The hustle and festival bustle in New York:
The scene last Thursday outside a movie theater showing films at the eighth
Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, which ended
this past Sunday. Rush ticket lines were utilized to accommodate overflow
crowds and standby ticket buyers. (Photos: Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com)
POPCORN IMPRESSIONS
An Economical Festival In Less Than Stellar Economic Times
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Thursday, May 7, 2009
NEW YORK CITY
A not-so funny thing happened on the way to the recent Tribeca Film Festival:
the harsh economic landscape, which shaped this eight-year-old event. Last
weekend the eighth Tribeca Film Festival came to a close, ending 12 days of
films, panels, music, parties and press conferences. The films were
well-attended despite the economic downturn, making the lower-key Tribeca event
a strong success. Founded by the troika of Jane Rosenthal, Craig Hatkoff
and Robert De Niro in 2002 as a means to revitalize the downtown Manhattan area
in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center in September 2001, the Tribeca (stands for Triangle Below Canal Street) event has fast become one
of the best film festivals in the country, with its mix of mostly independent
and some mainstream fare consistently getting sold-out audiences, with this
year's festival (which ran from April 22 through May 3) as no exception.
Red carpet photo events showcased stars, celebrities and filmmakers speeding
past a phalanx of photographers -- for example, Sting, Sam Rockwell, Iman and
David Bowie travelled faster than the speed of flashbulb light down the carpet
for "Moon", which got a lot of positive reception both here and at Sundance
earlier in the year. "Moon" is directed by Duncan Jones, Mr. Bowie's son,
who was also in attendance. The film, which stars Mr. Rockwell (who
continues to take on diverse and interesting film roles while excelling in them)
is produced by Stuart Fenegan and Trudie Styler. Ms. Styler's husband
Sting represented her at the red carpet for "Moon". (It is irresistible to
ponder whether the film was a faint rejoinder of sorts to Mr. Bowie's 1970s
classic hit song "Space Oddity", but journalists can be free to let their
imaginations run away with them.)
Countless films were heralded during the near-two-week event, including the
world premiere of Spike Lee's documentary "Kobe Doin' Work", (Mr. Lee also had
the documentary "Passing Strange" on exhibition), "Departures" (the
Oscar-winning best foreign language film from Japan at this year's Academy
Awards), "Still Walking" (also from Japan), "The Girlfriend Experience",
featuring adult film star Sasha Grey and directed by Steven Soderbergh, the
documentary "Poliwood", directed by Barry Levinson, "Seven Minutes In Heaven"
from Israel, and "Entre Nos" from Colombia and the U.S., directed by Paola
Mendoza and Gloria La Morte.
While waiting on one of the many long lines over the days of the Tribeca Film
Festival, one young couple from Eastern Europe spent several minutes talking
about the films they had seen and expressed some displeasure about Hollywood
films. A huge poster ad for
"Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past" was emblazoned high on the wall of a
building just steps away, across from where they were standing. "I'm not
going to waste my time with that," the man said. Asked if they had any
interest in any of the big films that Tinseltown is releasing over the summer,
the woman frowned, presumably an indication of displeasure at the thought of
indulging the Hollywood studios. "You don't feel anything when watching
these films," she said. Of Tribeca, the man, who declared that Jean-Luc
Godard's "Alphaville" was his favorite of Godard's films if not the best film of
all time, added, "we've seen some very good films here."
The other side of the line: Hopeful ticket
buyers stand on the four lines for films showing at the eighth Tribeca Film
Festival last Thursday evening in New York City.
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