Festival:
The 21st Tribeca Festival
Dates:
June 8-19
About:
Approximately 140 features and episodic content – about half of that nonfiction – screens in this NYC event.
Among the offerings:
Documentary Competition:
AN ACT OF WORSHIP
Director: Nausheen Dadabhoy
A lyrical portrait of the last 20 years of Muslim life in America as told through the lens of Muslims living in the United States.
BATTLEGROUND
Director: Cynthia Lowen
Heading distinctly different anti-choice organizations, three women lead the charge in their single-minded quest to overturn Roe v Wade.
HIDDEN LETTERS
Director: Violet Du Feng
In modern-day China, two women strive to preserve Nushu, an ancient secret language that bonded generations of Chinese women together through centuries of oppression.
LAKOTA NATION VS UNITED STATES
Director: Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli
Poet Layli Long Soldier crafts a searing portrait of her Oyate’s connection to the Black Hills, through first contact and broken treaties to the promise of the Land Back movement.
MY NAME IS ANDREA
Director: Pratibha Parmar
A rousing portrait of feminist writer Andrea Dworkin, one of the most controversial and misunderstood figures of the 20th century, who fought passionately for justice and equality for women.
NAKED GARDENS
Director: Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan
An inside look at an isolated nudist community in Florida, where residents find a place to feel accepted, deal with their past traumas, and jointly pursue forming a utopian society.
Other Sections:
AFTER SHERMAN
Director: Jon-Sesrie Goff
A story about inheritance and the tension that defines our collective American history.
AMERICAN PAIN
Director: Darren Foster
The jaw-dropping story of twin brothers Chris and Jeff George, who opened up a chain of pain clinics in Florida where they handed out pain pills like candy.
THE BIG PAYBACK
Director: Erika Alexander, Whitney Dow
Evanston IL Alderwoman Simmons leads her constituents through a historic campaign for reparations for the Black community.
BODY PARTS
Director: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
An eye-opening investigation into the making of Hollywood sex scenes, shedding light on the real-life experiences behind classic scenes of cinema and tracing the legacy of exploitation of women in the entertainment industry
BOWERY
Director: Mike Mintz, Irad Straus
An intimate portrait of the lives of New Yorkers living on the street in the Bowery as they struggle with homelessness, drug addiction, job-hunting, harsh weather, and Covid-19.
BROADWAY RISING
Director: Amy Rice
Charting the Broadway community’s journey from the almost overnight shut down due to the pandemic to the paths essential theater workers took on their road back to the stage.
BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY
Director: Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb
A look at the history and legacy of READING RAINBOW, which, for over 25 years, set the standard for literary children’s television and instilled a love of reading in millions of children.
CANNABIS BUYERS CLUB
Director: Kip Andersen and Chris O’Connell
When a new disease ravages his community and the government doesn’t care, renegade pot dealer Dennis Peron leads a movement to help, heal, and fight back.
CAROL & JOHNNY
Director: Colin Barnicle
Two of the most infamous bank robbers in American history, Carol Marie Williams and Johnny Madison Williams Jr, tell their love story in their own words.
CHOP & STEELE
Director: Ben Steinbauer, Berndt Mader
For years, Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher toured as the Found Footage Festival, with a sideline in absurdist morning-show pranks – but then they got sued.
CIVIL
Director: Nadia Hallgren
An intimate yet expansive profile of Ben Crump, the lawyer dubbed “Black America’s attorney general.”
ENDANGERED
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
A sobering look at the erosion of democracy and freedom of the press in the United States and abroad.
HAZING
Director: Byron Hurt
A deeply personal exploration of the function, politics, and consequences of pledging rituals.
LEAVE NO TRACE
Director: Irene Taylor
An exploration of how The Boy Scouts of America went so horrifyingly wrong, reaching a history-making $2.7 billion agreement over sex abuse claims.
LIQUOR STORE DREAMS
Director: So Yun Um
A moving portrait of two Korean American children of liquor store owners reconciling their dreams with those of their immigrant parents, against the backdrop of struggles for racial equity in Los Angeles.
THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY
Director: Eve Brandstein
May Pang lovingly recounts her life in rock & roll and the whirlwind 18 months spent as a friend, lover, and confidante to one of the towering figures of popular culture, John Lennon.
LOUDMOUTH
Director: Josh Alexander
A disruptive spotlight on Reverend Al Sharpton – the pastoral prodigy turned political firebrand turned media establishment figure.
LYNCH/OZ
Director: Alexandre O Philippe
An exploration of how Victor Fleming’s 1939 film THE WIZARD OF OZ is one of David Lynch’s most enduring obsessions.
MCENROE
Director: Barney Douglas
Legendary “bad boy of tennis” John McEnroe finally tells his side of his storied career and famously hot-tempered performances on the court.
MENUDO: FOREVER YOUNG
Director: Ángel Manuel Soto
A chronicle of the rise and fall of the most iconic Latin American boy band in history, bringing viewers into the world of the popular teen idols’ global tours, magazine covers, ‘80s outfits, and screaming fangirls – as well as a web of abuse and exploitation at the hands of the band’s manager, Edgardo Diaz.
OF MEDICINE AND MIRACLES
Director: Ross Kauffman
A chronicle of the monumental task of curing cancer, as seen through the harrowing experiences of one young girl, her family, and a doctor on a mission.
THE REBELLIOUS LIFE OF MRS ROSA PARKS
Director: Johanna Hamilton, Yoruba Richen
A comprehensive dive into the life of Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks, shedding light on her extensive organizing, radical politics, and lifelong dedication to activism.
REINVENTING MIRAZUR
Director: Verane Frediani, Franck Ribiere
An exploration into the life of Chef Mauro Colagreco, who finds himself changing everything about his flagship restaurant Mirazur after the COVID-19 pandemic halted his worldwide rise to prominence.
RIGHT TO OFFEND: THE BLACK COMEDY REVOLUTION
Director: Mario Diaz, Jessica Sherif
An exploration of the progression of Black comedy and the comedians who have used pointed humor to expose, challenge, and ridicule society’s injustices, as well as to articulate the Black experience in America.
A RISING FURY
Director: Lesya Kalynska, Ruslan Batytskyi
A front line look at the growing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, uncovering firsthand the war that is tearing country and family apart.
RUDY! A DOCUMUSICAL
Director: Jed Rothstein
The definitive Rudy Giuliani documentary, charting his fall from the cover of TIME to the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
SANSÓN AND ME
Director: Rodrigo Reyes
Tracing a young immigrant’s path from coastal Mexico to a life sentence for murder in California, utilizing evocative recreations to explore the meaning of a life fragmented by poverty, borders, and incarceration.
what (not) to doc 