Tribeca Film Festival 2023

Comedy of War: Laughter in Ukraine – offers a unique perspective of the present war in Ukraine, and it is the perspective of four comedians who take part in a comedy tour of the war-torn country. Conversations with the comedians (one female and three males) paints a portrait of a country with incredible resilience in unimaginable circumstances. The film shows that even in our darkest moments, man still will find a way to laugh. Watching Comedy of War in the wake of the Wagner failed political coup (which saw alpha male Vladimir Putin fly out of the capital instantly long before Wagner soldiers were anywhere near the capital) perhaps well illustrates this point that life even at its bleakest is also very, very funny. One of the quartets is a comedian who has grown up in a Russian speaking region of Ukraine, he talks about his desperate struggle to now only speak in Ukrainian, but occasionally finding himself waking from a Russian speaking dream and having to have a very strict conversation with his subconscious! The serious moments in the film are heart-breaking though such as when the four visit historic sites which have been recently destroyed by Russian bombs, such as a historic library. One of the comedians points out that it was clear the building had no military use and yet was still destroyed, as one of the comedians points out it’s a clear example of the Russians wanting to decimate Ukrainian culture. Watching the four at work delivering hilariously funny routines for Ukrainian military units and seeing the soldiers faces light up highlights how important their work is. These moments alone show that even at the darkest of times there is still also light (trailer).

Rise – The Siya Kolisi Story is a documentary, which tells the story of the first black South African rugby union captain, Siya Kolisi. Some say leaders are born, the film though suggest they are forged by the circumstances in which they live and Siya’s young life was one filled with adversity. One of those tragedies saw a young Siya watching a much-loved grandmother dying in front of him. The cruelty of the remnants of South Africa’s apartheid’s system, also still shaped his life even decades after its demise. Since despite the economic advancements many in South Africa have made, many there still grow up in unimaginable poverty. Kolisi was one of the lucky ones and his academic ability was spotted at an early age, he was given a scholarship to a private school. There he thrived, particularly when he discovered sport and in particular Rugby union, a sport which for much of the last century was restricted in South Africa to white players. In many ways, it was a sport, which symbolised South Africa’s apartheid system.

Though Kolisi found he had a natural gift for rugby and was considered to be one, of the most talented young players in school in the country. He also found his idyllic time at school was in direct contrast to his trips home where he would come face to face with the reality of his life. Kolisi states that he could have so easily have spiralled down into drug use and depression (and briefly did have a drinking problem) but somehow, he was able to travel the almost impossible road from a South African slum to the captaincy of the national team. A position no black man had ever occupied before. All the trauma he had experienced helped to shape him into a natural leader, one who would be the first black captain to win the World Cup.

Öte – is a wonderful feature directed by Malik Isasis & Esra Saydam about an African American backpacker travelling in Turkey. Watching it, I was reminded of the fact that few feature films have a young black female protagonist at its centre. Lela is an attractive thirty something woman who journeys through Turkey to experience the world. Her encounters are sometimes hilarious, such as when she has a one-night stand with a white American who can’t stop talking about how he’s never had a black girl before. She convinces him that talking while having sex just might not be that helpful. Her story is twinned with that of a Turkish man who is still struggling with the breakdown of his marriage. Of course, the two meet and sparks fly but what’s interesting is that the sparks fly because they can in fact really talk to each other. A night of just the two laying out in the open and starring at the stars is shown, to be truly magical. Ote is a film which shows how just maybe the right person will turn up for you when you least expect it (trailer).

The short Blackwool is another one of my favourites, directed by Ava Akilade and it charts the first day at school of a black teenage girl in an all-white Scottish town whose encounter with the class bully helps her to channel her own inner power. Another beautiful tale of the power resilience in the face of hatred.

The Tribeca film festival is a real celebration of global film culture. It reminds us that despite the many things which divide us our collective, love of cinema is a unifying force.