Docs Rule at the Tribeca Film Festival

Without a doubt, the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival was a star-studded event. The Festival opened with a bang with the premiere of United 93, and then hosted the world premiere for both Poseidon and Mission:Impossible 3˜which even broadcast its own red carpet arrivals. But never mind the red carpet, you can find plenty of stars just by looking at the jury. Rather than having one jury judge all of the films, Tribeca created four juries for each program that included such judges as Trudie Styler, Melvin Van Peebles, Ed Burns, Whoopi Goldberg, Candace Bushnell, Wycleaf Jean, Lou Reed, and Laurence Fishburne (to name a few)!

Even with all this glitz and glamour is drawing attention to this heavily marketed festival, the majority of the 274 films playing at Tribeca do not have a film distributor. As I attended several films over the course of my visit there, I found myself being drawn to the documentary films.

The one film that really moved me was The Bridge, directed by Eric Steele, a documentary about the Golden Gate Bridge, which aside from being an American icon and tourist attraction, is also the site of more suicides than any other place in the world. Steele and his crew filmed the bridge every day for a year and captured more than two dozen suicides. Steele gives a glimpse into what led these people to this tragic decision through interviews with their friends and family, and even a jump survivor. The film is very powerful and touching, a tribute both to the people and the bridge itself. It‚s been over a week since I saw the film and I can‚t get it out of my head.

Another stand-out film was When I Came Home--—which won Tribeca'’s New York Loves Film Documentary award. Director Dan Lohaus unveils the troubling statistic that over 300,000 of the estimated 1.2 million homeless in the United States are veterans, including men and women are currently returning from Iraq. The film follows Harold Noel, a returning Iraq War veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is forced to live out of his car because he no longer qualifies for Section 8 housing. It incredibly disturbing watching Noel fight tooth-and-nail to receive the benefits he was promised before enrolling and at one point, his only alternative seems to be going back to Iraq. Noel’s fight leads him to the White House, and even though he finally received help from an unnamed source, he continues his battle for the other homeless veterans and ones who are still fighting today.

I have to say, overall, I was impressed by my Tribeca Festival experience. They seem to have bridged the gap of combining high-profile films with the small, indie films, which I guess is what New York City is all about. We will keep you up-to-date on when thse two great films are playing near you.

Long live indie films,

Michelle