Tribeca Film Festival® Announces Feature Film Line Up For The Competition, Spotlight, Viewpoints And Midnight Sections Of The 16th Annual Festival

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Thursday, 02 March 2017 23:47

Written by Tribeca Film Festival

SPOTLIGHT DOCUMENTARY

Supported by The Lincoln Motor Company

Over the past 15 years, Tribeca has solidified itself as one of the preeminent documentary film destinations in the country. The Spotlight Documentary section‘s 16 high-profile world premieres represent the major stories and acclaimed filmmakers that will be making waves in 2017.

ACORN and the Firestorm, directed and written by Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard. (USA) - World Premiere. For 40 years, the community-organizing group ACORN advocated for America’s poorest communities, while its detractors accused it of promoting government waste and the worst of liberal policies. Riding high on the momentum of Barack Obama’s presidential victory in 2008, ACORN was at its social zenith when a hidden-camera video sparked a national scandal and brought it all crashing down.

AlphaGo, directed by Greg Kohs. (USA) - World Premiere. With simple rules but a near-infinite number of possible outcomes, the ancient Chinese board game Go has long been considered the holy grail of artificial intelligence. Director Greg Kohs' absorbing documentary chronicles Google's DeepMind team as it takes on one of the world's top Go players in a weeklong tournament, pitting man against machine in a competition that reveals as much about the workings of the human mind as it does the future of AI. In English, Korean with subtitles.

Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World, directed and written by Barry Avrich. (Canada) - World Premiere. Barry Avrich’s in-depth and eye-opening documentary pulls back the curtain on the behind-the-scenes dealings revolving around the contemporary art world. Reputable artists, critics, auctioneers and collectors demystify the often illusive and complex relationship between art and commerce in this film, which features extraordinary access to industry players.

ELIÁN, directed by Tim Golden, Ross McDonnell. (USA) - World Premiere. Thanksgiving, 1999: Two fishermen on the Florida Straits find a young Cuban boy, Elián González, floating alone in an inner tube. Their discovery evolves into a custody battle between Elián’s Cuban father and his Miami-located relatives that brings the conflict between Cuba and the U.S. to the forefront. Eighteen years later, ELIÁN, executive produced by Alex Gibney, gives the now grown-up Elián the chance to tell his own side of the story. In English, Spanish with subtitles.

Frank Serpico, directed and written by Antonino D'Ambrosio. (USA) - World Premiere. With unprecedented access to a notoriously reclusive subject, Antonino D’Ambrosio creates a powerful portrait of Frank Serpico, the former NYPD officer who in the 1970s blew the whistle on the corruption and payoffs running rampant in the department. The true story that inspired Sidney Lumet’s American crime classic that bears his name.

Get Me Roger Stone, directed and written by Dylan Bank, Daniel DiMauro, Morgan Pehme. (USA) - World Premiere. With his bespoke suits and collection of Nixon memorabilia, political firebrand and noted eccentric Roger Stone has been a fixture of Republican politics since the 1970s, yet at the same time has always been an outsider. Despite its success, his brand of confrontational (some would say “dirty”) politics was always publicly rejected by the conservative mainstream, though with the shocking ascendancy of his longtime pet project Donald Trump (interviewed in the film), Stone—the ultimate political trickster—would likely say he was just ahead of his time. A Netflix release.

Gilbert, directed by Neil Berkeley, written by Neil Berkeley, James Leche. (USA) - World Premiere. Legendary comedian Gilbert Gottfried has had quite a career. Rocketing to fame in the 1980s, he was thrust into the public consciousness almost immediately thanks to his brash personality, unique worldview, and off-kilter comic timing. Now, foul-mouthed and unapologetic after decades of flying solo in both his work and in his personal life, Gilbert has shockingly reinvented himself…as a family man. With Jay Leno, Bill Burr, Jeff Ross, Whoopi Goldberg, Howie Mandel.

A Gray State, directed by Erik Nelson. (USA) - World Premiere. Christmas, 2014: filmmaker, veteran and charismatic up-and-coming voice of alt-right politics David Crowley and his family are killed in their suburban Minnesota home. Their shocking deaths quickly become a cause célèbre for conspiracy theorists. Executive produced by Werner Herzog, A Gray State combs through Crowley’s photographs, videos and recordings to investigate what happens when an ideology becomes an all-consuming obsession.

Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS, directed by Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested, written by Mark Monroe. (USA) - World Premiere. Chronicling Syria’s descent into unbridled chaos, this gripping and insightful work captures the Syrian war’s harrowing carnage, political and social consequences, and, most importantly, its human toll. From personal stories of family survival and tragedy to keen insight from top experts from around the world, acclaimed filmmaker and author Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested create an informative and comprehensive documentary, as the story continues to unfold. In English, French, Arabic, Kurdish with subtitles. A National Geographic release.

Hondros, directed by Greg Campbell, written by Greg Campbell, Jenny Golden. (USA) - World Premiere. Beginning with the war in Kosovo in 1999, award-winning photographer Chris Hondros served as a witness to conflict for over a decade before being killed in Libya in 2011. In Hondros, director and childhood friend Greg Campbell creates a portrait of a man with not only great depth and sensitivity, but a passion for his craft, and an unending talent for creating breathtaking imagery. Executive produced by Jake Gyllenhaal. In Arabic, English with subtitles.

I Am Evidence, directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir. (USA) - World Premiere. Every year in cities around the United States, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of rape kits are left untested in police storage facilities. Produced by Mariska Hargitay, I Am Evidence exposes this shocking reality, bringing attention to the way in which police have historically processed sexual assault cases. Through an exploration of survivors’ accounts, the film sheds light on these disturbing statistics, and shows what can be achieved when evidence—and the individuals it represents—are treated with the respect we all deserve. An HBO Documentary Film release.

LA 92, directed by Daniel Lindsay, TJ Martin. (USA) - World Premiere. Few images are seared into the American consciousness with the anger and clarity of the beating of Rodney King and the riots following his abusers’ acquittal. Twenty-five years later, Academy Award-winning directors Daniel Lindsay and TJ Martin draw on archival news images and unseen footage to paint an in-depth portrait of those riots and the tempestuous relationship between Los Angeles’ African-American community and those charged with protecting it. A National Geographic release.

No Stone Unturned, directed by Alex Gibney. (USA, Northern Ireland) - World Premiere. In 1994, six men were gunned down and five wounded in a pub while watching a World Cup soccer match in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. With a police investigation that was perfunctory at best, the case remained unsolved. In this non-fiction murder mystery, Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney reopens the original case to investigate why no culprit was ever brought to justice.

WASTED! The Story of Food Waste, directed by Anna Chai and Nari Kye. (USA) - World Premiere. Each year, $218 billion—or 1.3 billion tons—of food is thrown out. With nearly a billion people worldwide facing starvation, food conservation is a more urgent issue than ever before. Executive produced by Anthony Bourdain, Chai and Kye’s fast-paced and forward-thinking food doc takes viewers on a tour of inventive new ideas for recycling waste and maximizing sustainability from innovative chefs like Massimo Bottura, Dan Barber and Danny Bowien, who turn scraps into feasts before our eyes. Earth Day Screening

Whitney. “can I be me,” directed by Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal, written by Nick Broomfield. (U.K.) - World Premiere. Whitney Houston was the most awarded female recording artist of all time, with more consecutive number one hits than The Beatles, and on top of that she was America’s Sweetheart. Yet despite her fame, talent, and success, she died tragically at the age of 48. Featuring largely never-before-seen footage and Broomfield and Dolezal’s moving documentary tells the story of the girl behind the voice. A Showtime release.

Year of the Scab, directed by John Dorsey. (USA) - World Premiere. During the 1987 NFL strike, teams scrambled to assemble temporary replacements to fill in for their boycotting players. The Washington Redskins were notable for their "scabs," a collection of cast-offs who nonetheless rode a surprising wave of momentum against all odds. “Year of the Scab” revisits this ultimate underdog story and the men whose ordinary lives were interrupted. Those so-called “scabs” helped break the strike and bring their team to victory, only to struggle for their place in the sports history books.

An ESPN Films release.