau; Writer: Jeff Feuerzeig, Jerry Stahl; Stars: Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, Ron Perlman, Naomi Watts, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Rapaport)

US premiere

The Clapper

A professional audience member gains unwanted notoriety when a late-night talk show turns his life into a national obsession.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Dito Montiel; Writer: Dito Montiel; Stars: Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, Tracy Morgan, Adam Levine, Russell Peters, PJ Byrne, Alan Thicke, James Ransone, PJ Byrne)

World premiere

Dabka

When rookie journalist Jay Bahadur has an inspiring chance encounter with his idol, he uproots his life and moves to Somalia looking for the story of a lifetime but quickly finds he is in over his head.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Bryan Buckley; Writer: Jay Bahadur, Bryan Buckley; Stars: Al Pacino, Evan Peters, Melanie Griffith, Barkhad Abdi, Aidan Whytock, Edward Gelbinovich, Robert Hobbs, Philip Ettinger, Kiana Madani, Darron Meyer, Russell Posner, Vere Tindale, Armaan Haggio, Hakeemshady Mohamed, Lindsay Sullivan)

World premiere

The Dinner

How far will parents go to protect their children?

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Oren Moverman; Writer: Oren Moverman, based on the novel by Herman Koch; Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Charlie Plummer, Adepero Oduye, Michael Chernus, Taylor Rae Almonte, Joel Bissonnette, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Dominic Colón, Benjamin Snyder, Robert McKay, Onika Day)

See: Article about highlights of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival

North American premiere

Literally, Right Before Aaron

Review preview for Literally, Right Before Aaron

As sweet as it is bitter.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Still reeling from his breakup with college sweetheart Allison, Adam's world is thrown into further chaos when he’s surprisingly invited to attend her wedding.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Ryan Eggold; Writer: Ryan Eggold; Stars: Cobie Smulders, Lea Thompson, Dana Delany, John Cho, Kristen Schaal, Justin Long, Charlotte McKinney, Peter Gallagher, Luis Guzmán, Briga Heelan, Vella Lovell, Charlyne Yi, Ivy George, Ginger Gonzaga, Manu Intiraymi)

Full review

World premiere

The Lovers

Years into a dispassionate marriage, a long-married couple, both seriously involved with other people, resolve to call it quits. To their surprise, their decision reignites a dormant spark that leads to an impulsive affair.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Azazel Jacobs; Writer: Azazel Jacobs; Stars: Jessica Sula, Debra Winger, Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters, Tracy Letts, Tyler Ross, Lesley Fera, Eric Satterberg, Janine Mitchell)

World premiere

Manifesto

Can history’s art manifestos apply to contemporary society? An homage to the 20th Century’s most impassioned artistic statements and innovators, from Futurists and Dadaists to Pop Art, Fluxus, Lars von Trier and Jim Jarmusch, this series of reenactments performed by Cate Blanchett explores these declarations’ performative components and political significance.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Julian Rosefeldt; Writer: Julian Rosefeldt; Stars: Cate Blanchett, Erika Bauer, Carl Dietrich, Marie Borkowski Foedrowitz, Ea-Ja Kim, Marina Michael, Hannelore Ohlendorf, Ottokar Sachse, Ralf Tempel, Jimmy Trash, Andrew Upton)

See: Article about Cate Blanchett in Manifesto and The Present

NYC premiere

Permission

Review preview for Permission

Hall is one of the most capable performers of her generation and it's a delight to see what she can do with an intelligent script like this.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A couple experiment with sleeping with other people and find it has unexpected effects on their lives.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Brian Crano; Writer: Brian Crano; Stars: Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Gina Gershon, Francois Arnaud, Morgan Spector, David Joseph Craig, Jason Sudeikis)

Full review

World premiere

Rock'n Roll

Real-life couple Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard play themselves in this satirical comedy about a couple dealing with ageing in the limelight.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Guillaume Canet; Writer: Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Canet, Rodolphe Lauga, Rodolphe Lauga, Philippe Lefebvre, Philippe Lefebvre; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, Philippe Lefebvre, Gilles Lellouche, Camille Rowe, Kev Adams, Ben Foster, Maxim Nucci, Yarol Poupaud, Yvan Attal, Alain Attal, Johnny Hallyday, Laeticia Hallyday, Tifenn Michel-Borgey, Fabrice Lamy)

International premiere

Sweet Virginia

Review preview for Sweet Virginia

Sweet Virginia is a simple story told very, very well.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A burglary-homicide rattles the residents of a small Alaska town.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Jamie M Dagg; Writer: Benjamin China, Paul China; Stars: Jon Bernthal, Rosemarie DeWitt, Imogen Poots, Odessa Young. Christopher Abbot)

Full review

World premiere

Take Me

Ray is in the boutique simulated abduction business. It’s an understandably threadbare market, so he jumps at the chance when a mysterious call contracts him for a weekend kidnapping with a handsome payday at the end. But the job isn't all that it seems.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Pat Healy; Writer: Mike Makowsky; Stars: Taylor Schilling, Pat Healy, Alycia Delmore, Jim O'Heir, Mark Kelly)

World premiere

Thumper

This suspenseful crime drama follows Kat Carter, the troubled new girl in a school harboring a deep secret.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Jordan Ross; Writer: Jordan Ross; Stars: Eliza Taylor, Lena Headey, Pablo Schreiber, Ben Feldman, Daniel Webber, Grant Harvey, Britain Dalton, Brett Rice, Nick Alvarez, Elizabeth Greer, Micah Parker, Chuck Saale, Jazzy De Lisser, Alexandra Manea, Brigitte Kali Canales)

World premiere

The Trip To Spain

The comedians take a culinary road trip to Spain.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Michael Winterbottom; Stars: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Marta Barrio, Claire Keelan, Margo Stilley)

World premiere