The Tribeca Film Festival

Tuesday night’s TFF premiere of Finding Amanda was a feature directorial debut for Peter Tolan, a veteran film and television writer who's written for Murphy Brown, Analyze This and Rescue Me.

Finding Amanda is about a sit-com writer with a gambling addiction who tries to redeem himself after his wife leaves him, by going to Vegas—a natural setting for gambling addicts to find themselves—and rescuing his niece who is prostituting herself for drugs.  read more »

Strangers, AMC Village VII, 2 p.m.

It could be a setup for some sort of awesome romantic comedy: a man and woman lock eyes on a train while both traveling to Berlin for the World Cup finals before accidentally switching backpacks. But, of course, things get more complicated, as the couple in question is an Israeli man, and the woman hails from Ramallah but has been living in Paris, trying to escape the daily terrorism that comes with life in the Palestinian territories. Brace yourself for relationship metaphor for political conflict! Directed by Erez Tadmor and Guy Nattiv. (Watch the trailer above.)  read more »

Everywhere at Once, Village East Cinema, 1:15 p.m.

can’t help but think that inspiration for Everywhere at Once must have been born during a late-night heavy-talking/drinking session…in this film photographer Peter Lindbergh and “experimental filmmaker” (uh-oh) Holly Fisher collaborated to “weave together a tapestry of images” using Mr. Lindbergh’s photographs and clips from the 1966 Tony Richardson film Mademoiselle starring Jeanne Moreau. Ms. Moreau narrates using a poem by Kimiko Hahn. Got it?

Donkey in Lahore, Village East Cinema, 3:45 p.m.  read more »

Last night we caught up with Harmony Korine at the TFF premiere of his new film Mister Lonely. And get this—he's a married man now! The writer of Kids and director of Gummo—and ahem, former Chloe Sevigny dater—arrived with wife Rachel Korine, a soft-spoken young woman of Lolita-esque beauty from his hometown of Nashville, Tenn. He even cast her as Little Red Riding Hood in the utopian film about a commune of celebrity impersonators and sky-diving nuns!  read more »

Theater of War AMC Village VII 1 p.m.

Doesn't it seem like just yesterday (or 2006) that Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep were rehearsing for the great summer outdoor production of Mother Courage and her Children? John Walter (How to Draw a Bunny) brings the behind-the-scenes drama of staging the bleak Bertolt Brecht play (try saying that three times fast!). Mr. Walter also examines Brecht's life and career, and the includes moments with his Brecht's daughter, his collaborator Carl Weber, and vintage footage of Brecht's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee.  read more »

At the after party for Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s documentary, Gunnin’ for that #1 Spot, it was pretty easy to recognize who was in the movie … just look for the giants! The film documents a 2006 game between 24 of the best high school basketball players in the country at Rucker Park in Harlem (referred to many manytimes by players as a “Mecca”). A few of the players—including Michael Beasley, whose name is constantly followed by the extended sobriquet "expected to be the No. 1 draft pick this year"—were in attendance, and the almost-seven-footers looked shy and big-footed among an adoring, rain-frizzled crowd. (During the Q and A after the film, many in the crowd kept asking Mr. Beasley if he’d come to New York. Wishful thinking).  read more »

A large crowd waited on a damp red carpet Monday night for the premier of War Inc., a satire of strife in the Middle East starring John Cusack, Marrisa Tomei and Hillary Duff and set in the fictitious state of Turaqistan.

"It was tough playing a pop star who wasn't me," confessed Ms. Duff, who plays a local Turaqistani singer named Yonica Babyyeah. "But I am getting to an age where I enjoy taking on new challenges."

Rather infamously, in this movie one of those new challenges included filming a scene in which the singer puts a live scorpion down her pants.  read more »

Savage Grace, AMC 19th Street, 3 p.m.

