FORM-Idea

If Sundance with film star Robert Redford at its helm and its focus on the environment and indigenous rights represents America’s liberal West Coast, then its younger sibling, Tribeca, with film star Robert De Niro as its co-founder and its focus on urban, grittier stories, is very much the face of America’s urban East Coast.  This year’s edition, like other film festivals around the world, is adjusting to our new normal, post pandemic.  And like many other festivals, Tribeca has retained its online component available to both journalists and film fans alike worldwide.

Robert DeNiro & Martin Scorsese

Below from the films, which were available online, are my festival favourites.

Karaoke is a hilarious feature from Israel that examines the lives of a late middle-aged couple. They both feel trapped in their marriage and long for a break from their staid routines.  In walks a neighbour who just loves throwing midnight Karaoke parties, despite the displeasure they cause to others living in the same building.  After the couple phone to complain to the neighbour, he surprisingly invites them to his home. They reluctantly accept and upon arrival meet someone who appears to live on a different planet, with his suave manners, glamourous trans-girlfriend and vast wealth. The film suggests that all may not be what it seems with this new neighbour, who becomes more and more entwined in their lives. Through his influence, the couple start to change, not necessarily for the better, and suddenly they begin see each other through far more critical eyes.

Moshe Rosenthal’s delightful feature keeps the audience on its toes as we try to work out whether the new neighbour’s influence is good or ultimately damaging.  The film implies that perhaps things are not always black and white and maybe his effect on the couple’s lives is a bit of both, but it’s also a cautionary tale about how it is important to be careful what you wish for.

A Matter of Trust from Denmark is a totally different type of film, a drama with several seemingly disconnected narratives. A boy who may be gay is unwillingly outed by his fellow classmates and turns to a sympathetic teacher for support. An Afghani family is forcibly repatriated to their native country despite its ongoing instability and the misgivings of the doctor who is legally duty bound to accompany them there.  A couple attend a friend’s funeral and the husband feels the need to reinvent their lives, thinking that the ones they live are not glamorous enough to share with their friends. A mother appears to be on the run with her young daughter, who may or may not have been abused by her.  And finally a couple who are both married to other people rent an AirBnb to start an affair.  Although all these stories appear to be disconnected, they do in fact explore the same theme, which is what does it mean to truly care for others?  Is it at all possible to put others first, without at some point reverting back to simply caring for ourselves?

Two Sisters and One Husband from India is also worth a mention as it explores what happens when a pair of sisters fall in love with the same man and try to find a way of working it out in a society that insists upon conformity.  Having fallen in love with one sister but forced to marry another, Rajat’s life is a mess. It is further complicated when the first sister discovers she is pregnant. When Rajat gets a job at a distant hotel, the trio decide to move and try to settle in a remote Himalayan village. It is there that Rajat hopes to create a very different family.  Two Sisters and a Husband is a unique look at what it means to be a family and if all of its narrative strands do not quite tie together, at least the questions the film poses linger long in the mind after its conclusion.

Although Tribeca’s features are unique, I have to confess that I personally loved their documentaries even more. Below are some of the festival highlights:

Tiu is a playful look at the acclaimed Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men as they celebrate their ten-year anniversary with a new album.  As would be expected from a band which hails from Icelandic superstar Bjork’s native home, the members of Of Monsters and Men prove themselves to be lovely, engaging company for the film’s brief forty-nine minutes.   During this time, they discuss everything from the dream interpretation of an appearance of a long dead grandfather, to the joys of playing music while travelling on a boat — a skill the band beautifully demonstrates while sailing past some of Iceland’s most dramatic frozen landscapes.  At Tiu’s conclusion you are sorry to see this band go since the time you have spent with them is simply wonderful.

Lakota Nation vs The United States is a documentary which takes a painful look at the longstanding and fraught relationship between the United States government and one of the country’s largest indigenous tribal groups. The film focuses on the Lakota Nation’s long-running fight to reclaim their ancestral sacred lands, the Black Hills.  This also happens to be the location of Mount Rushmore, the famous monument dedicated to past American Presidents. The long history of treaties signed and then broken, or new ones brokered referencing others that no longer exist is heart-breaking, as well as the documentary’s look at the criminal treatment of Native Americans in general.  The film highlights a history that for many is little known but one that is now crucial to the understanding of America as a whole.  For anyone who wants to understand the historic context of the Standing Rock protests, they should look no further than this thoughtful feature.

McEnroe is an engrossing portrait of one of biggest stars of men’s tennis.  It’s a surprisingly frank documentary that charts McEnroe’s ascent to the very top of the game while highlighting the inner demons he fought along the way, including his drug use when his career was beginning to spiral down or his troubled relationship with his father/manager.  In the film, McEnroe is very honest about highlighting the emotional sacrifices he made to reach the top.  This thought-provoking documentary presents a portrait of a man whose professional ascent coincides with a kind of public emotional collapse, but who does survive to find happiness in his surprising second act.

Hailing from Detroit my personal favourite would have to be…

God Said Give Em’ Drum Machines is a blistering look at the true roots of Techno music and how Detroit was its creative and cultural hub. Anyone who questions whether Techno is still relevant only has to listen to Beyonce’s latest chart-topping single Break My Soul, to see that its dance floor grip is still there. The film itself is a lively exploration of the roots of this hypnotic music, which takes viewers on a musical journey from Detroit to New York’s gay clubs and the legendary DJ Larry Levan and then back to Detroit where the music was born. Then onto London and Berlin for their ground-breaking shows. The film makes clear that the origins of Techno were on the African American dance floors, and not in Germany where it would become hugely popular afterwards.  We are introduced to the talented group of African American visionaries Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Sauderson, Blake Baxter, Eddie Fowlkes and Santonio Echols — young men who started a musical movement that would conquer the world. It also charts a period where gay and straight clubbers came together to dance. 

And we see what happened after the group’s brief moment of fame: professional mismanagement, damaged friendships and mental instability alongside those ascendant beats and raw inspiration. Taking ten years to complete, this documentary — directed and produced by Detroit natives Kristian R Hill and Jennifer Washington — should definitely feature at this year’s film awards.  Despite all the subsequent problems the members of the group faced you can’t help but smile when you see one of them, Derrick May, play at Detroit’s now famous Techno festival.  May performs with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra who play to a silent, motionless crowd.  No one moves until the drum and bass kick in and then they all go wild. All in all, Tribeca’s 2022 edition was an enormous artistic and creative success. The success of the festival suggests that film is indeed back.