{"id":132070,"date":"2019-04-25T15:30:23","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T19:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/?p=132070"},"modified":"2019-04-28T06:28:16","modified_gmt":"2019-04-28T10:28:16","slug":"black-talent-and-films-at-2019-tribeca-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/black-talent-and-films-at-2019-tribeca-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Talent And Films At 2019 Tribeca Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The\u00a018th annual Tribeca Film Festival<\/strong>, presented by AT&T, starts today, taking place from\u00a0April 18 to April 29 in New York City.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2019 feature film program includes 96 films from 103 filmmakers. Of the 96 films, 46% of them are directed by women, the highest percentage in the Festival\u2019s history. The lineup includes 75 World Premieres, 5 International Premieres, 9 North American Premieres, 3 U.S. Premieres, and 4 New York Premieres from 27 countries. This year\u2019s program includes 46 first time filmmakers, with 18 directors returning to the Festival with their latest feature film projects. Tribeca\u2019s 2019 slate was programmed from more than 8,789 total submissions.<\/p>\n

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Among the films with Black talent being showcased are Luce<\/strong>, directed by Julius Onah and starring\u00a0Kelvin Harrison Jr.<\/strong>, Naomi Watts,<\/strong>\u00a0Octavia Spencer<\/b>\u00a0Marsha Stephanie Blake<\/strong>, Tim Roth<\/strong>, and Only starringTony Award-winner Leslie Odom, Jr.<\/strong> (Hamilton<\/em>), and The Weekend, directed by Stella Meghie and starring\u00a0\u00a0Sasheer Zamata<\/strong>, Tone Bell<\/strong>, She\u2019s Gotta Have It star\u00a0DeWanda Wise<\/strong>, Insecure\u2019s\u00a0Y\u2019lan Noel<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Kym Whitley.<\/strong> Among the documentaries worth mentioning are\u00a0Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland, The Gospel According to Andre, M. Soul!<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Congrats to those films that will be playing this year and hopefully, the rest of the world, will get a chance to see them, should it be picked up for theatrical release.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a breakdown of films that have African American themes or has Black talent in prominent roles<\/p>\n

Opening Night<\/strong> – The Apollo<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Apollo Theater has been a cultural anchor on Harlem\u2019s West 125th St. since 1934, and through its doors have passed the most legendary African American artists of the past nine decades. Academy Award\u00ae winning filmmaker and Tribeca alum Roger Ross Williams<\/strong> looks at the storied history of this iconic space while following the Apollo\u2019s inaugural staging of Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/strong>‘ acclaimed Between the World and Me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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The Apollo Theater itself represents the ongoing struggle of black lives in America and The Apollo<\/strong> demonstrates the elemental role that art plays in that struggle by highlighting the broad range of African American achievement that has been discovered, championed, and thrived on its stage. The Tribeca Film Festival is proud to open our program in 2019 with this celebration of art and community in New York City.<\/p>\n

U.S Narrative Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Burning Cane<\/strong> – directed by Phillip Youmans<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Reverend Tillman (Wendell Pierce) preaches to the congregation of Laurel Valley Missionary Baptist Church. PHOTOGRAPHER: Phillip Youmans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A worried mother (Karen Kaia Livers<\/strong>) caring for her mange-ridden family dog; her unemployed, alcoholic son (Dominique McClellan<\/strong>) and the wife (Emyri Crutchfield<\/strong>) who supports him; and a preacher (Wendell Pierce<\/strong>) whose wife\u2019s recent death has pushed him toward the bottle are a few of the characters who make up the beautifully rich world of Southeastern Louisiana in Phillip Youmans<\/strong>\u2019 extraordinary debut feature, Burning Cane<\/em>. The poetic lyricism of the film\u2019s handheld camerawork calls to mind a Terrence Malick<\/strong>-like interest in the influence of place on the people who inhabit it, and how deeply the beauty of the natural world can contrast with the brutality of human acts. As one of the principal embodiments of this contradiction, Pierce gives a powerful performance as the preacher who is struggling to both help his flock as well as himself.<\/p>\n

