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Tribeca Festival · 2018

Tribeca Festival 2018

Spotlight Documentary

Programme

15 films · 3 reviews

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Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable

One of the most fearless and accomplished athletes of her generation, Bethany Hamilton became a surfing wunderkind when she returned to the sport following a devastating shark attack at age 13. As she continues to chase waves she also now tackles motherhood.

(Country: United States; Year: 2018; Director: Aaron Lieber; Stars: Bethany Hamilton, Bethany Hamilton)

World premiere

The Bleeding Edge

Each year in the United States, unparalleled innovations in medical diagnostics, treatment, and technology hit the market. But when the same devices designed to save patients end up harming them, who is accountable?

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Kirby Dick)

World premiere

General Magic

A Silicon Valley startup built by the best and brightest minds of the 1980s tech world, General Magic shipped the first handheld wireless personal communicator in 1994. It was decades ahead of its time — and a complete failure

(Year: 2017; Director: Sarah Kerruish, Matt Maude; Writer: Sarah Kerruish, Jonathan Key, Matt Maude, Michael Stern, Ceri Tallett)

World premiere

House Two

In 2005, a group of US Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi men, women, and children in a matter of minutes, sparking the largest criminal investigation in Marine Corps history.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Michael Epstein; Writer: Michael Epstein)

World premiere

Howard

Documentary about Howard Ashman, the man who penned the lyrics for Little Shop of Horrors and revitalised Disney with his work on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Don Hahn)

World premiere

Into The Okavango

Botswana’s Okavango Delta is one of the planet’s last remaining true wildernesses, but studies have shown it is shrinking. A group of intrepid scientists embark on a four-month, 1500-mile journey upriver to the Okavango’s source to investigate why.

(Country: US, Angola, Botswana, Namibia; Year: 2017; Director: Neil Gelinas; Writer: Neil Gelinas, Brian Newell)

World premiere

McQueen

Review preview for McQueen

McQueen was an artist who designed dresses that became living sculptures

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s rags to riches story.

(Country: UK; Year: 2018; Director: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui; Writer: Peter Ettedgui; Stars: Alexander McQueen)

Full review

Roll Red Roll

At a 2012 pre-season high-school football party in Steubenville, Ohio, a young woman was raped. The aftermath exposed an entire culture of complicity — and Roll Red Roll maps out the roles that peer pressure, denial, sports machismo, and social media each played in the tragedy.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Nancy Schwartzman)

World premiere

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

Documentary about the award-winning composer and musician.

(Country: US, Japan; Year: 2017; Director: Stephen Nomura Schible; Stars: Ryuichi Sakamoto)

North American premiere

Say Her Name: The Life And Death Of Sandra Bland

Sandra Bland was a bright, energetic activist whose life was cut short when a traffic stop resulted in a mysterious jail cell death just three days later. This documentary follows the fight to discover the truth.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Kate Davis, David Heilbroner)

World premiere

Serengeti Rules

Review preview for Serengeti Rules

Not only is the film thorough and engaging, it explains what's happening in such a way that viewers will be able to identify examples of similar events in their own local environments.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A band of young scientists discover a radical new theory of the natural world — one that could help confront some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2018; Director: Nicolas Brown; Writer: Nicolas Brown)

Full review

World premiere

Songwriter

Review preview for Songwriter

While it’s interesting to hear his approach and the steps taken from writing the lyrics to matching the words with the beat, there is still a sense that Songwriter does nothing more than just self-promote.

John-Anthony Disotto · 3 out of 5
Ed Sheeran up close, far away from raving fans and the stage. This personal portrait of the British singer-songwriter, filmed by his cousin Murray Cummings, follows this modest performer’s creative process as he writes a new song from scratch.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Murray Cummings; Stars: Ed Sheeran)

Full review

North American premiere

Studio 54

Studio 54 was the pulsating epicentre of 1970s hedonism: a disco hothouse of beautiful people, drugs, and sex. The journeys of Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell - two best friends from Brooklyn who conquered New York City - frame this history of the "greatest club of all time".

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Matt Tyrnauer)

New York premiere

Time for Ilhan

In November 2016, Ilhan Omar made history as the first Somali Muslim woman to be elected for state office in America. This documentary looks at her campaign.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Norah Shapiro)

World premiere

Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie

Since her debut nearly 60 years ago, Barbie has been at turns a fashion idol and a cultural lightning rod. Tiny Shoulders steps behind the scenes as the icon undergoes her greatest reinvention yet.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins; Writer: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins; Stars: Gloria Steinem, Gloria Steinem)

World premiere