TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
This year, the festival has a slightly pugnacious edge to counter the policies of its midtown neighbour, US President Donald Trump
‘Copwatch’. ‘No Man’s Land’. olitical currents have always flowed through the Tribeca Film Festival, founded in the wake of the September 11 attacks. But this year, the festival has a slightly pugnacious edge to counter the policies of its midtown neighbour, President Donald Trump. Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro, after all, has repeatedly said he’d like to punch Trump in the face.
Trump’s 100th day in office falls this week during the New York festival, which opened yesterday with a Clive Davis documentary,
and star-studded concert tribute to the music producer. Tribeca, now in its 16th year, is the first big film festival to be programmed and substantially oriented in the political climate since last November’s election.
And Tribeca organisers acknowledge it has shaped this year’s festival all the way down to its slogan: “See yourself in others.” ‘Frank Serpico’. ‘A Gray State’. ‘Clive Davis: Soundtrack of our Lives’.
“We programmed the festival this year the way the current administration did their budget,” Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the festival, said tongue in cheek. “That said, we’re also about entertaining — which this administration has also done for us.”
Tribeca, which runs for 12 days, is a particularly eclectic festival that encompasses celebrity talks (Springsteen and Hanks!), television premieres (this year Hulu’s anticipated The Handmaid’s Tale debuts there), an ever-expanding virtual reality component and several movie anniversary celebrations.
So while defining a theme in an increasingly multi-screen, multimedia festival only goes so far, ‘Get Me Roger Stone’. ‘The Reagan Show’.
there’s an undeniable presence of films that dig into the past for clues that lead to today. Many are documentaries that help articulate the populist unrest that pushed Trump to the White House.
CONSUMED BY POLITICS
A Gray State, by Grizzly Man producer Erik Nelson, is about an Iraq veteran from Minnesota named David Crowley who was trying to create a dystopian science-fiction film that gave voice to libertarian and right-wing fears. But his death, along with that of his wife and young daughter, led to their own conspiracy theories. It’s a tragedy in which an intelligent but increasingly troubled man appears to internalise the fringe politics he consumes himself with.
“It’s really a core sample, to me, of what’s going on today,” says Nelson. “David was speaking to that subcutaneous audience out there who are looking for truths that they don’t see provided in the quote-unquote mainstream media. And on election night, we saw those people kind of come out of the shadows and tip a few elections.”
The Reagan Show, by Sierra Pettengill and Pacho Velez, uses archival footage to show how extensively Ronald Reagan redefined the role of the US president through television. It shows the former Hollywood star’s savvy manipulation of his media image: hitting his marks and sticking to the script.
David Byars’ No Man’s Land tells the story behind the Oregon protesters who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last year.
Get Me Roger Stone, by Daniel DiMauro, is about the Republican self-proclaimed “trickster” and Trump associate currently under FBI scrutiny for his role in Russian interference in the presidential election.
There is a trio of films that dig into police brutality: Frank Serpico, on the famous whistle-blowing New York police officer; LA92, on the Rodney King assault and its subsequent riots in Los Angeles; and Copwatch, about a police-documenting organisation.
And there are also issues of equal rights (the trans icon investigation The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson ), a number of environmentfocused films and events scheduled around Earth Day, and even an appearance from Michael Moore for an anniversary of his 2002 documentary on guns and mass shootings, Bowling for Columbine. The festival declares, “In the age of Trump... there’s no better time to revisit” the film. —AP