HILLARY’S SURPRISE APPEARANCE
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 81-year-old Burt Reynolds made separate surprise appearances at the Tribeca Film Festival, which will conclude on Sunday. Bruce Springsteen also made a surprise performance.
The premiere of a virtual reality short by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow was already a high-profile event at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday night. And then Clinton walked onstage.
Clinton was an unannounced panelist, there to discuss the scourge of elephant poaching— the subject of Bigelow's eightminute film The Protectors: Walk
in the Rangers' Shoes, about park rangers trying to save elephants in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
She spoke about her work to save elephants from poachers slaughtering them for their ivory tusks, both as secretary of state in the Obama administration, and later with her family foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative.
"We've got to bust this market so it can't come back," she said of the illegal ivory market.
Before Clinton and the three other panelists were interviewed by Bigelow, the audience donned virtual reality headsets at their seats and experienced—in 360 degrees— what it's like to be one of the 200 rangers fighting well-armed poachers in the park the size of Delaware. The film gives the viewer both the experience of being in the grass and searching for poachers, and up in the air looking down. A wrenching scene shows the rangers arriving at the carcass of a slaughtered elephant. "I realized that there was an intersection between poaching and terrorism, which led me to this project," Bigelow said. The director of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty directed the short along with Imraan Ismail, a virtual-reality veteran, who also was on Saturday's panel. "They're outmanned and outgunned and they're putting themselves in the line of fire," Ismail said of the rangers. Clinton told the audience that she first became focused on what she called "the horrific slaughter of elephants" when she was secretary of state. "It became clear to everyone that this was not just a terrible crisis when it came to the elephant population, it was a trade, a trafficking that was funding a lot of bad folks, a lot of bad actors," she said. "It was being used to take ivory and sell it in order to buy more weapons, and support the kind of terroristic activity that these and other groups were engaged in."
Clinton told Bigelow that her virtual reality film was "so critical, because it is a portal—a portal that people can go into and think about, 'Here we are in New York, what can I do?' And there is a lot that can be done—stop the killing, stop the trafficking, and stop the demand. And part of that is protecting these rangers, who are up against some of the most ruthless killers."
The Tribeca appearance was one of a series Clinton has made lately in New York, including turning up at several Broadway shows, speaking at a recent women's conference, and accepting an award this week from an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community group. Audiences have greeted her with loud cheers and ovations, as they did on Saturday night.
National Geographic will release Bigelow's short on May 1 on the virtual reality app Within, and on YouTube and Facebook360 the following week.
Meanwhile, Tribeca cofounder Robert De Niro helped Reynolds onto the red carpet for the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of his new movie Dog
Years Saturday night in New York. It was a rare appearance for the 81-year-old actor, who at times struggled to walk.
Reynolds was given a chair on the red carpet, so that he could speak to a limited number of press outlets about the film.
He was overjoyed at the turnout.
"Great to see Mr. De Niro, who I love, and ...you know, all the people that I know," Reynolds said. "It's very sweet."
In the film, which is still shopping for distribution, Reynolds portrays an aging movie star who realizes his best days are behind him. The actor sees similarities in the character with his own life.
Reynolds laughed at the obvious parallel with his own life, though he said, "I guess I'm doing all right. I think because it's a hell of a turnout."
Written and directed by Adam Rifkin, the film also stars
Modern Family's Ariel Winter, Chevy Chase and Nikki Blonsky.
Reynolds joked about working with younger co-stars.
"You don't learn from young actors," Reynolds said. "You just tell them how to behave."
Yet another surprise was Springsteen taking part in a twohour jam session during a surprise appearance at a neighboring film festival in his home state of New Jersey.
Longtime E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt and veteran Jersey shore rocker Southside Johnny were among those who played with Springsteen at the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival on Friday. Also taking part were some former E Street Band members and the Lakehouse Jr. Pros, a band featuring child musicians.
The concert followed the premiere of a documentary film chronicling the history of the Asbury Park music scene. The show featured several rock and R&B staples including Chuck Berry's Bye, Bye Johnny. Jimi Hendrix' Voodoo Child and Little Richard's Lucille.
Springsteen said it was "great" to see the "old guys still cranking it out."
Springsteen is one of the most anticipated artists in this year’s Tribeca. He will sit down with Oscar-winner Tom Hanks as they talk about their illustrious careers in: Tribeca Talks: Storytellers.