Tribeca unveils world narrative and documentary entries

The line-up, which as previously announced kicks off on April 21 with the world premiere of DreamWorks Animation’s 3D summer tentpole Shrek Forever After, is punctuated by new work from a number of returning film-makers.

Among them are Earth Made Of Glass by Deborah Scranton, the Tribeca best documentary winner in 2006 for The War Tapes; The Two Escobars, directed by the co-director of Tribeca 2005 entry Favela Rising Jeff Zimbalist alongside Michael Zimbalist; Dog Pound from Kim Chapiron, whose Sheitan screened in 2006; and Paju from South Korea’s Chan-ok Park following the 2003 screening of Jealousy Is My Middle Name.  

Director of programming David Kwok spoke of several films like Buried Land and The Arbor that blurred the boundaries between documentary and fictional storytelling, and highlighted a common theme running through the line-up.

“There are films here that deal with families and how families are put together in work like Lucky Life, Open House, My Brothers and Snap.”

Several titles, such as Dev Benegal’s Road, Movie will be released under the auspices of the recently announced Tribeca Film distribution arm, while others like Buried Land will roll out through online adjunct Tribeca Film Festival Virtual.

“I’m energised by the strong line-up of films this year,” Tribeca Film Festival executive director Nancy Schafer said. “While it’s an incredibly exciting time for Tribeca with the launch of Tribeca Film and the Tribeca Film Festival Virtual—expanding our reach so more and more people can engage in the festival experience—the Tribeca Film Festival is still the heart and soul of what we do. We are looking forward to the New York City audiences seeing these great films.”

Schafer added that the new distribution ventures gave rise to an unusual reciprocity during the annual programming hunt that typically gets underway around Toronto in September. “Sales agents were pitching David and his team and we were pitching the distribution platforms as well.”

Showcase returns with festival favourites and international hits such as Pascal Chaumeil’s Heartbreaker (L’Arnacoeur)and Raoul Peck’s Moloch Tropical, while a restored version of Doctor Zhivago and a work-in-progress from Alex Gibney about the fallen American political idol Eliot Spitzer promise to entertain in the Special Events sidebar.

Overall the 2010 selection – the remainder of which will be announced on Monday – encompasses features from 38 countries, including 45 world premieres. The festival will run from April 21-May 2.

WORLD NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

The 12 films in this section will compete for Best Film, Best New Narrative Filmmaker and Best Actor and Actress prizes.

Buried Land by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes and Steven Eastwood (USA, UK, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Switching between documentary and fiction, the film charts the discovery of a valley of ancient pyramids under the hills of Bosnia.
World and TFF Virtual Premiere

Dog Pound by Kim Chapiron (France)
Unlikely friendships arise among teenagers in a brutal US detention centre.
World Premiere

Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti) by Ferzan Ozpetek (Italy) Family comedy set in the picturesque city of Lecce in the deep south of Italy as the scion of a pasta empire prepares to come out of the closet.
North American Premiere

Lucky Life by Lee Isaac Chung (USA)
Memories of a trip with a dying friend haunt a couple as they prepare to become parents.
World Premiere

My Brothers by Paul Fraser (Ireland)
A 17-year-old and his two brothers set off on a road trip to replace their father’s broken watch.
World Premiere

Open House by Andrew Paquin (USA)
Brian Geraghty from The Hurt Locker stars as a taciturn man who longs for a less violent existence.
World Premiere

Paju by Chan-ok Park(South Korea)
Joongshik and Eunmo inhabit a gray town where the urban landscape is as bleak as the fate of its residents.North American Premiere

Gainsbourg, Je t’Aime… Moi Non Plus by Joann Sfar (France) (pictured)
French hit about the legendary maverick’s life.
International Premiere

Snap by Carmel Winters (Ireland)
Psychological drama about three generations of a family poised to repeat the mistakes of the past.
World Premiere

When We Leave (Die Fremde) by Feo Aladag (Germany)
An abused Turkish woman flees Istanbul into the arms of her family in Berlin.
North American Premiere

The White Meadows (Keshtzar Haye Sepid) by Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran)
The fable-like story of Rahmat, who sails from island to island off the coast of Iran to collect tears.
North American Premiere

William Vincent by Jay Anania (USA)
James Franco plays a quiet and peculiar criminal who returns from exile to reclaim a gangster’s favourite call girl.
World Premiere

WORLD DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

The 12 non-fiction entries will compete for Best Documentary Film and Best New Documentary Filmmaker.