It’s a good thing the filmmakers of Savage Grace make sure to throw the “based on a true story” tag everywhere they can, because this film is bananas. Julianne Moore (who continues to surprise us with roles like this one), plays Barbara Baekeland, a beyond eccentric and certainly troubled socialite. As her husband Brooks (Stephen Dillane, a.k.a. Thomas Jefferson for all you John Adams fans) starts to become more aloof, Baekeland becomes, er, inappropriate with her son Tony (played by Eddie Redmayne, who was quite the Sundance superstar this year). We won’t give away the ending, except to say it is based on a real story, one that ends in murder, and has a scene in it that still has us feeling traumatized.  read more »

In just a few hours, Gunnin’ For that #1 Spot, a documentary from Adam “Beastie Boy” Yauch (aka MCA), will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The film records the “Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic" from September 2006, an event that brings 24 top high-school basketball players from all over the country to play at famed Rucker Park on 155th Street and Frederick Douglas Boulevard in Harlem. The park has had plenty of previous basketball greats grace it—including Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dr. J.

“I think it’s really cool that they do this game up there,” said Mr. Yauch. “They could have done it in some gymnasium like other All-Stars type games. It’s cool that they do it at Rucker—a place with so much history.”  read more »

“This was sort of the project that started all of our careers,” said Adam Kurland, co-director of This is Not a Robbery, a documentary that is screening for the public tonight as part of the Tribeca Film Festival.

He was referring to himself and his co-directors, Lucas Jansen and Spencer Vrooman, who gathered at Marion's on the Bowery Saturday night after the film's glitzy premiere. At the after-party were the likes of Lauren Bush and Ralph Lauren; the three were wearing ties, and it didn't look habitual with them.  read more »

“You never want to piss off a drag queen!” said director Steve Saporito at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of his movie, Squeezebox! on Friday night.

The after-party for the film was a joyous excuse for drag queens and 90's-club-scene nostalgistas to gather at the Blender Theatre and relive the nights of Don Hill’s drag-rock that became known as Squeezebox!  read more »

Oskar Eustis is the creative director of the Public Theatre that put on Bertolt Brecht’s play Mother Courage and Her Children in the summer of 2006, translated by Tony Kushner and starring Meryl Streep. John Walter is a director that made the film Theatre of War documenting the production of the play that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival yesterday.  read more »

On Saturday night at Tribeca Film Festival’s premiere of Tennessee, we caught up with the righteous and stern Lieutenant Daniels from The Wire, also known as Lance Reddick.  read more »

The Wackness, AMC Village VII, 7 p.m.

This funny and sweet coming-of-age film was a crowd-pleaser when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and should no doubt do quite well for itself when it opens up this July. Jonathan Levine directed and wrote the clever script that follows Luke Shaprio, a smart alecky New York City kid waiting out his last summer before college, dealing pot in Washington Square Park, and listening to Notorious B.I.G. A few things to know about this movie: Sir Ben Kingsley is hilarious (though we kept wondering how Dustin Hoffman didn’t get cast in this role), and—disturbingly—has an onscreen makeout with an Olsen twin. Method Man shows up briefly, and Olivia Thirlby (best known as Juno’s bestie) takes on lead female love interest. Oh, dear. First Squeezebox, and now this. (And keep reading for a Beastie Boy cameo!) The 1990's are not too recent for nostalgia. (Watch the trailer above.)  read more »

"It’s not just another psychological horror film—it has some other issues it deals with as well,” said Phedon Papamichael, director of From Within, which premieres tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival. The stars of the film—Mad Men’s Elizabeth Rice, celebrity-spawn Rumer Wills, and Thomas Dekker will sashay down the red carpet outside of the AMC movie theater at 19th Street and Broadway.  read more »

Last night we found Russell Simmons hiding out in one of the VIP booths at Chinatown Brasserie at the after-party for the Tribeca Film Festival's Pray The Devil Back To Hell. Mr. Simmons, wearing one of his signature V-neck sweater vests and a Yankees cap, was thinking about politics.

It’s finally nice out, any plans for the summer?  read more »

JUVENILE DELINQUENTS!

Boy A., Pace University, 5 p.m.

Boy A. is about Jack Burridge, recently released from a British prison after serving a 14-year sentence for a crime he committed as a child. From director John Crowley, also known in the theater world (he was nominated for a Tony for directing Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman). Oooh, and oh also! According to the notes on the film provided by the festival, “this story also sheds light on the vast difference between the American and British criminal justice systems”—we’re guessing the British jails are much more polite. Lots of people have buzzed around on this one, and Harvey Weinstein’s company is releasing it so take from that what you want.

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A DANE

Worlds Apart, Village Cinema East, 5:30 p.m.

