I am really overjoyed to be covering one of the biggest film festivals ever and I’m extra excited because Tribeca has granted press previews of many films before the festival has even officially kicked off! So, I’m going to take you through all of the amazing movies I saw, the fabulous people I got to chat it up with, the events and everything in between. Here are some films you just have to see because they are just incredible and I just can’t seem to stop talking about them.
DOCUMENTARIES
“Halston” by Frederic Tcheng
The designer known as Halston was born Roy Halston Frowick but decided to use his family name to create a different character within the fashion business. He was not born into a rich or powerful family, but he developed an incredible style, poise, and mannerisms that helped him climb within the right social circles. He began his business in hats, which were worn by many stars such as Kim Novak, Hedda Hopper, and Gloria Swanson. He met other influential artists while working at Bergdorf Goodman including Andy Warhol, who became a great friend. When hats started to fade, he started designing clothing for women which he said was highly influenced by designer Charles James and he opened his first boutique on Madison Avenue in 1968.
Becoming an instant sensation, Halston was known for his beautiful all-American clothes, which were very clean and feminine. He became well known and business was better than ever. His runway shows were always the talk of the town and he was one of the only designers of that era to have many black women walk his show. Legendary models started out on Halton’s runway including Iman, Pat Cleveland, Karen Bjornson, and Marisa Berenson.
I remember going to the Halston showroom for a fitting back in my twenties as a fit model. It was a different time, people dressed up, wore hosiery and heels to work and took care of their clothing. I remember how polished everyone was and how I had always loved his collections. This documentary took me back to when the fashion industry was this incredibly powerful and influential and run by people who actually knew the business, unlike today where people on social media are the main fashion influencers. If you love the ins and out of the fashion business, the history of how Halston began his careers, rose to the top and fell off, you are going to love this documentary. It has everything you want to know about the designer and those he was surrounded with. It is definitely one of my favorites.
“For They Know Not What They Do” by Daniel Karslake
This documentary follows 4 families who struggle to accept their gay and transgender child while remaining true to their Christian faith.
When the Bible teaches that homosexuality is not only wrong but unforgivable in the eyes of God, many parents with children who come out as gay or transgender become conflicted with their beliefs and their lives becomes a challenge learning to love their child unconditionally. This film does a great job of presenting the Christian faith and explaining how powerfully rooted it is for many people. Religion for these families is more than studying the Bible and attending church, it is dedicating your life to God, who will lead you to eternal life in heaven. However, there are many rules and If you deviate from them, you will not enter the gates of heaven and will burn in hell for eternity. The four young adults in this film come from different backgrounds but all share similar stories of recognizing that they are different whether it be an attraction to the same sex or not feeling connected to the sex they were assigned at birth. Because of these feelings go against their religious rules, they hide who they are in hopes that it will all go away.
This documentary was very strong and we can all learn from it whether you are religious or just fearful of homosexuality because of your upbringing. There is so much to learn from each other like learning to accept our differences instead of hate or kill over them. It is also important that we love our families no matter what their sexuality is. I think everyone should see this film. You can read my full review HERE.
“Slay the Dragon” by Barack Goodman
I was so taken by this film because like many, I know very little about politics but after leaving the theater I was thoroughly educated on what Gerry Mandering is (the manipulation of boundaries of an electoral district in order for one political party to have an advantage) and a lot of other really disturbing and crooked things that go on behind the scenes in our government to manipulate the system and maintain power over the people. This documentary follows a very passionate young lady by the name of Katie Fahey, who is the founder of the organization Voters Not Politicians who set out to end Gerry Mandering in order to give the power back to the people. She had a lot of support and success in going up against a system that has been operating this way for the longest time but she also faces a lot of opposition along the way. You get to see how she began and what it takes to organize a group, spend countless hours doing research and getting petitions signs. Everything looks easy but it takes a heavy amount of groundwork and help from the community. I thought this film was very informative, however, it was soheavy in political terminology that I found it easy to get a bit lost and confused. Nevertheless, it is definitely one to watch especially if you are into politics.
“The Quiet One” by Olivier Murray
As a music lover, I adored this film so much because it gives you an open door to the most incredible behind-the-scenes photos, interviews and video footage to one of the most legendary bands of all time. Bill Wyman was not the most vocal member of the Rolling Stones but his life was so full and he was the one quietly taking all of the pictures and creating a huge library of memories. Bill’s grandmother was the one who inspired him to collect memorabilia. He would collect pins, toys, figurines. Growing up he always wanted to be in a band but was raised by working class people in a rough area and was always reminded by his father that they were nothing more than the average working class. Bill’s grandmother told him he was going to be famous one day but everyone else laughed. He bought an acoustic guitar and when he saw Chuck Berry his mind was blown and from then on he learned to play. This documentary takes you back to his youth, through his military days, as he started the band and beyond. The music is absolutely incredible and the footage of the performances is just electrifying. I love the way in which Bill describes every detail of his life with such precision and sensitivity. Wait until you see his library of everything he has ever collected. This is one of those documentaries that you will want to see over and over again. You wonder how one thought of slowing down and making sure every moment was recorded. Watching this I felt like I was right there with him!
