The 22nd Tribeca Festival is now in the history books, but there is still an opportunity to enjoy a selection of ground-breaking films from Tribeca Festival 2023 in the comfort of your own home in Tribeca at Home now through July 2. Visit tribecafilm.com/festival/at-home.
Nearly 30 feature films, two indie episodic selections and all of the short film programs are now available online and on Apple TV, Amazon and Roku.
Here is a sneak preview of some favorites and this year’s award winners.
My personal favorite, surprisingly, was Let The Canary Sing, a Tribeca Festival World Premiere presentation of Alison Ellwood’s absolutely delightful documentary on Grammy-winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper. This exuberant narrative, largely narrated by Lauper herself, charts her humble beginnings in Queens in an environment saturated with music and the cacophonous, and sometimes, contradictory rhythms of life.
Following in a musical vein is Uncharted with Grammy-winning artist Alicia Keys and her selfless work with developing young women artists. Her program, She Is The Music, is a songwriting camp for aspiring young female artists. Seen through the lens of three rising stars and members of their support team, the film gives a rare and enlightening behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create music that has impact. It also focuses on the harsh realities of the music business and brings into stark relief the gut and grits and contrasting flights of fancy that will inspire the next generation of music mavens. Filmmaker Beth Aaia and her crew are to be commended for their sensitive handling of this revealing subject matter.
Among the Tribeca Festival 2023 award winners, Brazilian World Premiere, A Strange Path, swept the International Narrative Feature category, winning 2023 Best International Narrative Feature, Best Performance, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
Directed and written by Guto Parente and Produced by Ticiana Augusto Lima, the film paints an intimate portrait of the emotional struggles of a young Brazilian filmmaker who returns to his hometown in search of his father and the roots to his identity. What he finds is a country wrenched by the throes of the pandemic, a circumstance that only serves to reflect the depths of his own inner turmoil. With deeply personal performances from Luca Limeira, Carlos Francisco, Tarzia Firmino and Rita Cabaco, this is a film that deserves your complete attention.
The most visually stunning film that I viewed among the Tribeca At Home selections was Kenya’s Between the Rains in its World Premiere at Tribeca Festival 2023. Directed by Andrew H. Brown and Moses Thuranira, the World Premiere of this year’s Winner as 2023 Best Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature follows a young member of a nomadic northern Kenyan tribe.
Young Kolei is the soul searching young shepherd boy at the heart of the eco-drama. When he’s not herding the Turkana tribe’s livestock, he retreats to an isolated hillside to write impassioned notes in his diary. A lot of his young life is consumed with tribal preparations for his role as a young warrior and caregiver, a role that he approaches with great trepidation.
The film vividly portrays not only the erosion of culture amidst the encroachment of modern-day concerns of property and territory, it also portrays in real time, the disastrous impact of climate change. In the midst of a drought that threatens the tribe’s agrarian way of life, there is also the threat from predators, both animal and human, that threaten their livestock and, in turn, their very existence.
The startling contrast of their seemingly idyllic existence and the pressures of modern day life are vividly portrayed in this powerful film. The centuries-old traditions of farming and animal husbandry are juxtaposed with the mechanized brutality of territorial wars. The cataclysm is at once frightening and somehow clarifying.
Between the Rains posits the world’s current conundrum of conscience in microcosm. Does each of us have the courage and commitment to choose between preservation of the eco-culture that surrounds us, or are we more committed to the agencies of greed and the rising techno-military combine that threatens to grind it all to dust? Between the Rains takes us on a journey into a stunning world of eternal beauty and promise that not even brutal present-day reality can obscure.
Among the other delights is Boca Chica from the Dominican Republic, a World Premiere that charts the journey of 12 year-old Desi and her desire to become a famous singer. Directed by Gabriella A. Moses, the film is a coming-of-age drama that follows Desi as she braces herself to leave her hometown, discovering deep-seated family secrets and the emotional undercurrents that torment her otherwise peaceful coastal Dominican community. This is a beautiful film with a warm heart.
First Place in the Audience Awards, Documentary Category is the South African film Rise, which chronicles the story of Siya Kolisi, the first Black captain of a South Africa National Rugby Union Team.
The film carefully delineates Kolisi’s beginnings as a rebellious, but promising young star and his development to become a leader and world icon. Even if you’ve never heard of rugby, this is an aspiring story that demonstrates how competitive team sports can become a platform for character building.
From the United States comes All Up in the Biz, a World Premiere by director Sacha Jenkins that is a collage of celebrity interviews, rare footage, reenactments, and animation that charts the meteoric rise of hip-hop legend Biz Markey. His impact on the history of hip-hop is presented in unabashed celebratory fashion as befits its subject matter. For more visit Tribeca.com.
Dwight Casimere is The Times Weekly Travel and entertainment reporter.