Music Meets Film
- Opening the Festival with Mistaken for Strangers: The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival’s Opening Night selection is the world premiere of the film Mistaken for Strangers (Wednesday, April 17th). Director Tom Berninger chronicles his experience on tour with his brother, Matt Berninger, frontman for the critically acclaimed rock band The National, in this funny and affecting film. Following the screening will be a live performance from the band The National.
- Vampire Weekend with Steve Buscemi: For the first time, the live stream music series, “American Express Unstaged” will be apart of the Tribeca Film Festival. Vampire Weekend’s performance, directed by Steve Buscemi, will be live streamed from the last night of the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, April 28th at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT from New York City. Fans can watch the live event at www.amexunstaged.com, youtube.com/americanexpressmusic.
Family Meets Film
- Family Festival Street Fair: The Tribeca Family Festival once again present a street fair and family celebration, where a dazzling array of free activities and performances unfold downtown in Tribeca from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday April 27th on Greenwich Street (from Hubert to Chambers Streets). Festival stages will feature special performances from current Broadway shows along with emerging talent from Tribeca. Local restaurants and merchants will offer Tribeca’s finest foods, refreshments and merchandise. Families can also attend a free screening of The Smurfs at BMCC’s Tribeca Performing Arts Center Theater and enjoy complimentary popcorn provided by American Express. The American Express Guest Information Booth will offer comprehensive Festival information, including event, screening and neighborhood information.
- Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day: A perennial favorite of the Family Festival Street Fair, the seventh annual Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day will take place on Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on N. Moore Street (between Greenwich Street and West Street). Kids can try their hand at a vast array of sports activities, games, and contests at the 2013 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day. Local athletes, mascots, and sports personalities will be on-site to engage fans in one-of-a-kind athletic fun. Putt a hole in one, throw a touchdown, sharpen your fencing skills, hit the perfect slap shot, watch ultimate frisbee tricks or learn how to throw the perfect pitch.
Nostalgia Meets Film
- Tribeca Drive-In: The popular Tribeca Drive-In® is back at Brookfield Place (World Financial Center Plaza). Kicking off this beloved series will be the classic Hitchcock film,The Birds, followed by Tim Burton’s beloved comedy, Beetlejuice. Before each movie, there will be games and activities for all ages, including movie trivia contests, ghoulish costume contests, face painting, prize giveaways and more.
- Closing the Festival with The Kings of Comedy: Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, restored in association with The Film Foundation, Regency Enterprises and Twentieth Century Fox, will be the closing night film (Saturday, April 27 at Tribeca BMCC PAC). Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul D. Zimmerman, produced by Arnon Milchan, and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott and Sandra Bernhard, The King of Comedy was originally released in 1983. This darkly funny film was ahead of its time—most notably for its groundbreaking commentary on the reality TV culture and the fine line between fame and notoriety.
Online Meets Film
- Future of Film series: Now in its 2nd year, the “Future of Film Live” series is dedicated to fostering meaningful dialogue concerning all aspects of the film industry from the creation to the distribution of the final product. No subject is off-limits, and these conversations will cover such topics as digital filmmaking, non-linear storytelling, crowdfunding, online distribution, and theatrical innovations. Moderated by Joshua Topolsky, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge, industry players like film critic A.O.Scott and online media mogul Todd Wagner will discuss and debate the topics at the forefront of their industries. In addition, Chris Hardwick of Nerdist and others will moderate a day of conversations throughout the festival. All topics will be candidly discussed and debated in front of a live audience. For those of you who can’t make it in person, video highlights will be released daily. Learn more about the schedule here for this year’s film here.
- 4th Annual Online Film Festival: As in years past, the Tribeca Online Festival (TOF) will provide free streaming of Festival films. Seven titles including features Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution, Lil Bub & Friendz, and Farah Goes Bang (which will be streamed just after their Festival theatrical premieres), and short films RPG OKC, Delicacy, The Exit Room, and A Short Film About Guns will be accessible on tribecaonlinefestival.com. Audiences can vote on the best online feature and short, with the winners receiving a total of $16,000 in prize money.
- Tribeca Film VOD: Tribeca Film will also release 2013 TFF selections What Richard Did, Greetings from Tim Buckley, Fresh Meat and The English Teacher nationwide via on demand during the Festival window. The titles will be available in the U.S. and Canada through all major cable video-on-demand providers, as well as iTunes, Amazon Watch Instantly, VUDU, Xbox, Google Play and YouTube.
- Tribeca Talks: The “Tribeca Talks: After the Movie” series will spotlight eight films, including Tricked, in which director Paul Verhoeven crowd-sourced the script by writing an opening segment and then inviting fans to supply additional scenes. Other films in the series include the documentary How to Make Money Selling Drugs; Out of Print, about the changes in the publishing industry; Inequality for All, a doc in which economist Robert Reich dissects the unequal distribution of wealth and I Got Somethin’ to Tell You, Whoop Goldberg’s film about comic Moms Mabley. Another series, “Tribeca Talks: After the Movie, Beyond the Screens, the Artist’s Angle,” will present the world premieres of the documentaries Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me and Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic. “Tribeca Talks: Industry” will consist of five panels, dealing with the issue of race in Hollywood and the shortage of people of color behind the scenes, the evolving role of sponsorship, the line between journalism and creativity in documentaries, changes in audience data analysis, and the growth of digital filmmaking. “Tribeca Talks: Pen to Paper” will consist of three events. One will deal with changes in the concept of films for women, one with filmmakers who write themselves into their movies, and one with the sometimes contentious use of the writing credit in documentaries. Subscribe to the Tribeca Film YouTube channel to catch video highlights of the panel series and trailers for the new releases from Tribeca Film.
- Livestream Music: check the “Music meets Film” section above.
Interested in learning about any of the films mentioned? Check out the Tribeca 2013 film guide.
I’m off to NYC next weekend to attend my fourth Tribeca Film Festival. Be sure to follow me on twitter (@shalathomas) for all the action, commentary, and pictures on my 5-day adventure. Until next time.
Tags: Independent Film, Life Between Films, New York City, The Festival Experience, Tribeca, Tribeca Film Festival