American Mystic by Alex Mar (USA)
The story of three young Americans exploring alternative religion.
World Premiere

The Arbor by Clio Barnard (UK)
Blending narrative and documentary filmmaking, Barnard reconstructs the true story of troubled British playwright Andrea Dunbar.
World Premiere 

Budrus by Julia Bacha (USA, Palestine, Israel)
A Palestinian family man unites rival parties Fatah and Hamas, Western activists, and groups of progressive Israelis in a nonviolent crusade to save his village.
North American Premiere

Earth Made Of Glass by Deborah Scranton (USA)
The War Tapes director weaves interviews with President Kagame of Rwanda and Jean-Pierre Sagahutu, a survivor of the horrific 1994 genocide, as they fight to expose the truth behind France’s hidden role in the massacres.
World Premiere

Feathered Cocaine by Thorkell Hardarsson and Orn Marino Arnarson (Iceland)
Explores the little-known world of falcon smuggling.
World Premiere

Freetime Machos by Mika Ronkainen (Finland, Germany)
Two overworked and domesticated men try to reclaim their masculinity by playing for an amateur Finnish rugby team. Part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival.
North American and TFF Virtual Premiere

Into Eternity by Michael Madsen (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Italy)
Three miles below the earth, the people of Finland are constructing an enormous tomb to lay to rest their share of humans’ 300,000 tons of nuclear waste.
International Premiere

Monica & David by Alexandra Codina (USA)
Two lovers with Down syndrome prepare for their fairytale wedding.
North American Premiere

Sons Of Perdition by Jennilyn Merten, Tyler Measom. (USA)
Young male exiles from the community formerly ruled by the notorious Fundamentalist Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs struggle to find their place in mainstream America.
World Premiere

Thieves By Law(Ganavim Ba Hok) by Alexander Gentelev. (Israel, Germany, Spain)
Unprecedented access into the Russian mafia.
World Premiere

The Two Escobars by Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist (USA, Colombia)
ESPN Films release about football player Andres Escobar and Pablo Escobar, born in the same city in Colombia but not related, who went on to experience wildly different lives.
Part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival
World Premiere

The Woodmans by C Scott Willis (USA, Italy, China)
A family united in the belief that art-making is the highest form of expression is broken and then healed by its art.
World Premiere

SHOWCASE

Blood And Rain (La Sangre Y La Lluvia) by Jorge Navas (Colombia, Argentina)
A taxi driver bent on revenge and his party-girl fare are drawn into the rain-soaked underworld of Bogota.
New York Premiere

A Brand New Life (Yeo-Haeng-Ja) by Ounie Lecomte (South Korea, France)
Lecomte’s semi-autobiographical portrait of 1970s South Korea screened at Cannes and Berlin.
New York Premiere

Heartbreaker (L’Arnacoeur) by Pascal Chaumeil (France)
Romantic comedy about a man and his sister who break up couples for a living – until they meet their match.
New York Premiere

Lola by Brillante Mendoza (Philippines, France)
Two elderly matriarchs bear the consequences of a crime involving their grandsons.
New York Premiere

Metropia by Tarik Saleh (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
Animated Orwellian noir set in the year 2024 featuring the voices of Vincent Gallo, Juliette Lewis, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgaard.
A Tribeca Film release
New York Premiere

Moloch Tropical by Raoul Peck (Haiti, France)
Peck meditation on the notion of absolute power corrupting absolutely, inspired by the last days of 19th-century Haitian king Henri Christophe, but set in the 21st century in the palace of Port-au-Prince.
New York Premiere

Road, Movie by Dev Benegal (USA, India)
Loath to take over the family hair-oil business, young Vishnu jumps at the chance to drive his uncle’s beat-up Chevy truck across India to its new owner.
A Tribeca Film release.
US Premiere

SPECIAL EVENTS

Doctor Zhivago by David Lean (USA, UK, 1965)
Restored print of Lean’s classic romantic Russian Revolution epic that paired Omar Sharif with Julie Christie.

Untitled Eliot Spitzer Film by Alex Gibney
Work in progress screening offers and in-depth look at the meteoric rise and calamitous fall of Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor and so-called Sheriff Of Wall Street whose career unravelled following his involvement with a high class prostitution ring.

The Western Front by Zachary Iscol. (USA)
Work in progress screening from a former Marine who returns to confront his past deeds in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar.