Skip to main content

Tribeca Festival · 2021

Tribeca Festival 2021

Documentary Competition

Programme

8 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

All These Sons

Review preview for All These Sons

The problems with gun violence in Chicago are well documented, so the directors don't have to do much to set the scene here, which means they can immediately shift the focus to the men at the projects' heart.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
On Chicago’s South and West sides, the scourge of guns and gangs is destroying countless lives. Taking matters into their own hands, two men dedicate their lives educating, empowering and healing young black men at high risk for being victims or perpetrators of deadly gun-violence.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Joshua Altman, Bing Liu)

Full review

World premiere

Ascension

Review preview for Ascension

From the first shot of a uniformed member of a cleaning team walking the tiled lip of a rooftop infinity pool this is the edge of image, the thing unseen.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Documentary portrait of the "Chinese Dream" - a contemporary vision of a China that prioritises productivity and innovation above all

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Jessica Kingdon)

Full review

World premiere

Blind Ambition

Review preview for Blind Ambition

Co-directors Robert Coe and Warwick Ross use their simple premise to explore wider subjects.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
The story of four Zimbabwean men who form their country’s first Wine Tasting Olympics team and the mission that drives them to compete.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2021; Director: Robert Coe, Warwick Ross; Writer: Robert Coe, Warwick Ross)

Full review See: Warwick Ross and Robert Coe in conversation on wine tasting and Blind Ambition

World premiere

Fathom

Review preview for Fathom

If you're cynical about non-human intelligence and inclined to associate an interest in whale song with sentimental hippies, Fathom will waste no time in setting you right.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary follows researchers working to finally decode the communication of humpback whales.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Drew Xanthopoulos)

Full review

World premiere

The Kids

Documentary exploring the divergent paths taken by the original cast of Larry Clark's Kids.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2021; Director: Eddie Martin; Writer: Hamilton Harris, Eddie Martin)

World premiere

Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres

Profile of the Rolling Stone magazine writer and editor.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Suzanne Kai)

World premiere

On the Divide

Brings us into the lives of three Latinx people in McAllen Texas, whose different beliefs end up coming to a head at the last abortion clinic in the US/Mexico border.

(Year: 2021; Director: Maya Cueva, Leah Galant; Writer: Maya Cueva, Leah Galant)

World premiere

The Scars of Ali Boulala

Swedish skateboarding prodigy Ali Boulala - alongside other pros including Rune Glifberg and Arto Saari - looks back on the DIY videos and fast-paced lifestyle of his coming-of-age in the Nineties skating scene.

(Country: Sweden, Norway; Year: 2021; Director: Max Eriksson)

World premiere