{"id":65456,"date":"2013-04-17T13:23:50","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T13:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2013\/04\/17\/2013-tribeca-film-festival-preview-films-with-black-stories\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T09:28:58","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T09:28:58","slug":"2013-tribeca-film-festival-preview-films-with-black-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/2013-tribeca-film-festival-preview-films-with-black-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"2013 Tribeca Film Festival Preview: Films with Black Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

2013 Tribeca Film Festival Preview: Films with Black Stories<\/strong>Posted by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

April 17, 2013<\/p>\n

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The Tribeca Film Festival <\/strong>(TFF) will take place from April 17 to April 28 in New York City.<\/p>\n

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Among the many films being shown at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival are some documentaries, with some focusing on legendary performers such as Richard Pryor<\/strong> and Moms Mabley<\/strong>, and sports legends Muhammed Ali<\/strong> and Wilt Chamberlain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe documentary films in the Spotlight section this year highlight several famous individuals (including one very cute cat) who use their wit and bold personas to make us think and laugh,\u201d said Genna Terranova, Director of Programming. \u201cA mix of established filmmakers and rising talent top off the rest of the section with features exploring some fresh takes on unconventional relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

HERE ARE SOME SELECTED FILMS WORTH SEEING AT THE FESTIVAL<\/p>\n

Coach<\/strong>
\nDirected by: Bess Kargman <\/strong><\/p>\n

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One of college basketball\u2019s most prolific coaches, hall-of-famer C. Vivian Stringer became more well known to the non-sports world when the words \u201cnappy headed hoes\u201d were used to describe the young women she was then leading to the 2007 national championship game. A mother whose career has long been mixed with personal tragedy, Stringer\u2019s handling of the incident is a perfect example of grace under fire.<\/p>\n

I Got Somethin’ to Tell You
\nDirected by: Whoopi Goldberg <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Comedy pioneer Moms Mabley, often referred to as \u201cthe funniest woman in the world,\u201d comes to life again, complete with rolling laughter and measured eloquence, in Whoopi Goldberg\u2019s directorial debut. This astute first documentary feature showcases Mabley\u2019s talent and pays homage to a woman whose relevance still resonates today.<\/p>\n

A role model for Whoopi Goldberg herself, Mabley\u2019s legacy is defined through rich found footage and interviews with some of the world\u2019s best comedians, including Bill Cosby, Kathy Griffin and Eddie Murphy. They show how Mabley paved the way for female comedians and performers everywhere with her boundary-pushing stand-up routines and innate ability to transcend racism, sexism and ageism. The documentary dives whole-heartedly into Mabley\u2019s comedy, political and social and still hilarious. A passion project for Goldberg, it celebrates Mabley\u2019s historical significance and profound influence as a performer vastly ahead of her time.<\/p>\n

Lenny Cooke
\nDirected by: Benny Safdie and Joshua Safdie <\/strong><\/p>\n

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In 2001, Lenny Cooke was the most hyped high school basketball player in the country, ranked above future greats LeBron James, Amar\u2019e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. In an era when high school stars were forgoing college hoops in favor of the potential multi-million dollar contracts promised in the NBA draft, Lenny was supposed to be the next superstar. He had the world at his fingertips. But over a decade later, while his peers are taking home MVP awards and championship trophies, Lenny has never played a minute in the NBA. What went wrong?<\/p>\n

With incredible access to Lenny\u2019s story as it unfolded over the past decade, filmmaking brothers Joshua and Benny Safdie follow Lenny from his run-down home in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to the New Jersey suburbs where he spent his high school career through to the present day, with the friends and family who shared in his dreams and aspirations. Lenny Cooke is a quintessentially American story about dreaming big, the fickle nature of sports celebrity and the unfulfilled destiny of a man for whom superstardom was only just out of reach.<\/p>\n

Let The Fire Burn
\nDirected by: Jason Osder <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jason Osder makes an impressive feature film debut through his unbiased and thorough account of the incidents leading up to and during the 1985 standoff between the extremist African-American MOVE organization and Philadelphia authorities. \u201cLet the fire burn\u201d were the fateful words that may or may not have been spoken by one Philadelphia authority on an intense and confusing day that destroyed a community. Documenting the personal stories of neighborhood residents, MOVE members and officials through extensive archival footage of court hearings, news broadcasts, home movies and interviews, Osder leaves no stone unturned, save the first one cast.<\/p>\n

The structure of the film follows the same crescendo as the dramatic clash that claimed eleven lives and literally and figuratively devastated an entire community, taking viewers on the same tumultuous ride as those directly involved. The angst of the MOVE organization, the fear of the community and the confusion of authorities all reach a boiling point as emotions overpower reason. A real-life Wild West story without the luxury of identifying its heroes by the color of their hats, the film admirably demonstrates that sometimes no amount of known fact can help us understand the complexities of our psyche.<\/p>\n

