2008 Woodie Awards
TriBeCa heads downtown for its seventh year
Carlos Cabrera
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
As the leaves return to the trees in City Hall Park, another perennial treat has returned to the University: The seventh annual TriBeCa Film Festival. Founded by Jane Rosenthal and Robert DeNiro in 2002, the festival was originally brought about not only to illustrate New York City as a hub of serious filmmaking, but also to aid Lower Manhattan's recovery after the events of 9/11.
In its first year, the festival brought in 150,000 people to the downtown area in addition to generating over $10 million in revenue from local TriBeCa merchants. In its second year, those numbers were twice as high. Since then, the festival has not only made big waves within the independent film scene, but also in the larger studio divisions.
This year, the festival organized each of the featured works into several different categories: World Narrative is a cross-section of dramatic works from around the globe. World Documentary showcases works of mockumentary humor as well as gripping stories on world events. Spotlight features films covering a fascinating range of themes such as war, satire of the independent and the artist's process. Encounters, a combination of narrative and documentary films, features notable talent and intriguing subject matter. The Discovery sections contains many emerging artists, bringing fictional and non-fictional takes of interest. Showcase includes an array of award-winning, festival favorites and could be called the cream of the festival crop. A Midnight category caters to the cineaste with a taste for late-night camp cinema. This is all rounded out by a Restored selection meant to take a look into film's history. Last but not least, would be the ever-interesting collection of shorts.
This year's special events pack even more celluloid enjoyment to this Lower Manhattan fete. The Gala event screenings welcome a couple of more mainstream pictures, such as the long-awaited Tina Fey/Amy Poehler vehicle, Baby Mama, and the kitschy live action, Speed Racer. Discussion events such as TriBeCa Talks and Conversations in Cinema are the place to go for exclusive panel discussions on the business of entertainment as well as opinions on the most provocative works of this year. Even the SoHo Apple Store will be hosting a number of discussions with today's leading actors, writers and directors on current and upcoming projects. In the Behind the Scenes event, three festival selections will be screened and followed by discussions on the concepts of truth, clarity and responsibility pertaining to the shown film.
Alongside these sophisticated, smarmy events are festival favorites such as the TriBeCa Drive-In, set up in the North Cove of the World Financial Center. This year's outdoor screenings will include the family-friendly Meerkat Manor (peeking inside the lives of a family of meerkats) and "Thriller Night," an event hosted by filmmaker John Landis where patrons will watch the Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, accompanied by a making-of featurette. Other activities such as a Zombie make-up station and a "Thriller" dance party will make for a fun night under the stars. For sport-fans, there will even be an ESPN-sponsored competition for the best football-themed film ever made.
These are only a handful of the events and activities at this year's TriBeCa Film Festival, all of which are only a stone's throw away from the University. The festival begins April 23 and lasts until May 4. I urge anyone not buried in finals to get out there and support our city's film community.
In its first year, the festival brought in 150,000 people to the downtown area in addition to generating over $10 million in revenue from local TriBeCa merchants. In its second year, those numbers were twice as high. Since then, the festival has not only made big waves within the independent film scene, but also in the larger studio divisions.
This year, the festival organized each of the featured works into several different categories: World Narrative is a cross-section of dramatic works from around the globe. World Documentary showcases works of mockumentary humor as well as gripping stories on world events. Spotlight features films covering a fascinating range of themes such as war, satire of the independent and the artist's process. Encounters, a combination of narrative and documentary films, features notable talent and intriguing subject matter. The Discovery sections contains many emerging artists, bringing fictional and non-fictional takes of interest. Showcase includes an array of award-winning, festival favorites and could be called the cream of the festival crop. A Midnight category caters to the cineaste with a taste for late-night camp cinema. This is all rounded out by a Restored selection meant to take a look into film's history. Last but not least, would be the ever-interesting collection of shorts.
This year's special events pack even more celluloid enjoyment to this Lower Manhattan fete. The Gala event screenings welcome a couple of more mainstream pictures, such as the long-awaited Tina Fey/Amy Poehler vehicle, Baby Mama, and the kitschy live action, Speed Racer. Discussion events such as TriBeCa Talks and Conversations in Cinema are the place to go for exclusive panel discussions on the business of entertainment as well as opinions on the most provocative works of this year. Even the SoHo Apple Store will be hosting a number of discussions with today's leading actors, writers and directors on current and upcoming projects. In the Behind the Scenes event, three festival selections will be screened and followed by discussions on the concepts of truth, clarity and responsibility pertaining to the shown film.
Alongside these sophisticated, smarmy events are festival favorites such as the TriBeCa Drive-In, set up in the North Cove of the World Financial Center. This year's outdoor screenings will include the family-friendly Meerkat Manor (peeking inside the lives of a family of meerkats) and "Thriller Night," an event hosted by filmmaker John Landis where patrons will watch the Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, accompanied by a making-of featurette. Other activities such as a Zombie make-up station and a "Thriller" dance party will make for a fun night under the stars. For sport-fans, there will even be an ESPN-sponsored competition for the best football-themed film ever made.
These are only a handful of the events and activities at this year's TriBeCa Film Festival, all of which are only a stone's throw away from the University. The festival begins April 23 and lasts until May 4. I urge anyone not buried in finals to get out there and support our city's film community.
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