Is Danish film where it’s at these days? In 2006 we had Susanne Bier’s excellent After the Wedding (she went on to do the stinker Things We Lost in the Fire, but we don’t blame her really for that one). At this past Sundance there was the excellent Just Another Love Story (which so far is being released here around ... let me check my calendar ... never), and now at Tribeca there’s Worlds Apart. Making its North American premiere this evening, this film gets into the murky waters of Jehovah Witnesses, following a devout 17-year-old who falls in love with a nonbeliever. Based on a true story! Expect lots of men named Niels.  read more »

At the kickoff for Tribeca last night at MoMA, our Big Cheese Publisher was in the mood to play reporter with Chevy Chase. There we were, asking Mr. Chase about his thoughts on Baby Mama, when our publisher debuted his journalistic skills.

“So let me ask you a question, and tell me how I’m doing, to what do you attribute the resurgence of Saturday Night Live?” he asked.  read more »

Last night we found 30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander standing alone amid the Tribeca festivities at the Museum of Modern Art and thought it might be the perfect opportunity to inquire about those self-designed trucker hats he sports on the show.

So you design your own hats for 30 Rock.

Yeah, I’ve been making my own hats for years. I’ve been doing stand-up for 19 years and my hats have always said world champion in some language.

World Champion?

That’s my stand-up persona: The greatest athlete in the world and the biggest sex symbol in the world.  read more »

Tribeca has officially begun! The festival gets going with public screenings this afternoon. Our picks:

Trucker, Village East Cinema 1, 9 p.m.:

One of the 12 films in competition (and the only American offering), this movie has a shot at being the elusive high-profile sale out of Tribeca this year. Michelle Monaghan, who has shown up as the pretty girl in movies like Mission Impossible 3 and Gone Baby Gone (and is the star of next weekend’s Made of Honor) takes on a different kind of role: badass truck driver. When her estranged son—whom she hasn’t seen since he was an infant—shows up to stay with her, things begin to change … but not, perhaps, in the predictable ways. As one acquisition executive told us, “You can already see the poster!”  read more »

We caught up with Tina Fey last night at the Museum of Modern Art. The room was littered with teddy bears and letter-blocks in honor of the just-ended premiere of the movie Baby Mama in which she stars. How'd it go, Tina?

“It was a disaster! People ran out!” she exclaimed. “Just kidding! It went great.” Zing!  read more »

Baby Mama opened the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival last night at the Ziegfeld Theater, and the temple of Hollywood in New York was packed full of celebrities tramping a red carpet that snaked down 54th Street almost to Sixth Avenue.

It was a comedy-loving crowd, judging from the laughs that started even before the film did, during the pre-movie Tribeca Film Festival promo short about a man as a film junkie (it’s actually funnier than it sounds), and when the lights went up you could see the proof: Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Chris Kattan, and Molly Shannon were all there to bask in the easy charms of Tina Fey's slight comedy.  read more »

The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off its seventh year tonight at the Zeigfeld Theater with the big sparkly premiere of Baby Mama. The movie is about a single and successful businesswoman (Tina Fey) who hires a working-class woman (Amy Poehler) to be her surrogate. Can you believe we’ve gotten this far along in life without a wacky surrogate movie?  read more »

The Tribeca Film Institute has announced the lineup for its fifth Tribeca All Access program, which spotlights filmmakers from "traditionally underrepresented communities." The lineup marks TAA's largest showing ever: 37 narrative and documentary projects—the directors and screenwriters of which will get the chance to market to industry executives during the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival—vying for awards totaling $44,500. This year's TAA panel of 10 jurors includes Law & Order stars Jesse L. Martin and Adam Beach (of SVU), actress and former Tommy Hilfiger model Joy Bryant, and documentarian William Greaves. The full list of films is after the jump.  read more »

Genna Terranova, former Vice President of Acquisitions at the Weinstein Company, has joined the Tribeca Film Festival as senior programmer. While with the Weinsteins, she worked on Patrick Creadon's crossword documentary Wordplay, Barbara Kopple's recent documentary Shut Up and Sing, and Duncan Tucker's Transamerica starring Felicity Huffman.

Co-founder Jane Rosenthal also announced that the festival will create a year-round department: “Each year the number of international and domestic industry attending the festival increases and so we have created a year round department to service the needs of the industry and look forward to having Julie La’Bassiere head up this department," she said in a press release.

Full release after the jump.  read more »