Blogging Tribeca 2009: Pre-Festival Buzz

Entre Nos screens at Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo: James Adolphus)

With 85 features and 46 shorts being showcased at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, the success of any individual film has much to do with its pre-festival buzz. Not surprisingly, several of the 2009 films have already generated considerable press coverage due simply to their big names, like Spike Lee’s new documentary Kobe Doin’ Work, Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience and Woody Allen’s film starring Larry David Whatever Works. But what about some of the hidden gems at this year's festival?

Time Out New York published their 'must-see' list, so we decided to take a different approach. If the mainstream media focuses on the big names, our job is to search out the unknowns -- the directorial debuts. With the festival's start date of April 22 fast approaching, The Independent presents here a few hand-selected picks of buzz-worthy independent films by first-time directors in this year’s festival.

Entre Nos

By Paolo Mendoza and Gloria La Morte (Colombia, USA)
World Premiere, Narrative
Adoring mother Mariana has toted her two children from Colombia to New York to indulge her husband's whim. But when he abruptly abandons the family, she'll have to rely on her own imagination and courage -- and that of her remarkable kids -- to survive insurmountable odds during their first summer in the United States.

About the filmmakers: Although Paola Mendoza comes to the project with substantial credits, co-director Gloria La Morte makes her directorial debut with the film. She began her film career in 2000 as the writer and coproducer of the award-winning Details. She went on to coproduce the award-winning Washington Heights and was named best documentary editor for Autumn's Eyes at the 2006 Woodstock Film Festival. She edited Woven Waysand Connect USA.
Trailer: http://www.independent-magazine.org/node/2540
Website: http://entrenosfilm.com
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Entre_nos.html

Blank City

Directed by Céline Danhier (USA)
World Premiere, Documentary
Céline Danhier's kinetic doc mirrors the urgent, anything-goes energy of her subject: the DIY independent film movement that emerged in tandem with punk rock in late-70s downtown New York. New interviews with a dizzying array of artists -- including Amos Poe, Bette Gordon, Debbie Harry, Eric Mitchell, Jim Jarmusch, Lydia Lunch, Steve Buscemi, John Lurie, and Nick Zedd -- flow into clips from landmark No Wave films, and the still-thrilling music of the era floods the soundtrack.

About the filmmaker: Céline Danhier made her transition into film after receiving a master's degree in law from the Sorbonne and started producing at Paris-based independent production house Les Enragés. She was a member of the avant-garde theater group La Compagnie Vapeur and founded a DJ collective, for which she also made her own experimental short films. After moving from her native France to New York in 2006, Danhier moved between fashion and film. Blank City is her feature directorial debut.

Fish Eyes (Yu Yan)

Directed and written by Zheng Wei (South Korea, China)
North American Premiere, Narrative
Set during the 2008 Olympics on the outskirts of Beijing, first-time filmmaker Zheng Wei’s beautiful and poetic portrait of modern China tells a poignant story about a father, son, and mysterious young woman that subtly explores the physical and psychological tensions that exist in a land where emerging capitalism and accelerating modernization are rapidly overtaking traditional values. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

About the filmmaker: Zheng Wei earned an MFA in filmmaking from Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea. His films include the shorts Summer Vacation -- which screened at festivals in Spain, Finland, France, and Korea -- The Theater, and Something and Someone.
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Fish_Eyes.html

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench

Directed and written by Damien Chazelle (USA)
World Premiere, Narrative
First-time director Damien Chazelle infuses his black-and-white, verite-style relationship drama with all that jazzy romance of an old-Hollywood musical. Backed by a grand, alternately rollicking and melancholy score, Guy and Madeline tracks a pair of young lovers in Boston after they separate, search for new romance, and perhaps find their way back to each other.

About the filmmaker: Guy and Madeline began as a short for Damien's senior thesis when he was an undergraduate at Harvard University. He eventually left school to expand the film into his first feature and worked on it for three years, shooting off and on as money came in.
Trailer: http://guyandmadeline.com/trailer.html
Website: http://guyandmadeline.com/
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Guy_and_Madeline_on_a_Park_Bench.ht...

Shadow Billionaire

Directed by Alexis Manya Spraic (USA)
Wolrd Premiere, Documentary
When DHL founder Larry Hillblom disappeared following a 1995 plane crash off his Micronesian island home, dozens of would-be heirs from the Philippines came out of the woodwork to lay claim to his mega fortune. Within the framework of the fantastic legal battle, Spraic's debut doc slowly uncovers the stranger-than-fiction life of this eccentric billionaire.

