Tribeca Film Festival 2017 preview: Godfathers, documentaries, TV, and Dahmer
It’s unlikely that too many teenage girls would choose to screen The Godfather for their sweet 16 birthday — but the Tribeca Film Festival, now in its spectacular 16th year of screenings, talks, and events, moves to the beat of its own drummer. That drummer, to an extent, would be fest co-founder and Godfather saga alum Robert De Niro, who along with Jane Rosenthal and her husband, Craig Hatkoff, brainstormed this major downtown NYC revitalization project in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack.
In De Niro adjacent events, two years ago Tribeca staged a 25th anniversary Goodfellas reunion; last year it was the 40th birthday of Taxi Driver. And 2017’s edition, who opens Wednesday with a star-packed Radio City Music Hall premiere of Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives and returns to Radio City on April 29 for an full-day binge of the first two Godfather movies, followed by an epic onstage Q&A.
In between those two dazzling events, Tribeca offers audiences dozens of world premiere feature films and documentaries, exciting talks between unexpected pairings of artists and icons, plus countless events in two areas where the festival has make great recent sides: television and virtual reality.
From Coinage:
Read below for two dozen of EW’s must-sees at the fest. Check Tribeca’s official site for more info.
SPECIAL EVENTS and CONVERSATIONS
Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
Aretha Franklin has called him “the greatest record man of all time.” And Franklin is just one of the legends who will be on hand, along with Earth Wind & Fire, Barry Manilow, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, and Jennifer Hudson, to perform during the opening night festivities for the new documentary on Clive Davis’ life and times. April 19
The Godfather and The Godfather Part II
They’re gonna make you an offer you can’t…you know the line. This Corleone-family binge at New York’s Radio City Music Hall will be followed by a never-to-be-seen-again Q&A with Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Talia Shire, and Robert De Niro. You’re allowed to ask them questions about their business. April 29
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: The Bad Boy Story
Head over to New York’s Beacon Theatre for the premiere of this documentary (from Live Nation Productions) about Bad Boy Records and its iconic founder Sean “Diddy” Combs. The Beacon screening will be followed by a live concert featuring Combs and Mase, Lil’ Kim, and Faith Evans. April 23
Reservoir Dogs: 25th Anniversary
Quentin Tarantino had provided his own 35 mm print from his archive for this special anniversary screening of his now-classic feature film debut. The movie will be followed by a Q&A featuring Tarantino, producer Lawrence Bender, and cast members including Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Harvey Keitel. April 28
Tribeca Talks
As The Godfather casts are reuniting at Radio City, a perhaps even rarer event will be taking place downtown. Barbra Streisand will be in conversation with her unexpected pal Robert Rodriquez. The director of Sin City and From Dusk Til Dawn was Streisand’s personal choice for her chat partner — and just finding out about their unlikely relationship is alone worth the price of admission. April 29
Other Tribeca Talk highlights include Jon Favreau and Scarlett Johansson on April 21; two-time Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu and artist Marina Abramović on April 22; Kobe Bryant and Michael Strahan with animator Glen Keane on April 23; Dustin Hoffman and Noah Baumbach on April 24; and Bruce Springsteen with Tom Hanks on April 28.
Virtual Reality
Tribeca’s Virtual Arcade this year features 30 innovative and thought-provoking experiences on display. Highlights include a journey alongside a park ranger as he hunts poachers in Africa, directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow and a nostalgic tour led by former president Barack Obama through the White House. Starting April 21
Feature Films
The Boy Downstairs
Girls’ Zosia Mamet stars in this rom-com with a great hook: A young professional scores the NYC apartment of her dreams, only to discover that one of her neighbors is an ex-boyfriend whose heart she crushed. Things, of course, get complicated. April 23
My Friend Dahmer
Disney Channel star Ross Lynch (Teen Beach Movie, Austin & Ally) takes an uncanny turn against type as infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in this drama based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Derf Backderf, who knew Dahmer in high school. The film, costarring Anne Heche at Dahmer’s mom and Alex Wolff as his friend, is set in the late 1970s, some years before Dahmer’s cannibalistic killing spree. And so the aesthetic is more in the low-growl, Gus Van Sant style — and in a subtle portrait of high school alienation and burgeoning madness, the 21-year-old Lynch is poised to be one of Tribeca’s biggest breakouts. April 21
Pilgrimage
New Spider-Man Tom Holland trades tights for a monk’s robe (weirdly, the previous Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield, did that too in Silence) for this 13th-century drama from Irish director Brendan Muldowney. Holland stars (alongside Jon Bernthal of The Walking Dead and Richard Armitage of The Hobbit) as one in a band of Catholic friars transporting a sacred relic from Ireland to the Vatican. April 23
