The year was 2007. Undeniably the most glorious year of my 20s. I was living on the Upper West Side and working at the Tribeca Film Festival. I often wonder, what could have been, with New York had I stayed. She’s a lot of fun, and I know she likes me. But she is something of a commitment phobe. Oh wait a minute, you didn’t come here for my private journal. You are here to read up on the hottest movie picks and creative kiki’s at this year’s Tribeca Festival. And for my fellow foodies, a round up of my old and new go-to’s in the city.
My first day in the city started with me participating in a round table with the Rising Voices filmmaker cohort, a partnership between Indeed and Hillman Grad, about film festival strategy for their just pressed short films encompassing the theme of working in the future. Afterwards, a working girl business lunch at my favorite fancy tribeca joint, Frenchette with Elijah Mckinnon. Elijah is the the supreme leadership of OTV a non profit artist development and distribution platform for queer creatives of color. I am so proud to be a member of the governing board. Hit me up if you want to learn more and get involved. We then went to our party, the Tribeca Block Party for Filmmakers and Industry on Tuesday night which we partnered up with our faves Brown Girls Doc Mafia along with other advocacy and industry peer groups.
The next few days was a screening marathon. As always, I come for the Queer and BIPOC created films to scout talent I want to produce, and films I could potentially curate at other film festivals. But super randomly, I ended up watching Daddio at a Press & Industry screening since I was in between meetings. I figured why not, it stars Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson – and from a female filmmaker, co-creator of “I Am Not Okay”. But fam. What. How does this DUD, this totally bland story set entirely inside a taxi ride, get to have theatrical distribution from Sony Pictures Classics – no less. Who is THIS FOR??? My frustration stems from the fact that there are plenty of entertaining, commercial and compelling non-white centered stories made for very targeted audiences THAT ARE FAR SMARTER DISTRIBUTION BETS than this ‘A list’ basic vehicle. Make it make sense. Hair flip and cue: My top three:
LA COCINA directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios
Que puta joya, as they say in Spanish. Raul Briones SLAYS as an agent of chaos line cook inside a Times Square restaurant who is head over heels with Rooney Mara’s waitress character. Set amid the increasingly disorganized havoc and crumbling hierarchy of front of the house and back of the house, this is Alonso’s fourth feature and nearly topples my previously favorite of his, A Cop Movie – which if you haven’t seen it you must seek out. This film premiered months ago in Berlin so why hasn’t there been a bigger buzz or theatrical distribution announcements? Sure it’s black and white. But so what, this is Roma meets The Bear and you can’t take your eyes off it even at the two hour plus total running time. Hanway Films has been selling off territories outside of North America. It’s ripe for Neon and A24. Not sure if their output deals with Hulu and HBO prevent them from picking up this banger.
I’M YOUR VENUS directed by Kimberly Reed
This is the LONG overdue story of Venus Xtravaganza, the Puerto Rican and Italian ballroom ingenue infamously captured in Paris is Burning. Before the movie came out in 1990, she was found strangled underneath a mattress. The film follows her brothers on the Italian side of the family make amends 30 years later with how they treated her and in collaboration with her house family, the House of Xtravaganza, and mother Gisele Alicea they come together to honor Venus, successfully reopening the investigation and making her childhood home a historical landmark. This is one of Participant’s last movies before shutting down last month. I cried, I snickered, I gasped, I lit up. Venus’s softness and her fierceness is everything. I better hear of this locking up distribution soon.
JAZZY directed by Morrisa Maltz
This is a film about a girl whose best friend moves away. This kind of simplicity is wildly relatable and rendered in such a profound coming of age tale. The visual finesse of the floating camera (echoing a tighter more modern Malick) heightens the ordinary, and the girls are so tender and spunky navigating emotional conflicts for the first time. I think it’s absolutely genius that this film exists in the multiverse of Another Country, Morrisa’s previous film where Auntie Lily Gladstone goes on a road trip. She teams up with her writing and producing collaborator Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux again on this film which stars Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux as the titular Jazzy who took home Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature. Lily and the Duplass brothers are among the producers. I hope this doesn’t take forever to get to the masses.
