Fifteenth Annual Tribeca Film Festival Announces Films In Spotlight, Midnight Sections, Plus The Centerpiece Film, Special Screenings, And Works In Progress

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Tuesday, 08 March 2016 11:53

Written by Tribeca Film Festival

MIDNIGHT

Always a thrill for the late night crowd, Tribeca Film Festival's Midnight section features the best in horror, comedy, action, and camp. Made up of six narrative World Premieres, the section opens with Holidays, a horror anthology from some of today’s most exciting genre filmmakers. The piece even spills over into our Virtual Arcade:  the festival is exhibiting Holidays: Christmas VR, which is an extension of Holiday’s Christmas segment.  It’s an apt opener, because just as the Holidays gang have reimagined all our favorite seasonal celebrations, the rest of the Midnight filmmakers put their own spin on favorite genre frameworks.  From Here Alone’s unsettlingly believable post-apocalypse to Fear, Inc’s Fincher-meets-Saw premise, and King Cobra’s dramatization of a notorious true crime in the amateur porn world, each film infuses classic concepts with its own distinctive flavor.

Opening Film

Holidays, directed by Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer, Nicholas McCarthy, Gary Shore, Sarah Adina Smith, Anthony Scott Burns, Kevin Smith, Scott Stewart, and Adam Egypt Mortimer, written by Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer, Nicholas McCarthy, Gary Shore, Sarah Adina Smith, Anthony Scott Burns, Kevin Smith, and  Scott Stewart. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Get in the holiday spirit with this horror anthology from some of today’s most visionary genre auteurs. From a very unholy Easter Bunny to a particularly macabre Valentine’s Day gift, Holidays is a full calendar year of festive stories, bringing out the most twisted and subversive sides of each seasonal celebration.  With Seth Green, Clare Grant, Ruth Bradley, Sophie Traub, Jocelin Donahue, Harley, Morenstein, Lorenza Izzo, and Andrew Bowen.

In the Virtual Arcade, the Festival is exhibiting Holidays: Christmas VR, which is tied to Christmas, a part of the Holidays anthology feature.

Fear, Inc., directed by Vincent Masciale, written by Luke Barnett. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. In this referential horror-comedy thriller, horror junkie Joe Foster gets to live out his ultimate scary movie fantasy courtesy of Fear Inc., a company that specializes in giving you the fright of your life. But as lines blur between what is and is not part of the game, Joe's dream comes true begins to look more like a nightmare. With Lucas Neff, Caitlin Stasey, Chris Marquette, Stephanie Drake, Mark Moses, and Abigail Breslin.

Here Alone, directed by Rod Blackhurst, written by David Ebeltoft. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. A virus has ravaged human civilization, leaving two groups of survivors: those who have managed to avoid infection, and those driven to madness, violence, and an insatiable bloodlust. Living deep in the woods, Ann, Chris, and Olivia are forced to fend off the infected while foraging for supplies. But when a supply expedition goes terribly awry, one among their number must make a terrible choice. With Lucy Walters, Gina Piersanti, Adam David Thompson, and Shane West.

King Cobra, directed and written by Justin Kelly. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. This ripped-from-the-headlines drama covers the early rise of gay porn headliner Sean Paul Lockhart (Garrett Clayton), aka Brent Corrigan, before his falling out with the producer (Christian Slater) who made him famous. When Sean decides he’d be better off a free agent, a cash-strapped pair of rival producers (James Franco and Keegan Allen) aim to cash in by any means possible. With Alicia Silverstone and Molly Ringwald

Rebirth, directed and written by Karl Mueller. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Adam Goldberg, Pat Healy, Harry Hamlin and Nicky Whelan star as members of a mysterious self-help group (possibly a cult). Fran Kranz plays their newest recruit. Rebirth simultaneously satirizes the buddy comedy and embraces the thriller format, resulting in a film that is at one moment hilarious and at the next, deeply disturbing. A Netflix release

Tiger Raid, directed by Simon Dixon, written by Simon Dixon, Mick Donnellan, Gareth Coulam Evans. (U.K.) – World Premiere, Narrative. Two mercenaries in Iraq speed through the dead of night, on their way to execute a covert mission. But as they near their objective, past misdeeds come violently to the surface, in this action-packed two-hander.  With Sofia Boutella, Brian Gleeson, Damien Molony

Special Event

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, directed by Justin Krook. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. From producers Matthew Weaver, Matt Colon, Happy Walters and David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi, TFF 2011) is an energetic, heart-pumping documentary about one of the most eminent DJs working today: Steve Aoki. In the lead-up to Aoki's biggest show of his career, the doc examines the driving force behind his passion: Rocky Aoki, daredevil showman, Benihana founder, and Steve's absent father. 

