4th Tribeca Film Festival

[hengcs]

It runs from Apr 19 to May 1 in New York city.

The official website is here ...
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/

Is anyone attending?

hmmm ... I heard some controversy in the morning show today ... over some remarks made (I think in a documentary) ...

[trevor826]

I'm surprised to see Aaltra is still doing the festival circuit in the US, we had it on release here a good couple of months ago. It's a fair black comedy but I was hoping hoping for something a bit more Monty Python(esque) sillier and more surreal, still it's not often we get the chance to see a film from Belgium.

Cheers Trev.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by hengcs
It runs from Apr 19 to May 1 in New York city.

Is anyone attending?

hmmm ... I heard some controversy in the morning show today ... over some remarks made (I think in a documentary) ...

It's almost over, hengcs; but I'll be there tomorrow for Claire Denis' Vers Mathilde (Towards Mathilde), her documentary on the brilliant French choreographer Mathilde Monnier.

I'm not sure what controversy you're referring to, but I believe Miss Gyllenhaal opened her mouth recently regarding our role in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

[arsaib4]

CLAIRE DENIS' VERS MATHILDE

Ever since Beau Travail, her 1999 masterpiece, French filmmaker Claire Denis has undoubtedly gravitated towards the art of human body. But, unlike her compatriot Catherine Breillat, she is much more concerned with its rhythm, its structure, its music, rather than the inherent sexuality associated with it. Now, Vers Mathilde (Towards Mathilde), her documentary on one of the leading modern dance choreographers in France, Mathilde Monnier, gives her the perfect opportunity to examine the kineticism associated with the art of dance, its relationship with cinema, but most importantly, the dynamic capabilities of the human body.

Mathilde Monnier is the head of Montpellier National Center for Choreography, France’s leading dance training and research center and has had the pleasure to train under the great American choreographer Merce Cunningham. But Denis isn’t interested in the private life of her subject or any of her dancers; she is more keen on their set-pieces, from their birth to their consummation. Using both Super-8 and Aaton 16mm cameras, which according to Denis was by design and not because of economics - "We initially used a Super-8 to remove the intimidation of the camera and to give the film a pre-existence, like a common memory before moving on" - the director catches the rehearsals of three different productions: "Publique," a work set to music by P.J. Harvey, whose songs were suggested by Denis, "Allitérations," a collaboration with philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy and composer eRikm, and "Déroutes" (Disarray), a piece which also features music from eRikm. Even with their own distinctive tricks and turns, all three strikingly bear Monnier's signature. Monnier's set-design/props also lend a visceral quality to her unique pieces.

At various points, Monnier uses terms and phrases like "scratching" and "marks in space" to express the various rhythmic body displacements as she breaks them down into parts. Denis follows suit. Working with her inestimable DP and friend Agnès Godard along with the young Hélène Louvart, her nimble camera drifts in and out between the performers as if it was part of it and she rhythmically catches various body parts at work. Monnier speaks in-between, about the associated theories on dance, her process etc. and what becomes known is her passion and devotion to the art form. Even more important is her performance late in the film where she twitches and squirms like she’s possessed, even though she's structurally and formally sound (unlike Denis Lavant at the end of Beau Travail), and at this moment the gaze of Denis’ camera gives credence to the notion that perhaps it takes one great woman to truly capture another.

*Vers Mathilde premiered at Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and has traveled to quite a few more since then. Needless to say, it doesn't have a U.S. distributor at this point and quite possibly will never have one. Hopefully, a subtitled DVD will eventually become available somewhere.

[arsaib4]

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE:

Stolen Life (Sheng Si Jie) (China)
Director: Li Shaohong

NARRATIVE FEATURE SPECIAL MENTION:

My Brother’s Summer (L’estate di mio Fratello) (Italy)
Director: Pietro Reggiani

EMERGING NARRATIVE FILMMAKER AWARD:

Alicia Scherson, Play (Chile/Argentina)

BEST ACTRESS IN A NARRATIVE FEATURE:

Felicity Huffman, Transamerica (Director: Duncan Tucker; USA)

BEST ACTOR IN A NARRATIVE FEATURE:

Cees Geel, Simon (Director: Eddy Terstall; Netherlands)

MADE IN NEW YORK
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE:

Red Doors (USA)
Director: Georgia Lee

MADE IN NEW YORK
NARRATIVE FEATURE SPECIAL MENTION:

Bittersweet Place (USA)
Director: Alexandra Brodsky

AUDIENCE AWARD:

Street Fight (USA)
Director: Marshall Curry

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

El Perro Negro: Stories from the Spanish Civil War (Netherlands/Hungary)
Director: Peter Forgacs

EMERGING DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER AWARD:

Jeff Zimbalist, Matt Mochary, Favela Rising (Brazil/USA)

EMERGING NARRATIVE FILMMAKER
SPECIAL MENTION:

Kief Davidson, Richard Ladkani
The Devil's Miner, (Germany/USA)

NEW YORK LOVES FILM
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

Rikers High (USA/France)
Director: Victor Buhler

NEW YORK LOVES FILM DOCUMENTARY FEATURE SPECIAL MENTION:

The American Ruling Class (USA)
Director: John Kirby

[hengcs]

The list of winners ...
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/2...s-winners.html
;)

The winner "Stolen Life" is banned in China ...
So, I am not sure when the DVD will be available ...

[arsaib4]

If I'm not mistaken, a mainland Chinese film also won the festival last year. I believe Green Hat was the name and it was also banned.