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Tribeca Festival · 2023

Tribeca Festival 2023

Spotlight Documentary

Programme

26 films · 1 review

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All Up in the Biz

A collage of celebrity interviews, rare film, reenactments, and playful animation shows how Biz Markie left his mark on the history of hip-hop.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Sacha Jenkins)

World premiere

American Son

The story of Asian American tennis prodigy Michael Chang, the youngest player to win a men’s Grand Slam tournament.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jay Caspian Kang)

World premiere

Anthem

What would it sound like to have a national anthem that actually reflects America? This documentary follows composer Kris Bowers and producer DJ Dahi on a road trip across the country to find out.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Peter Nicks)

World premiere

BS High

After a nationally televised high school American football game between top-ranked IMG Academy and unknown Bishop Sycamore ended with an IMG blowout win, it's discovered that Bishop Sycamore isn't at all what it seems.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Martin Desmond Roe)

World premiere

Comedy Of War: Laughter In Ukraine

Four Ukrainian stand-up comics tour their homeland, bringing laughter and joy as a form of resistance and recovery amid wartime.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Christopher Walters)

World premiere

Common Ground

Exposes the interconnectedness of American farming policy, politics, and illness. Follow the solution-driven plight of Regenerative Farmers as they make a case for soil health across the continent and beyond.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Rebecca Tickell, Josh Tickell)

World premiere

Every Body

Three intersex people challenge a heteronormative system of secrecy and non-consensual surgery in the US.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Julie Cohen)

World premiere

Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field

With idiosyncratic style and an eye toward the future of fashion, Patricia Field has always been shaping culture. This documentary examines the costume designer's life.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Michael Selditch)

World premiere

Invisible Beauty

Fashion revolutionary Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in the fight for racial diversity.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng)

New York Premiere

It's Basic

A compelling look at Universal Basic Income pilot programs in US cities.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Marc Levin)

World premiere

The League

Baseball isn’t the game we know and love without the contribution of Black Americans. This documentary explores the incredible history of the Negro Leagues, its impact on the sport of baseball, and the players that still resonate through history to this day.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Sam Pollard)

World premiere

Milli Vanilli

The origins and eventual fallout of a one-hit-wonder.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Luke Korem)

World premiere

Minted

Examines the intersection of art, commerce, and digital ownership through the rise and crash of the NFT market.

(Country: United States, Canada, Cuba, Netherlands, India, Nigeria; Year: 2023; Director: Nicholas Bruckman)

World premiere

Open Heart

An intimate profile of New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist’s struggles to return to hockey after heart surgery.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jonathan Hock)

World premiere

Poisoned: The Danger in Our Food

Foodborne pathogens kill thousands of people in the US every year - this film is a call to action for the officials who have the power to mitigate this danger.

(Director: Stephanie Soechtig)

World premiere

Rise - the Siya Kolisi Story

Chronicling the legendary story of the first Black captain of the South Africa National Rugby Union Team.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2023; Director: Tebogo Malope)

World premiere

Ron Delsener Presents

Ron Delsener was the most influential concert promoter in New York. In addition to looking back at his career, this documentary shows that the now 86-year-old Delsener still has a spring in his step.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jake Sumner)

World premiere

The Saint Of Second Chances

Documentary Major League Baseball promoter and owner, Bill Veeck.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Morgan Neville, Jeff Malmberg)

World premiere

The Space Race

Documentary about the first Black astronauts.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Lisa Cortés)

World premiere

Stan Lee

Profile charting Stan Lee's life from his upbringing in New York as Stanley Lieber to the rise of Marvel Comics.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: David Gelb)

World premiere

Sunday Best

Documentary about the career of pioneering television host Ed Sullivan.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Sacha Jenkins)

World premiere

Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History Of Popular Music

Concert film documenting New York theatre star Taylor Mac's joyous, challenging, and ostentatiously queer 24-hour musical performance.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman)

World premiere

This Is Not Financial Advice

Retail investors, including “Dogecoin Millionaire” Glauber Contessoto, navigate the burgeoning, lucrative, and volatile world of cryptocurrency.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Chris Temple, Zach Ingrasci)

World premiere

Untitled Nicky Nodjoumi

In this hybrid political thriller and verité portrait documentary, Sara Nodjoumi, working with co-director and husband, Till Schauder dives into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of more than 100 "treasonous" paintings by her father, seminal Iranian modern artist Nickzad Nodjoumi.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Sara Nodjoumi, Till Schauder)

World premiere

We Dare to Dream

Follows athletes on their journey to become part of the refugee Olympic team in Tokyo 2020.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Waad al-Kateab)

World premiere

Your Fat Friend

Review preview for Your Fat Friend

Viewers are likely to go away appreciating Aubrey’s frustrations and perhaps, if they share them, feeling validated, but without the tools to do anything about them.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Popular anonymous blogger Aubrey Gordon spent five years writing about the realities of living as a self-described “very fat person.” Now, she is about to face the public for the very first time.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Jeanie Finlay; Stars: Aubrey Gordon)

Full review

World premiere