The Circle
Emma Watson, still feeling the Belle glow, headlines Tribeca’s buzziest world premiere. James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) directs an edgy adaptation of Dave Eggers’ dystopian novel about privacy and the internet. The dynamic supporting cast includes Tom Hanks as a charismatic CEO, John Boyega, Patton Oswalt, and the late Bill Paxton as Watson’s ailing dad. April 26
Saturday Church
It might seem clumsy to call this crowd-pleaser a cross between La La Land and Moonlight, but the official description goes like this: “14-year-old Ulysses is a shy and effeminate teen being raised in the Bronx. He finds escape in a rich fantasy life of music and dance. Damon Cardasis’ directorial debut is a rousing celebration of one boy’s search for his identity.” Expect cheering from the full-capacity Tribeca audience. April 23
Buster’s Mal Heart
In his first feature film leading role, Mr. Robot Emmy-winner Rami Malik (that’s him, above) headlines this psychological thriller as a reclusive mountain man who comes into sharp focus with his past. Writer-director Sarah Adina Smith (2014’s The Midnight Swim) is a talent to keep your eye on. Watch the film’s first five minutes here. April 26
Abundant Acreage Available
Amy Ryan and Terry Kinney star in a family drama directed by Angus MacLachlan, the writer of 2005’s extraordinary Junebug, the film that made Amy Adams a star. Ryan and Kinney are siblings whose existence is upended when three brothers begin camping on their land. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese. April 20
The Lovers
Screen legend Debra Winger and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tracy Letts star are a longtime married couple, each having affairs with other people, who reignite their intimacy. This idiosyncratic comedy by Azazel Jacobs (director of the sweet 2011 John C. Reilly indie Terri) is bound to charm audiences with its unique mixture of pathos and humor. April 22
The Endless
Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead made ripples three years ago with their dreamy Mediterranean vampire romance Spring. Their follow-up concerns two brothers (played by the filmmakers) who are drawn into a desert cult led by a man (Quantico’s Tate Ellington) whose supernatural pronouncements just might hold water. Check out a clip here. April 21
Midnight Movies
Some of Tribeca’s most intriguing offerings can often be found in this cult and thriller-oriented sidebar. This year’s highlights include Super Dark Times, a remarkable, atmospheric debut from director Kevin Phillips about two high school buddies in 1995 and a devastating accident involving a samurai sword. Headed by exceptional, naturalistic performances by Owen Campbell (The Americans) and Charlie Tahan (Wayward Pines), the film echoes Stand by Me and Donnie Darko in tone and resonates with a striking metaphor about how shifting friend dynamics in high school can feel like violent trauma. April 20
Other Midnight movies to look out for include Mickey Keating’s Psychopaths (check out a clip here); Devil’s Gate starring Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Schull; and the documentary Dumb: The Story of Big Brother Magazine, featuring Jackass veterans Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze, Bam Margera, and Steve-O.
Documentaries
In addition to Clive Davis and Sean Combs, Tribeca’s rich nonfiction offerings include a high number focusing on cultural and political figures. Among them are titles on Whitney Houston, Elián González, Zac Posen, Roger Stone, Frank Serpico, Johnny Rotten, Hedy Lamarr, Julian Schnabel, Chris Gethard, and Gilbert Gottfried. For more on Gilbert, click here.
Elsewhere in the doc lineup, subjects include an LGBT pioneer (The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson), criminal justice (LA 92 and Copwatch) and ISIS (Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS and the acclaimed City of Ghosts by Oscar-nominated director Matthew Heineman). Plus, Tribeca will also present a special 15th anniversary screening of Bowling for Columbine on April 20 with Michael Moore in attendance for a Q&A.
Television
Tribeca is inarguably ascendant when it comes to its TV lineup. Last year’s festival featured the premiere of HBO’s The Night Of and a tribute to The Good Wife. The 2017 edition is even more promising, with offerings that include the world premieres of Hulu’s once-again-in-the-zeitgeist The Handmaid’s Tale on April 21 (read EW’s rave review here) and the Nat Geo series about Albert Einstein, Genius, on April 20, with a post-screening Q&A moderated by PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly Editorial Director Jess Cagle.
The festival will also feature season 3 previews for beloved shows Casual (April 29) and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (April 29), in addition to a sneak peek at Ken Burns’ upcoming 18-hour PBS series The Vietnam War (April 28), an insane variety show puree called The Eyeslicer (April 28), and the world premiere of Spike TV’s look back at one of this generation’s best actors (using his own homemade videos), I Am Heath Ledger (April 23).
The 16th annual Tribeca Film Festival runs April 19-30. Check back to EW.com for coverage throughout the festival.
