As they say, the Tribeca Film Festival this year was a disgrace of riches. With films and TV series from all over the world, and many genres and formats, it ultimately underlined the resilience of filmmaking, even in times of turmoil.
From a soul-changing pregnancy experience to the origin story of techno music and a young girl’s spiritual odyssey told through animation, these stories were the festival’s highlights.
“Dreaming of a liquor store.”
Those alive during the 1992 Los Angeles uprising may recall seeing numerous images of Korean owners, some armed, standing on the roofs of their buildings as businesses around them went up in flames. It is a story that, to this day, is not treated with the amount of nuance it deserves. But documentary filmmaker So Yun Um takes a humanistic approach to portray the intricate and sometimes tragic stories of the Korean liquor store owners and their first-generation children — like themselves — who struggle to be seen. And as he does so, Um takes on the difficult task of investigating the fraught evolution of black-Korean relations in LA.
There’s absolutely no shortage of horror movie stories revolving around the terror of motherhood, from “Rosemary’s Baby” to this year’s “The Baby.” But writer-director Michelle Garza Cevera and co-writer Abia Castillo explore the hackneyed concept with an all-original Mexican film that ultimately centers on a pregnant woman (Natalia Solián) who discovers that her journey to motherhood comes at a cost. The most terrifying thing is her self-esteem.
“My Love Affair With Marriage”
With the success of last year’s “Flee”, which shattered all expectations of both animation and documentary, filmmakers seem to be taking even more risks that pay off. In My Love Affair with Marriage, Latvian filmmaker Signe Baumane explores the effects of the human condition in this remarkable coming-of-age story that tests the limits of fiction as it chronicles a girl’s 23-year journey. Throughout the process, the film asks its protagonist, and to some extent, the audience, to understand why she is on this quest in the first place — for herself or to meet certain expectations of her. To achieve love and romantic partnership.
A typical meal at the dinner table brings a family into tense discussions about determining its own mortality when a father (Johan Leysen) with no known health problems announces to his grown children that his next birthday will be his last in this surprisingly serious Dutch film. Director Floor van der Meulen, with screenwriter Bastiaan Kroeger, balances subtle drama with pitch-dark comedy in a story that reflects on the idea of self-determined fate and the lives, mainly daughter Iris (a fantastic Julia Akkermans), who influence it.
“Official Competition”
Neither Penélope Cruz nor Antonio Banderas is strangers to starring in quirky films like “Vanilla Sky” or “I’m So Excited.” But directors Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, with co-writer Andrés Duprat, challenge the pair in a whole new way in a film that is essentially about the narcissistic nature of filmmaking. Cruz is an unusual director who pushes her actors, played by Banderas and Oscar Martínez, to delve deep into the story in every way possible (sometimes even sacrificing their valuable assets). Hilarity ensues.
Especially after “Fresh” earlier this year, horror fans can anticipate, and perhaps even yearn for, a film that deals with the many complexities of carnal pleasure. But trust, you won’t expect what happens in Austrian filmmaker Peter Hengl’s “Family Dinner,” which has a sweet premise as a girl (Nina Katlein) visiting her aunt (Pia Hierzegger), whom she looks up to, and her new family unit and it turns into a growing nightmare.
A still from ‘Butterfly in the Sky’.
“Butterfly in the Sky”
If you’re an older millennial, chances are you grew up on a healthy diet of “Reading Rainbow” with host LeVar Burton. Just mentioning the title of this PBS educational series, which ran from 1983 to 2006, probably brings back memories of the iconic theme song. Directors Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb tackle that nostalgia in this documentary that details why the series was a success and made Burton an icon of science, the racial and social barriers it broke, and why it was a tragedy when it lost funding.
“God Said Give Them Drum Machines”
Even if you’re not part of the techno fandom, this documentary, directed by Kristian R. Hill, will put the credit for the music genre back in the hands of black DJs and musicians in Detroit. This story doesn’t ask so much if and why it was co-opted by white performers, though it does give that question the thought it deserves. Rather, how these young black men created the music and found each other and a largely queer black club community in the process.
“The Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution”
We live in a time when it seems like every day, a stand-up comedian is being canceled or attacked verbally or physically for their words. So it looks like an interesting moment to reflect on how black comics have never reverted throughout history to statements deemed controversial to the public – from Moms Mabley and Dick Gregory to Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle. Directors Jessica Sherif and Mario Diaz outline the complexity of the punch line in this topical docuseries.
Admittedly, just the idea of yet another TV series adapted from a classic movie in this saturated climate is worth it. But showrunner Will Graham’s thoughtful exploration of the beloved female baseball players central to this story features multiple queer characters and characters of color that help ground the humanity of the period, the level, and the sport. It doesn’t detract from the original 1992 film but is a nice accompaniment.
For the title alone, you might want to put this under another docuseries that reflects on one of your favorite nostalgic bands. But “Menudo: Forever Young” goes further than that, as directors Angel Manuel Soto and Kristofer Ríos grapple with the impact of the iconic boy band on their Puerto Rican community, the exploitative nature of their industry, and the horrendous debts they’ve paid.