Tribeca unveils narrative, documentary competitions and Viewpoints

All in all 90 features will screen and for the first time there are world premiere opening nights on Apr 19 for the narrative and documentary sections in the form of Yossi and The World Before Her, respectively.

Narrative competition entries include Daniel Burman’s Argentinian rom-com All In; Benjamin Dickinson’s psycho-thriller First Winter; David Riker’s smuggling drama The Girl starring Abbie Cornish [pictured]; Lucy Molloy’s UK-Cuba-US drama Una Noche; and Kat Coiro’s drama While We Were Here with Kate Bosworth.

The documentary selection showcases among others Nisha Pahuja’s focus on life choices facing Indian women in The World Before Her; Seung-Jun Yi’s South Korean study of a deaf and blind writer in Planet Of Snail; Scott Hamilton’s story of Los Angeles County High School For The Arts in Fame High; and Off Label, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher’s exploration of misdiagnosis and over-medication in the US.

The non-competitive Viewpoints includes Burn, a documentary from Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez about high arson rates in Detroit; Levan Akin’s Swedish family birthday drama Certain People, Ian Fitzgibbon’s drama Death Of A Superhero; The Fourth Dimension, a sci-fi drama portmanteau featuring a segment by Harmony Korine; and Francophrenia, an experimental thriller from Ian Olds and James Franco.

“The competition of any festival represents a window into its character and its agendas,” said Geoff Gilmore, who appears genuinely excited to be taking on an expanded role overseeing the entire programme. “Tribeca’s competition annually showcases our desire to present exceptional work across a spectrum of storytelling, places of origin, and aesthetics. This year, we present a balanced mix of American and international filmmaking, with what we believe has a special quality and exemplifies a range in the selection.”

Boyer, who already seems to be relishing the new challenge after his acrimonious departure last summer from Directors’ Fortnight ended an eight-year association with Cannes, added: “To me the films in competition reflect the diversity and vitality of contemporary cinema … The quality of American independent cinema is well represented this year, but international diversity has its share too, with films from countries as varied as Cuba and Kenya. All different films, but all consistent in their shared ambition of representing their own world.”

Rounding out the core programming team alongside Gilmore and Boyer are newly promoted director of programming Genna Terranova and returning programmer Cara Cusumano

The 2012 selection was culled from a record 5,950 submissions and includes features from 32 countries and 54 world premieres, four international premieres, 16 North American premieres, 10 US premieres and six New York Premieres. Thirty-three of the 107 directors presenting work are first-timers and 25 are women. Twenty-six directors are returning TFF filmmakers.

The Spotlight, Cinemania and Special screenings programmes will be announced on Thursday (Mar 8).

The 12 narrative and 12 documentary competition entries will compete for combined cash prizes of $180,000 and donated artwork from the Artists Awards program sponsored by Chanel.

World narrative feature competition

Films in this section compete for the Founders Award for best narrative feature, best new narrative director, best actor and actress, best screenplay, and best cinematography.

All In (La Suerte En Tus Manos), dir Daniel Burman (Argentina)
International premiere

Beyond the Hill (Tepenin Ardi), dir Emin Alper (Turkey-Greece)
North American Premiere

First Winter, dir Benjamin Dickinson (US)
World Premiere

The Girl, dir David Riker (US-Mexico)
World Premiere

Jack And Diane, dir Bradley Rust Gray (US)
World Premiere Magnolia Pictures

Nancy, Please, dir Andrew Semans (US)
World Premiere

Postcards From The Zoo (Kebun Binatang), dir Edwin (Indonesia)
North American Premiere

Una Noche, dir Lucy Mulloy (UK-Cuba-US)
North American Premiere

Unit 7 (Grupo 7), dir Alberto Rodriguez (Spain)
International Premiere

War Witch (Rebelle), dir Kim Nguyen (Canada)
North American Premiere

While We Were Here, dir Kat Coiro (US)
World Premiere

Yossi (Ha-Sippur Shel Yossi), dir Eytan Fox (Israel)
World Premiere

World Documentary Feature Competition

Ballroom Dancer, dir Christian Bonke and Andreas Koefoed. (Denmark)
North American Premiere

Downeast, dirs David Redmon and Ashley Sabin (US)
World Premiere

Fame High, dir Scott Hamilton Kennedy (US)
World Premiere

The Flat (Ha-dira), dir Arnon Goldfinger (Israel-Germany)
North American Premiere

High Tech, Low Life, dir Stephen Maing. (USA-China)
World Premiere

The List, directed by Beth Murphy (US)
World Premiere

Off Label, dir Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher (US)
World Premiere

Planet Of Snail, dir Seung-Jun Yi (South Korea)
North American Premiere

The Revisionaries, dir Scott Thurman (US)
World Premiere

The Virgin, The Copts And Me (La Vierges, Les Coptes Et Moi), dir Namir Abdel Messeeh (France-Qatar)
North American Premiere

Wavumba, dir Jeroen van Velzen (Netherlands)
North American Premiere

The World Before Her, dir Nisha Pahuja (Canada)
World Premiere

Viewpoints

Babygirl, dir Macdara Vallely (Ireland-US)
World premiere, narrative

Benji, dir Coodie and Chike (US)
World premiere, documentary

Burn, dirs Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez (US)
World premiere, documentary

Caroline And Jackie, dir Adam Christian Clark (USA)
World Premiere, Narrative

Certain People(Katinkas Kalas), dir Levan Akin (Sweden)
World Premiere, Narrative

Consuming Spirits, dir Chris Sullivan (US)
World Premiere, Narrative

Cut, dir Amir Naderi (Japan)
US premiere, Narrative

Death Of A Superhero, dir Ian Fitzgibbon (Ireland-Germany)
US premiere, Narrative. A Tribeca Film release.

El Gusto, dir Safinez Bousbia (Algeria-Ireland-UAE)
North American Premiere, Documentary.

Fairhaven, dir Tom O’Brien (US)
World Premiere, Narrative

The Fourth Dimension, dir Harmony Korine, Alexey Fedorchenko, and Jan Kwiecinski (US-Poland-Russia)
World Premiere, Narrative

Francophrenia (or: Don’t Kill Me, I Know Where The Baby Is), dirs Ian Olds and James Franco (US)
North American Premiere, Narrative

Journey To Planet X, dir Josh Koury and Myles Kane (US)
World Premiere, Documentary

On The Mat, dir Fredric Golding (US)
World Premiere, Documentary

Resolution, dirs Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead (US)
World Premiere, Narrative

Room 514, dir Sharon Bar-Ziv (Israel)
North American Premiere, Narrative

Rubberneck, dir Alex Karpovsky (US)
World Premiere, Narrative

Sexy Baby, directed by Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus (US)
World Premiere, Documentary

Stones In The Sun (Woch nan Soley), dir P Benoit (US-Haiti)
World Premiere, Narrative

Supporting Characters, dir Daniel Schechter (US)
World Premiere, Narrative

Town Of Runners, dir Jerry Rothwell (UK)
World Premiere, Documentary

Turn Off The Lights, dir Ivana Mladenovic (Romania)
World Premiere, Documentary