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Tribeca Festival · 2018

Tribeca Festival 2018

Documentary Competition

Programme

12 films · 4 reviews

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Blowin' Up

Review preview for Blowin' Up

A refreshing look at the realities of a world that most people have strong opinions on but few really know much about.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
In a courtroom in Queens, women facing prostitution charges may earn a chance at redemption thanks to an experimental programme. Documentary.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal; Writer: Stephanie Wang-Breal)

Full review

World premiere

Call Her Ganda

When a transgender Filipina woman is found dead in the motel room of a US Marine, grassroots activists demand accountability. The ensuing case lays bare a constellation of social and political tensions between the United States and the Philippines.

(Year: 2018; Director: PJ Raval)

World premiere

The Man Who Stole Banksy

In 2007, the anonymous graffiti artist Banksy painted a series of political works around Palestine, only to have them cut down and sold off to the highest bidder. This documentary examines the commodification of street art.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2017; Director: Marco Proserpio; Writer: Christian Omodeo, Filippo Perfido, Marco Proserpio, Luca Speranzoni; Stars: Iggy Pop, Stephan Keszler, Sami Zarour, Steve Lazarides, Carlo McCormick, Luca Ciancabilla, Alaa Al-Shallabi, Aisar Saifi, Peter Hvidberg, Christian Omodeo, Ray Mock, Alison Young, Borge Bengtsson, Philipp Teuchtler, Ziad Khateeb)

World premiere

Momentum Generation

In the 1990s, a motley band of teen surfers from the north shore of Oahu brought professional surfing to new heights. But as their stars rose, the competition threatened to tear their group apart.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist; Writer: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist; Stars: Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Taylor Knox, Benji Weatherley, Kalani Robb, Ross Williams)

World premiere

No Greater Law

In Idaho’s rugged Treasure Valley, the Followers of Christ believe in God, family, and faith healing. As an investigation into the community’s high infant mortality rate closes in on the church, one patriarch fights for his right to his faith.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2018; Director: Tom Dumican)

World premiere

Phantom Cowboys

A meditation on youth, tradition, and the evolving hopes and dreams of modern adolescents in the forgotten industrial towns across America.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Daniel Patrick Carbone)

World premiere

The Rachel Divide

Documentary about Rachel Dolezal, who became infamous when she was unmasked as a white woman passing for black.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Laura Brownson; Writer: Laura Brownson, Jeff Seymann Gilbert)

World premiere

Tanzania Transit

A train journey across Tanzania captures a microcosm of contemporary African society.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2018; Director: Jeroen Van Velzen; Writer: Jeroen Van Velzen, Esther Eenstroom)

World premiere

United Skates

Documentary about activists protesting about skating rink closures.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Tina Brown, Dyana Winkler; Writer: Dyana Winkler)

World premiere

When Lambs Become Lions

Review preview for When Lambs Become Lions

Offering a clear-sighted view of the situation that calls to mind executive producer Matthew Heinemann’s approach to the drug trade in Cartel Land, Kasbe digs at the complexity of the poaching problem.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
In the Kenyan bush, a crackdown on ivory poaching forces a silver-tongued second-generation poacher to seek out an unlikely ally in this fly-on-the-wall look at both sides of the conservation divide.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Jon Kasbe)

Full review

World premiere

Yellow Is Forbidden

Review preview for Yellow Is Forbidden

Guo Pei is full of contradictions and Yellow Is Forbidden doesn't try to hide that, quite the opposite.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 3.5 out of 5
Documentary about Chinese designer Guo Pei and her struggle to become part of the world of haute couture.

(Country: New Zealand, China, France, Italy, Switzerland, US; Year: 2018; Director: Pietra Brettkelly; Writer: Pietra Brettkelly, Trish Carter, Joanna Paul, Molly Malene Stensgaard; Stars: Guo Pei, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Wendi Murdoch, Philip Treacy, Jack Tsao)

Full review See: Pietra Brettkelly and Carmen Dell’Orefice on Guo Pei, editor Nicolas Chaudeurge and Balenciaga in Yellow Is Forbidden

World premiere