As music lovers make their way to Coachella to endure the Californian desert heat, film enthusiasts gather for the annual Tribeca Film Festival here in New York City to screen of some of the best indie films in the world. Starting Wednesday, The New School Free Press will be bringing you coverage on the most anticipated independent films of the season and the people who bring them to life. In the meantime, here are ten things you’ll want to check out for yourself:
“*” represents an event with more times available.*
- TRIBECA TALKS: DIRECTORS SERIES – ALFONSO CUARÓN
Have you seen the Oscars in the past three years? Well, then you probably know winners, director Alfonso Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Join these two for a discussion between two Mexican cinema greats. (4/20 @ 6:00pm)
- WORLD DOCUMENTARY – DO NOT RESIST
Director Craig Atkinson observes the startling exploration of the rapid militarization of police forces in the United States. This documentary was filmed over two years in 11 different states and exposes the increasingly disturbing realities of police culture. (4/14 @ 6:30pm*)
- FIRST MONDAY IN MAY
Catch the incredibly anticipated film following the creation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “China: Through the Looking Glass,” exhibition, by curator Andrew Bolton.
Interested in the collision of high fashion and celebrity at the Met Gala? Debating whether fashion should be viewed as art? This one’s for you. (4/13 @ 7:00pm*)
- TAXI DRIVER 40TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION
Screen Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver in celebration of the film’s 40th anniversary while surrounded by a bunch of die hards. Following the screening, there’s a conversation with Scorsese himself, Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster. I know, I can’t breathe either. Too much greatness in one room. (4/21 @7:30pm)
- THE BANKSY JOB
Is your Instagram feed flooded with Banksy’s street art? Directors Ian Roderick Gray and Dylan Harvey illuminate the crazy world of street art and the peculiar relationships between the artists – in particular, Banksy and the artist known as AK47. (4/17 @ 9:30pm*)
- OBIT
Vanessa Gould directs this documentary about the individuals who write obituaries for the New York Times. It’s been praised as an original vision for the journey of people who “sum-up” a person’s life. (4/17 @ 3:00pm*)
7. THE HAPPY FILM
Meditation, therapy and drugs? Heck yeah, sign us up! Stefan Sagmeister will take us along on his personal journey as he tries to understand what causes happiness. Trust us, there will be no twisting of your arms to listen to this guy talk. (4/16 @ 3:30pm*)
8.TRIBECA TALKS: STORYTELLERS- TINA FEY
Film actor, show creator and producer are just a few of the titles Tina Fey holds on her resume. Fey has established an enviable career since her early days on SNL and she’ll be at the Festival talking about all of it with Damian Holbrook, a writer for TV Guide Mag.
What’s really important here is that we may finally get to express to her that we too, were deeply victimized by Regina George. (4/19 @ 6:00pm)
9. LIFE, ANIMATED
Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams tells the story of an autistic boy who used Disney animations to regain his ability to speak. Who wouldn’t want to learn the english language from Mufasa or Cinderella?
We’ll certainly have our tissues ready. (4/22 @ 6:00pm*)
10. CALIFORNIA DREAMING VS. NEW YORK NOW/NEW YORK THEN SHORTS
There’s no rivalry quite like the one held between New York and California. Catch the California Dreaming and New York Now/New York Then short film slates to see creatives battle for the title of the better coast. (4/15 @ 6:45pm*) (4/15 @ 9:45pm*) (4/14 @ 9:45pm*)
11. UNTOUCHABLE
This documentary, directed by David Feige, focuses on the story of a lobbyist who after learning of his daughters sexual abuse, made it his mission to pass some of the strictest sex offender laws in the country. (4/15 @ 6:15pm*)
Find tickets either available for purchase or on stand-by here:
https://tribecafilm.com/festival/tickets
Sydney is a current Junior studying Journalism & Design at Eugene Lang and the Co-Editor-In-Chief of The New School Free Press. She spends a questionable amount of time responding to emails, remembering coffee orders for her various internships, producing films & frolicking around the Lower East Side where she’s living her New York dream of occupying a bedroom with a brick wall.