About the filmmaker: Alexis Manya Spraic graduated from Columbia University in 2003 and has since been working as a filmmaker based in Los Angeles and New York. Her most recent work includes Cat Dancers (winner of the special jury prize for editing at SXSW), which she edited and coproduced for HBO; the Grammy-nominated Respect Yourself, which she edited for PBS; Maxed Out, which she edited and coproduced; and the feature Red Sands, which she edited for Sony Pictures. Her work has been seen on Showtime, HBO, PBS, A&E, and IFC as well as theatrically and at festivals internationally. Shadow Billionaire is her directorial debut.
Website: http://shadowbillionaire.com/
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Shadow_Billionaire.html

Which Way Home

By Rebecca Cammisa (Mexico, USA)
World Premiere, Documentary
In this unprecedented, revelatory doc, director Rebecca Cammisa follows three unaccompanied children on a harrowing odyssey away from their homes in Latin America and through Mexico with one mighty shepherding hope: to reach the United States, where they can either reunite with their own families who made the journey before them, or create new lives for themselves.

About the filmmaker: Rebecca Cammisa codirected, coproduced, and coshot the feature documentary Sister Helen, which won the 2002 Sundance Film Festival's documentary directing award, and was nominated for both an outstanding directorial achievement in documentary film award from the Directors Guild of America and a news & documentary Emmy Award for outstanding cultural programming. In 2003, Cammisa founded Documentress Films and began her next film, Which Way Home, her first solo directorial debut which received a Sundance documentary fund development grant, a Fulbright Fellowship to Mexico for filmmaking, and a New York Foundation for the Arts video fellowship. Which Way Home will air on HBO in August 2009.
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Which_Way_Home.html

Original

Directed by: Alexander Brøndsted and Antonio Tublén (Denmark)
World Premiere, Narrative
In this fresh and colorful lovable loser tale, Henry has spent most of his life trying to blend in. When his seemingly normal life turns upside down, his friend convinces him to move to Spain and open a restaurant. But before he can break free of the mundane, he gets sidelined caring for his mentally unstable mother, running into a lost-soul feminist who does performance art in a strip club, and a big bag of steroids.

About the filmmakers: Alexander Brøndsted and Antonio Tublén wrote and directed the short fiction films Havanna and The Amazing Death of Mrs Müller. Original is their first feature film.
Trailer: http://www.independent-magazine.org/node/2542
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Original.html

Off and Running

Directed by Nicole Opper (USA)
World Premiere, Documentary
With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers -- one mixed-race and one Korean -- Brooklyn teen Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. Even so, she can't quell her curiosity about her biological African-American roots and decides to contact her birth mother. This choice propels Avery into her own complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she's always known.

About the filmmaker: Nicole Opper recently produced the five-part documentary series LSS for Here! Networks, America's premium gay television network. She line-produced Macky Alston's Emmy-nominated The Killer Within, which aired on the Discovery Channel in 2007, and associate produced Peter Miller's Sacco and Vanzetti. Her documentary short Song of Hannah is distributed by The National Center for Jewish Film. Off and Running, Opper's feature-length debut was a selection of the Tribeca All Access program. Opper also teaches filmmaking and media literacy in New York City high schools.
Trailer: http://www.independent-magazine.org/node/2541
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Off_and_Running.html

TiMER

Directed by Jac Schaeffer (USA)
World Premiere, Narrative
Finding true love is easier than ever thanks to a bio-technological implant called the TiMER, which counts down to the exact time people meet their soul mates. Love-starved Oona is pushing 30, but her TiMER hasn't even started counting down yet. What's worse, she's falling for a guy who is set to meet his true love in four months. Newcomer Jac Schaeffer crafts a smart romantic comedy that leaves behind the burning question... would you want to know?

About the filmmaker: Jac Schaeffer makes her feature debut with TiMER. While earning her MFA in film at USC, Schaeffer created charming and offbeat material like the comedic short Ava Elderberry (2003), about a woman who wakes up with a tree growing out of her ear. She also produced the short doc Foster Stories. As a freelance writer, Schaeffer contributed to a series of humor books, including How to Get Fatand How to Go into Debt. While living in New York, she assistant directed Synapse Productions' off-Broadway revival of Machinal. She holds a BA from Princeton University and now lives in Santa Monica.
Trailer: http://www.tribecafilm.com/videos/TiMER_-_Trailer_.html?page_type=small
Website: http://www.timerthemovie.com/
Tribeca page: http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/TiMER.html

Descriptions and author bios edited based on Tribeca Film Festival publicity materials.

Related links:
Time Out New York list: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/film/73564/best-movies-at-the-tribec...

Link to this page: http://www.independent-magazine.org/