This Wednesday marks the beginning of the 2019 TriBeCa Film Festival. Every year, the festival showcases some of the best young talents in the film and television industry while hosting special anniversary screenings and thought-provoking talks with legends from both mediums.
This year is no different, with a stacked roster from tomorrow’s opening curtain to the closing night screening of Danny Boyle’s new film “Yesterday” on Saturday, May 4. We spoke with festival EVP of Communications and Programming Tammie Rosen to see why TriBeCa is so special and to get some of her must-see picks for this year’s festival.
“I think the thing about TriBeCa is that you never know what to expect,” explains Rosen. “There is a true sense of discovery here. This festival was the first to discover Damien Chazelle and Ryan Coogler. We premiered both of their first films… We think that the idea is really about talent discovery. So, go in for something that you know nothing about because you never know who is going to be the next Oscar-winning director who you experience at the festival, or award-winning documentary.”
TriBeCa Film Festival 2019
“The Apollo”
Would there be a better way to open the festival than by holding a screening of the documentary “The Apollo” at the legendary venue itself? Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams takes a look back at this historic theater from its foundation in 1934 up until the staging of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ acclaimed book “Between the World and Me.”
Screenings
• Wednesday, April 24, 7 p.m., The Apollo Theater
• Saturday, April 27, 12:15 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park
• Monday, April 29, 6 p.m., SVA Theater 1 Silas
“The Good, the Bad, the Hungry”
This ESPN documentary, directed by Nicole Lucas Haimes, goes through the storied rivalry between competitive eating’s greatest sworn enemies, Japan’s Takeru “Kobi” Kobayashi and Californian Joey Chestnut. The film shows the lead-up as they go head-to-head at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Screenings
• Friday, April 26, 6 p.m., Stella Artois Theater at BMCC TPAC
• Saturday, April 27, 4 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park
• Sunday, April 28, 12:30 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park
• Saturday, May 4, 6:45 p.m., Village East Cinema
“The Kill Team”
Directed by Dan Krauss, this harrowing film is his narrative adaptation of the documentary that won him Best Documentary at TriBeCa back in 2013. Starring Nat Wolff and Alexander Skarsgard, the film follows an infantryman during the war in Afghanistan who must decide whether or not to report his commanding officer for acting outside the rules of engagement. “For him to come back with this at TriBeCa feels very fitting in terms of having a playground for filmmakers to return [to] and keep doing different things,” says Rosen of her excitement on welcoming Krauss back to the festival. “As it won an award, we’re really thrilled to show the narrative version of it. I think this is a must-see.”
Screenings
• Saturday, April 27, 8 p.m., Stella Artois Theater at BMCC TPAC
• Sunday, April 28, 8:45 p.m., Village East Cinema
• Monday, April 29, 9:30 p.m., Village East Cinema
• Thursday, May 2, 6 p.m., SVA Theater 1 Silas
“A Day in the Life of America”
This debut documentary from Jared Leto is sure to blow some minds upon its premiere at TriBeCa. Leto set up 50 different camera crews at 50 different Fourth of July parties across the country to get a sense of who we really are as a country at this moment in history.
“This is everything that you need to know about America right now,” says Rosen. “What you get is this very difficult at times survey of the country where you have joyfulness in Maryland, with people celebrating on the beaches, and then people in Chicago who you don’t know whether or not there are fireworks or gunshots, then you see people in Middle America hanging out in their KKK outfits having a barbecue. You see what normalcy is and a true slice of life about America. I think, as we lead up to the 2020 election, seeing this and understanding who makes up this country in a non-sensationalized way but in a true visage of a day in the life is so important.”
Screenings
• Saturday, April 27, 3 p.m., Stella Artois Theater at BMCC TPAC
• Sunday, April 28, 3:45 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park
• Thursday, May 2, 9:45 p.m., Regal Cinemas Battery Park
For ticket and badge information, head over to tribecafilm.com.