Following the film, there will be a conversation and performance with Steve Aoki at The Beacon Theatre. 

Special Screenings

Don't Look Down, directed by Daniel Gordon. (U.K.) – World Premiere, Documentary. In the late '80s and early '90s, daredevil entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson made an audacious attempt to cross the Atlantic and Pacific in the world’s largest hot air balloon. Don’t Look Down is a personal revelation; a dramatic tale of survival and drive. Branson recounts his experience with uncanny vividity, and reveals how baiting death forever changed him.  

Everybody Knows...Elizabeth Murray, directed by Kristi Zea. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. This tribute to the dynamic artist Elizabeth Murray, an intrinsic figure in New York’s contemporary art landscape from the 1970s until the early 2000s, highlights her struggle to balance personal and family ambition with artistic drive in a male-dominated art world. It also addresses her later battle with cancer, at the peak of her career.  

Screening in partnership with the Whitney Museum of American Art where the film will screen.

The Man Who Knew Infinity, directed by Matthew Brown, written by Matthew Brown and Robert Kanigel. (U.K.) – New York Premiere, Narrative. In 1913, a self-taught mathematics prodigy Ramanujan (Dev Patel) traveled from his home in India to Trinity College in Cambridge to study with the esteemed professor GH Hardy (Jeremy Irons). Hardy fights for Ramanujan to be recognized as the two struggle with prejudice, illness, and culture on the road to perfecting the theorems that changed the course of history of math. In English, Tamil with subtitles. An IFC Films release. 

Following the screening there will be an in depth conversation with Dev Patel and the film's creators. Presented in association with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation/Tribeca Film Institute partnership, this Special Screening Event is co-sponsored by Bira 91.

Geezer, directed and written by Lee Kirk. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Perry (Billie Joe Armstrong) is a happily married father of two living a comfortable but sedate life in the suburbs.  On the occasion of his 40th birthday, he seeks to revisit his former life as the lead singer in a popular punk band though his middle-aged reality quickly (and hilariously) clashes with the indulgences of his youth.  With Fred Armisen, Selma Blair, Judy Greer and Chris Messina.

With a special live performance from Billie Joe Armstrong following the film.

Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back, directed and written by Maura Axelrod. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. An art world upstart, provocative and elusive artist Maurizio Cattelan made his career on playful and subversive works that send up the artistic establishment, until a retrospective at the Guggenheim in 2011 finally solidified his place in the contemporary art canon. Axelrod’s equally playful profile leaves no stone unturned in trying to figure out: who is Maurizio Cattelan? In English, Italian with subtitles.

Screening in partnership with the Guggenheim Museum where the film will screen.

Pelé: Birth of a Legend, directed and written by Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. From the slums of Brazil to center stage at the world’s biggest sporting event, Pelé’s rise to become the youngest-ever World Cup winner, at the age of 17, was nothing short of a miracle. Full of laughs, life lessons, and heart, this inspiring biopic is perfect for introducing a new generation to the greatest soccer player of all time.  With Vincent D'Onofrio, Rodrigo Santoro, Diego Boneta, Seu Jorge, Colm Meaney. An IFC Films release.

Followed by a conversation with Pelé.

SHOT! the Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock, directed by Barnaby Clay. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. Legendary music photographer Mick Rock is best known for his iconic photographs of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Queen, and countless others. In a documentary as rock-n-roll as its subject, Mick Rock guides us through his psychedelic, shambolic first-hand experiences as the visual record-keeper of these myths and legends.

With a special live music tribute following the screening.

The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals, directed by Benedikt Erlingsson. (U.K., Iceland) – North American Premiere, Documentary. Benedikt Erlingsson brings us a world of imagination with a compendium of wonderful unseen archival footage of circus performers, cabaret acts, and fairground attractions. The films are set to a haunting electronic score composed by members of Sigur Rós in collaboration with Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.

Screening in partnership with MoMA PS1 where the film will screen inside the VW Dome.

Work In Progress

Ghostheads, directed and written by Brendan Mertens. (Canada, USA) – Work-In-Progress, Documentary. Join us for a special sneak preview screening of Brendan Mertens’ documentary exploring the many faces of Ghostbusters fandom and celebrating 30 years of one of cinema’s most iconic franchises. Featuring interviews with Dan Aykroyd, Ivan Reitman, Sigourney Weaver, and Paul Feig.

Untitled Bill Nye Documentary, directed by David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg. (USA) – Work-In-Progress, Documentary. When it raised over $800,000 on Kickstarter, The Untitled Bill Nye Documentary broke the fundraising site's records and instantly became one of the most anticipated upcoming documentaries.  Join the filmmakers and the titular Science Guy as they preview exclusive scenes from their upcoming doc and discuss their process, collaboration, and fundraising strategy.