Gully<\/strong> – directed by\u00a0music video director Nabil Elderkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Nicky, Jesse, &; alvin \/ Charlie Plummer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jacob Latimore. Photographer: Chris Willard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Set in a dystopian Los Angeles, Gully<\/em> focuses on three best friends\u2014Calvin (Jacob Latimore<\/strong>), Nicky (Charlie Plummer<\/strong>) and Jesse (Kelvin Harrison Jr.<\/strong>)\u2014who struggle to survive in the bleak and alien environment. Traumatized by troubled family relationships and socioeconomic hardships, they seek escape through video games, doing drugs, and hard partying, which provide only a temporary relief from their pain. After a shattering and unexpected discovery, the boys further lose touch with reality and lash out through dangerous acts of violence and revenge that lead to an uncertain future.<\/p>\n

The film features strong supporting turns from Terrence Howard<\/strong>, Amber Heard<\/strong>, Robin Givens<\/strong>, and John Corbett<\/strong>, along with a cameo by Travis Scott<\/strong><\/p>\n

Documentary Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

17 Blocks<\/strong> – directed by Davy Rothbart<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Nine year old Emmanuel began filming himself and his family with a home video camera in 1999, capturing his Washington D.C. neighborhood through the eyes of an innocent child. Growing up just 17 blocks from the U.S. Capitol, however, proved more difficult than expected. Filmmaker, journalist, and frequent This American Life<\/em>contributor Davy Rothbart<\/strong> befriended the Sanford family as they continued to document their daily life over a 20-year period in a city plagued by poverty, addiction, and gun violence.<\/p>\n

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project<\/strong> – directed by Matt Wolf<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Long before our current era of \u201cfake news,\u201d Marion Stokes<\/strong> was amassing an incredible archive in an effort to protect and tell the truth. Beginning with the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979 and ending in 2012 with the massacre at Sandy Hook, Stokes archived and preserved the television that others were not. She recorded an incredible 70,000 VHS tapes capturing wars, triumphs, catastrophes, and more. The archive reveals the past and how it shaped television and the present moment.<\/p>\n

International Narrative Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roads<\/strong> – directed by\u00a0Sebastian Schipper<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Two loners in search of family find solace in friendship in this cross-cultural road movie from Sebastian Schipper<\/strong> (Victoria<\/em>). Fionn Whitehead<\/strong> (Dunkirk<\/em>) plays Gyllen, a rebellious British teen who escapes a stifling family vacation by stealing his step dad’s campervan and driving through Morocco and Spain to visit his real father in France. Joining forces with William (St\u00e9phane Bak<\/strong>), the two 17 year olds hit the road in an impromptu border-crossing adventure.<\/p>\n

Visiting from the Congo, William is headed to a French refugee camp to look for his missing brother and is trying to stay under the radar. But it doesn\u2019t take long for their personalities to rub off on each other and they soon cheerfully dub themselves \u201cTeam Crazy, Risky, Stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotlight Narrative<\/strong><\/p>\n

Only<\/strong> – directed by\u00a0Takashi Doscher<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Will (Leslie Odom, Jr.<\/strong>) and Eva (Freida Pinto<\/strong>) seem destined for a storybook life together, so pure and supportive is their mutual love. But their alone time is suddenly interrupted when Eva\u2019s roommate, Carolyn (Tia Hendricks<\/strong>), bursts through the door and collapses as torrents of mysterious ash fall from the sky. During a chaotic trip to the hospital, Will learns what he needs to do, quickly covering Eva in a hazmat suit, then rushing home with her and hermetically sealing the doors and windows. Weeks become months become years and, after Eva makes a desperate move, the couple is forced to run for their lives.<\/p>\n

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Tony Award-winner Odom, Jr. (Hamilton<\/em>) and Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire<\/em>) play the doomed couple whose fear that their secret will be revealed unveils the layers of pain and longing between them. As Will and Eva struggle to reach a beloved waterfall from their past, the couple attempts to survive in a new world where she is a commodity of unparalleled worth.<\/p>\n