Peanut Butter & Jelly
\nDirected by: David Winkfield
\nCast Cynthia Marzan, Benjamin Jones, LJ Battle, Storm Gunraj, Suzanne Rydz, Shana Solomon, Samuel Caruana, Kurt Owens, Domenica Galati, Amauris Munoz<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A young runaway is kicked out of her group home after a vicious altercation. As she travels up to Harlem, where her father is a low-level drug dealer, she is assaulted by a mysterious creature and left for dead.<\/p>\n

Richard Pryor: Omit The Logic
\nDirected by: Marina Zenovich
\nCast Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Quincy Jones, Lily Tomlin, Jesse Jackson<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This moving portrait of legendary comedian Richard Pryor chronicles his life from his troubled youth in Peoria, Illinois, to his meteoric rise as one of the most respected comic actors of the 20th century. Often misunderstood during the height of his celebrity, the late superstar has never been profiled this extensively. Marina Zenovich\u2019s revealing and entertaining film lays bare the demons with which he struggled, and it reminds us just how daring and dangerous artistic freedom can be.<\/p>\n

Zenovich has created a definitive cinematic profile of the comedy icon. Featuring appearances from comedy royalty Mel Brooks, Robin Williams, Dave Chappelle, Paul Mooney and a host of others, the film offers unprecedented access to members of his family and inner circle. Totally unbiased, Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic features rarely seen footage of the artist at work and delves deeply into the public and private lives of this very complex man. Zenovich continues to exercise her methods of revelation with this remarkable film, easily engaging those who may be unaware of Pryor\u2019s struggles and triumphs beyond the silver screen.<\/p>\n

The Trials of Muhammad Ali
\nDirected by: Bill Siegel <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Brash boxer Cassius Clay burst into the American consciousness in the early 1960s, just ahead of the Civil Rights movement. His transformation into the spiritually enlightened heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is legendary. This religious awakening also led to a bitter legal battle with the U.S. government after the superstar refused to serve in the Vietnam War. The film reveals the perfect storm of race, religion and politics that helped shape one of the most recognized figures in sports history.<\/p>\n

Directed by Bill Siegel and executive produced by Academy Award\u00ae-winner Leon Gast, The Trials of Muhammad Ali is not merely a boxing documentary, but rather an examination of a specific time in America in which many of its citizens were ridiculed, jailed or exiled for choosing to stand up for their beliefs. Pulling no punches when dealing with the atmosphere of the time, the film boasts an amazing array of interviews from those who were there, including Ali\u2019s family members, notable journalists and the current, controversial leader of the Nation of Islam, Rev. Dr. Louis Farrakhan. The electrifying persona of Muhammad Ali guides the story through a wealth of remarkable archival footage.<\/p>\n

Wilt Chamberlain: Borscht Belt Bellhop
\nDirected by: Caroline Laskow and Ian Rosenberg<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Before his senior year of high school, Wilt Chamberlain took a summer job at Kutsher\u2019s Country Club, a Jewish resort in the Catskills. By day, he was making $2 an hour. At night, he played on Kutsher\u2019s basketball team, coached by its then-unknown athletic director, Red Auerbach. Mixing interviews with rarely seen archival video, this documentary captures a basketball great in a very different era, the Borscht Belt\u2019s Dirty Dancing-styled heyday.<\/p>\n

Sidewalk Stories
\nDirected by: Charles Lane
\nCast Nicole Alysia, Sandye Wilson, Darnell Williams, Trula Hoosier, Michael Baskin, Charles Lane<\/strong><\/p>\n

The low-budget, New York-in-the-\u201980s movie that proves that silence is not all that golden, Charles Lane\u2019s magnetic feature debut is long overdue for rediscovery. With an overlap to a more recent attempt to update silent film for a modern movie audience, Lane plays The Artist, a Chaplin-esque street portraitist whose hapless efforts at fitting into the odd world of sidewalk performance are made all the more troublesome when he finds himself caring for an abandoned toddler, played by Lane\u2019s adorable daughter Nicole Alaysia. The Artist\u2019s efforts to find the girl\u2019s mother are quickly and continually confounded by the many oddball characters he meets.<\/p>\n

Shot and released in the same year as Spike Lee\u2019s Do the Right Thing, Sidewalk Stories is a similarly vivid encapsulation of the race and class divisions that inform life on New York City\u2019s streets. Lane\u2019s version centers on the homeless perspective, made all the more visceral for being shot in black-and-white and silent apart from Marc Marder\u2019s wide-ranging score and a brief moment spent listening to panhandlers. The result is an ingenious, spellbinding effort by a black artist to give a voice to those who have none.<\/p>\n

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