We are three days away from the start of the 25th edition of the Tribeca (Film) Festival and all is right with the world
I should explain that I have film in parenthesis because the festival has grown into something more than just film, though film forms the spine of the festival madness. There talks and podcasts and performances and games and storytelling and lots of good stuff.
As in past years Unseen will primarily be focused on the film part of the fest. As it stands now, with reposts we are well over 75 films into Tribeca. If you are curious what this means, this means I have no life and can't socialize well.
The can't socialize bit is a joke, the other part is not, one can't get 75 plus films into a fest if one had any semblence of a real life. I have been watching film for the better part of the last month. I have seen some good stuff and some great stuff. And there have been some stinkers too, but the less said about them the better.
I love the Tribeca Film Festival. I started going in 2010 and I haven't stopped. Actually I simply started to watch more and more films until it is at a dangerous level. My brain might explode.
What I love about Tribeca is that unlike the other big New York City festivals, most of the films are World Premieres. This means you are sitting down to a film that almost no one has seen. There is no advance word, so you have no preconcieved notions. You don't know what you are ultimately going to get. You really don't since the write ups for the films often isn't spot on, comedies could be dramas, dramas horror movies. Explorations of a subject may not go where you think. This is the result of the fact that in many cases they are still working on the films right up to the first screening and what they thought they would be delivering may not be what arrives.
I love playing cinema roulette. I love that I don't have to travel to Europe or Canada or Asia to see what might be the next great film (this why people go to fests like Cannes, Busan or Toronto). I love that I can walk into 100 or more movies with zero expectations and discover some gems. I know a lot of people who are mixed on Tribeca because they don't hit enough great films. I understand that but at the same time how can you know what is good if you don't try? I never could understand how a film lover could only want to see something prejudged instead of making the great discovery- the next great film or performer or director. Tribeca is a crap shoot but it always pays off big with a good number of great films- you just have to try more than a handful.
I also love the festival because I get to hang out with my friends. Fleetingly, but I do. More importantly this is a festival where I tend to make a lot of friends. Talk on the lines and in the lobby's result in coversations and long discussions- several like my discussion with Nate Hood have been going on for about a decade.
You need to go to the fest and talk to the people around you, even the weird ones because you never know what or who you will discover. I say that because I have ended up talking to famous people on line just because they were next to me
As always this year I will be on the ground with Ariela Rubin, She's been my Tribeca traveling mate for many many years. We will reporting in when we can. Additionally Eden will be dropping a review or two, I’m talking to Liz Whittemore about sharing pieces and we will be getting photos from Wendy Feinberg from the in-person screenings she attends.
Its going to be crazy, so belt in
Please forgive me as I take a moment to speak specifically to PR people and filmmakers who I know are reading this to see if their film makes the curtain raiser.: We are well over 75 films into Tribeca- this means that while I will have reviews of every film we have been sent or will see, the review may not be dropping at the ebargo time. Experience says that if I post anything shorter than every 3 hours posts get lost and over looked. I am not breaking that except for something special. Ths effectively means that the films that got sent to us earlier in the festival pre-screen period will have reviews appearing closer to when the embargo drops. Other films, especially those with an early play date, which we got in the last few days prior to the festival may not go up until a day or two or three after the embargo. Apologies. I know you need the reviews to go up, and I want them to go up, but I also want them to be seen. A review on the site is no good if it's instantly buried by 4 other films. Its not malicious, it's because I care. Reviews dropped on my schedule are seen more than multple drops in an hour. Remember: EVERY FILM WE SEE WILL BE REVIEWED. I'm just not promising when the review will go up. As this posts we have reviewed every film we have been sent or attended. (Why am I doing this? So that there is some record of the films I see - in the last few years there have been more than a few films where I or Ariela were the only person in the press screening)
All of the new films at Tribeca are under embargo so nothing will post until they finish their first public screening. The exception is going to be some reposted reviews. I will be reposting the reviews for films we reviewed out of other festivals or in the case of the free screenings, out of previous Tribecas. In the case of those films, the reviews are out there and in most cases have been posted multiple times already.