Special Mention:
RENT FREE directed by Fernando Andrés
Mumblecore version Gen Z bro. Don’t hate. At its best, and this is definitely the case here, this genre taps into 20somethings’ inevitable crossroads with adulting with offbeat humor. Rent Free is about two best friends who go about crashing with different friends in Austin in order to save money to get back to New York. The type of film that feels incredibly effortless because of the lived in acting and natural dialogue, and brought a big smile to my face in the end. This is Fernando’s second feature and I can’t wait to see what he does next
Receipts:
9 out of 125 features in the lineup are written/directed by Latinx and Latin American filmmakers – about 7% of the program. Four of them are U.S. films, meaning the money primarily came from U.S. sources. They are:
They’re Here, a cute and caring film about people who aren’t just UFO enthusiasts but fully and deeply believe they have been abducted. The film is co-directed by Pacho Velez who Lin- Manuel Miranda says was one of the three other Latinos he went to school with. You can tell they did their best not to judge or make fun of these folks. They spent real time with the subjects which creates a safe space for them to speak freely, but ultimately… I do think they be judging….or maybe that’s just me.
Beacon which is written by Julio Rojas and starring Demian Bichir as an obsessed with sirens lighthouse keeper. This played in the Midnight Section but ultimately IMO it missed the mark more than it hit it.
The last two are Rent Free mentioned above and In the Summers by Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio, Sundance’s Grand Jury Award winner which recently announced it picked up distribution from Music Box Films.
State of Silence – a really moving documentary about the rampant persecution of journalists in Mexico by Argentine filmmaker Santiago Maza and produced by Abril López Carrillo and exec produced by Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal. The courage and conviction of these reporters to report on what is happening in the face of death threats and knowing the government will not or can not help is an utterly remarkable characteristic of the subjects of the documentary, many of who now rest in power if not have been exiled from their country. Between 2001 and 2023, 162 journalists have been killed in Mexico for doing their job. 99% of them have gone ‘unsolved’.
From Argentina, The Freshly Cut Grass by Celina Murga, a superb and sophisticated tale of two different professors’ played by Marina de Tavira and Joaquín Furriel, and their respective messes of starting affairs with their students. I liked seeing the side by side comparison of an older woman with younger man, and an older man with younger woman play out. In both cases regardless of age, the men are boys. This one took home Best Screenplay at the festival. Martin Scorsese is listed as a producer.
Friendship was a theme in the films I saw at the festival and Don’t You Let Me Go or the original title which I like better, Agarrate Fuerte by Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge is another tale of how irrevocable that bong between friends are even when they are no longer here. From Uruguay, this film won the Nora Ephron Award for distinctive female voice and it certainly deserves it.
The Dog Thief from Bolivia, a co-production with Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, France, and Italy which I tried to get into emotionally as it seems to have a strong concept in that a boy steals a dog from the man he shines shoes for to get his father figure attention. This one stayed a little too muted for me.
Talent to watch
MVP of the festival belongs to Mexican NY based cinematographer Alejandro Mejia who won for his two films in the festival; In the Summers and The Knife, a tense home invasion story that speaks volumes about the human condition by Nnamdi Asomugha.
And special shout out to these shorts: Salsa! and I Want to Violently Crash into the Windshield of Love
Culinary Cruising
When I wasn’t having a bagel or a slice, I splurged on my favorites; The Odeon, Russ & Daughters and Blue Ribbon Brasserie after 11pm. New spots for me include Grand Banks which is a total vibe at magic hour, Thai Diner – the reincarnation of Uncle Boons, and shout out to my sister who booked a reservation directly with the chef for me and my girls at Frog Club NYC the new, wierd and SOLO spot from Liz Johnson (formerly of LA’s Horses).
I can’t show you any food porn because the doorman had to affix a sticker on our phone cameras. The building is an old prohibition era speakeasy that inside is bathed in soft red light. The nostalgic, LSD laced frog themed decor lends itself to the playful dishes on the menu which were delightfully satisfying. I had a lovely dinner here with superstar Anonymous Content manager Monica Villareal and casting SVP queen of CBS, Claudia Lyon. I recommend the place, even if it is less secretive now that it is on Resy. High Key, get the Dirty Kermit. IYKYK
My biggest takeway this festival is that business is still businessing (see Daddio). Non-white centered voices will stay resisting. The hustle and struggle of making indie film is a long game and requires wild activism on behalf of the makers and audiences to make sure they consummate their intrinsic reason of existence. There is always a pragmatic sounding reason a buyer doesn’t pick up a film but it speaks more about their incompetence, lack of adaptability and unsustainable business model that they can’t figure out how to make deals that aren’t copy and paste.
I’m Your Venus was by far the biggest gift of my festival. It provoked fury and inspired light in me. Venus Xtravaganza is officially my saint of ‘Know Who You Are’. Follow the film’s director Kim Reed, exec producer Jonovia, and House Lives Matter a non profit impact partner of the film.
Rest in power to the original ICON.
Chicana from Chicago 