“At the Heart of Gold” by Erin Lee Carr
This documentary follows the case of Larry Nassar who was a USA Gymnastics national team doctor and physician at Michigan State University. For many years Larry had been sexually abusing many young gymnasts right under the noses of parents, colleagues and other coaches. Larry gained their trust by being the one they could talk to when things got tough with coaches, making him believe he was the good guy, a friend, and confidante. He would lie for coaches claiming injuries were either non-existent or not as bad as they seemed to get them back competing faster and also so they would need his care more often. He would take appointments in his basement after hours and that’s where he would touch them inappropriately claiming the abuse was part of his special procedure. One by one the victims would tell the coaches and authorities and they were made to believe they were lying or that they were just imagining things. One of the most disturbing things about this story is that so many people in authority took up for Larry and the investigation was never taken seriously. As the abuse continued, more and more young girls started to tell their story and demand that Larry and all involved be accountable. Larry was eventually arrested but seemed to have no remorse for any of the victims. This documentary is so emotional and powerful that even if you don’t play sports, it will open your eyes to the hidden ugly truth about what goes on behind the scenes at the elite level of many professional sports teams.
“17 Blocks” by David Rothbart
This powerful documentary was shot over a 20-year span that accounts the life of the Durant family who began filming while living in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in D.C., just 17 blocks from the US capitol. Emmanuel, just 9 years old, starts recording his family, mom Chery, older brother Smurf and sister Denice while growing up in a low-income area full of gun violence and crime. While there is a constant battle to succumb the pitfalls of selling drugs as a means to earn fast money to get out or become a drug addict as a means of escape, mom Cheryl, unfortunately, had become an addict and this affects the family in many ways. As we see the children get older over the years and the family move to different homes in D.C., their situation does seem to improve slightly. Emmanuel meets the love of his life and becomes a great student earning many scholarships to further his education. Cheryl was still using drugs and Smurf has fallen deeper than ever before with arrests and Denice is now a mother herself, working a remedial job struggling to take care of herself and her children while helping her mother. A pivotal moment in the documentary forces the family to face themselves and ultimately decide whether they want to live the rest of their lives in the same situation just to watch their children repeat their history or change. This is one of the most poignant, honest, disturbing yet inspiring documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. There are so many raw scenes that just touched me and scared me so deeply. This family proves you can be strong and overcome anything. You can read my full review HERE.
FICTION
“Huachicolero” (The Gasoline Thieves) by Edgar Nito
This was one of my favorites films because it is such a strong story that has a solid rhythm that just builds up all the way to an explosive finale. Lalo, a teenage boy falls for Ana, one of the girls in his class. In order to date her, she tells him that he has to impress her and buy her nice things. Lalo comes from a struggling family, has a dying uncle that needs money for medicine and his mom is working as hard as she can to maintain. He has a part-time job with an old man helping out on his property and with protests going on about the skyrocketing gas prices, more than ever there are people who illegally stealing gasoline to sell. Lalo gets hooked up with the wrong crowd which happens to include an older guy that is trying to woo Ana as well. In order to make money to buy Anna gifts, he starts working with them, stealing gasoline at night. Lalo earns enough money to buys her a cell phone but one day the other guy sees it, grabs it from him and looks at the photos. When he notices that it is Lalo, an incident between them changes his life forever. What a great movie, so powerful and shocking. I really enjoyed this one!
SHORT FILMS
“Reality Baby” by Noglad Houlihan/Ireland
A group of teenagers experience parenthood when they are given life-like dolls to care for. They discuss what they think it should be like to care for a child with their mothers who recount what they were like when they were a baby. Even though they believe the experience would have its fun moments, they know that there will be a significant amount or sacrifices. When they receive the dolls they have to do all the things a parent would do like shop for clothes, change their diapers, feed them and calm them down when they cry, which seems to be a lot. They also discuss not having much freedom because the child will always be near. The teens do a good job taking care of the dolls but they are reminded that they are just dolls. In the real world, babies get sick, constantly want attention and need to be rocked to sleep. I think it was a really fun experiment like I had as a teen with a 5lb bag of flour my friends and I carried around. By the last day, I think we turned our babies into cookies! A fun short but I would love to have seen an experiment far more intense than dolls when showing what parenthood could be like. The good thing is, none of the teens were ready for real babies.
“99 Problems” by Ross Killeen/Ireland
Pinky’s, King of the Ice Cream man carries on his father’s tradition of driving an ice cream truck. This is a beautiful story of what it is like behind the scenes of the business. It can be fun but there are a lot of conflicts that arise as well. The number one rule that ice cream drivers have amongst each other is to stay in your own territory to avoid any arguments. Some don’t care about territory and try to cut you off and take your customers but that is just the name of the business. There have been verbal altercations, fist fights and even one of the competition chase the van, smashing the windows out of anger. Driving around you get to see the changing neighborhoods and get to know the people. The customers love Pinky’s not only because of the high quality of ice cream but also his great personality. When dealing with kids all day, you have to have a particular type of character that appeals to the youth, the kids always come back. He loves to get to know the kids and sometimes plays games with them. I love scenes of the children chasing the truck, it reminds me of when I was young and everyone played outside and was excited about ice cream and being part of a real community, pre-internet and chat room era. Seems like you have to not only be a fun, lovable person to run an ice cream truck but you have to be a tough guy too in case your competition wants a fist fight because a 5-year-old picks your ice cream over theirs. Really enjoyed this film!
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