Film festival showcases eclectic mix of directors, films

Tribeca Film Festival is a platform for recognition of documentaries and established directors.

NEW YORK: The Tribeca Film Festival opens next month with 89 feature films from new and established directors, ranging from hard-hitting documentaries to romantic and teen comedies and gripping dramas.

More than 6,000 films from 30 countries were submitted to this year’s festival, which was established more than a decade ago to revitalise the New York neighborhood devastated by the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Along with the 34 documentaries and 55 narrative feature films, the festival that runs from April 17 to 28. Documentaries will focus on famous people such as comedians Moms Mabley and Richard Pryor, along with Broadway actor Elaine Stritch, as well as movies that delve into the oil industry and hydraulic fracturing.

“When we talk about the narrative competition, we talk about the kind of films that left us thinking about that film two days later, that really made a personal impact on us, that moved us,” Geoff Gilmore, the creative chief officer of Tribeca Enterprises, said in an interview.

The festival will kick off with the world premiere of Mistaken for Strangers, by Oscar-nominated film-maker Marshall Curry. It depicts the experiences of director Tom Berninger on tour with his brother, Matt, the front man of rock band The National, which will perform following the premiere.

Big Men, a documentary written and directed by Rachel Boynton and produced by Brad Pitt, will have its world debut and open the world documentary section. “’Big Men is an inside look into the African oil industry and the American oil industry,” said Genna Terranova, the director of programming for the festival.

“What we are going to do for the first time ever at the festival is create an immersive space that audiences can visit,” said Ingrid Kopp, the director of digital initiatives for the Tribeca Film Institute.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2013.                   

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