I know you don't care about all of that- what you want to know is what film should you be trying to see. To that end Steve's list of the films premeiring at Tribeca you must see:
ODESSA- a beautifully made film about a family on the run. It works from start to finish and is the rare short film today that doesn't demand a sequel or feel like a proof of concept
FRAMPTON- this is a moving look at Peter Frampton that started as a record of his "final" tour which then morphed to become a life and times of the musician and, by all accounts, a really nice guy. In alot of ways this is a conventional doc, but at the same time the film's subject is simply such a compelling presence it doesn't need to have bells and whistles to make us want to take the journey. Say what you will, by the time the film ends you will be misty. One of the great films at Tribeca. An interview with the director and coverage of the opening night concert will be coming (Wendy and I are going because it's freaking Peter Frampton).
HOLO is a scifi short about an abuse survivor trying to overcome grief by an encounter with her deceased abuser in holographic form- and that end will kick you in the ass
4000 DAYS is a good look at the drive to get a national bill passed that would restrict or stop college hazing. It's a film that will shock you (one dead student had been made to eat mouse heads) and move you to wonder why it took so long. This film made me wonder how anyone can ever say "normal/good people don't do that" when the reality is that good people do worse in the name of hazing.
MEMORIZU another great film playing Tribeca is about a man helping his father-in-law at a photography studio while his in-laws leg heals. A film about how we communicate these days, particularly through photos, the film is frequently a series of magnificently composed shots. This is a wonderful story about family and the age we live in.
EPHEMERA is the story of two women on a date before one leaves Shanghai for the US. We've been here before but not with these two characters. This is great time with great people and you will be moved. One of my favorites of the pre-fest screenings and of 2026.
I'M NOT HOME seconds into the film you'll forget that Julian DeNiro is Robert's son and you'll be lost in Elena Parasco's tale of two friends hanging out. This short says more than most features. Someone give Paraco a feature now.
GUGGI- This glorious film is Irish artist Guggi talking about his life and art. We all need to have story tellers like this in our lives.
MEXICANAMERICAN brilliant documentary about the directors family and how the act of coming to America changed their hopes and dreams. Its not what you think and so much more
If you want a visually stunning film that ponders Mongolian society in the face of industrialization see COLORS OF WHITE ROCK about a woman who drives a truck taking coal from the mines and bringing it to China. The images will make your jaw drop.
If you want an Unseen Films sort of off the beaten path interesting even though its not a perfect film, try TROPIC SUN AND HIS EYES about the interaction between a man going to make peace with his father and kid looking for a family. Its a beautifully shot cinematic tone poem that isn't for everyone.
ROAR is a 4 minute animated film about a neuro divergent young girl traveling around San Francisco with her mom. The music drives it and makes it something you'll want to watch repeatedly - I did - I played it on repeat for well over an hour. (Twice)
UNDER THE LAKE - wicked animated short that is a kind of dark modern noir that will curl your toes. This film will rattle you. An interview with the director is coming
THE LORRAINE- this look at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis is absolutely stunning. Nominally a look at the place where Martin Luther King Jr was killed, it is actually so much more, a look at America through an African American lens.
DEATH BOOM is an excellent look at the death industry. Its everything you never wanted to know about funerals, embalming, cremation and other things but did want to ask. If you're curious this is for you, but be warned it is graphic and leaves nothing to the imagination
NIO KO BOKK (This Belongs to All of Us) a ten minute look at life and surfing in Dakar. Its a film that reveals the world in mere minuts and makes you wonder what director David Clancy will do next.
ONLY WHAT WE CARRY Sofia Boutella and Charlotte Gainsbourg head a cast at the top of their game selling a film about people coming together at a hotel in Normandy. This film shouldn't be this good. Its got characters you will remember forever.
FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION GO HERE.
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