Tribeca 2010: Competition Docs from Deborah Scranton, Jeff Zimbalist and a W-I-P from Alex Gibney

The Tribeca Film Festival announced part of their line-up today - including their competition sections and some special screenings.  Amongst the "Special Events" is a work-in-progress screening of Alex Gibney's forthcoming Elliot Spitzer documentary, a somewhat surprising debut for the anticipated doc.  The fest's description says of the as-yet-untitled film: "With unique access to friends and enemies of the ex-governor, this documentary explores the hidden contours of this tale of hubris, sex, and power."

Meanwhile, this year's documentary competition line-up may not have the star-power of last year's fest (featuring premieres from Oscar nominees Kirby Dick and Marshall Curry, among others), but it does feature new work from two filmmakers who were Oscar shortlisted for their previous docs - THE WAR TAPES' Deborah Scranton and FAVELA RISING's Jeff Zimbalist.

Here's this year's Tribeca Documentary Competition Slate (with descriptions provided by the festival):

AMERICAN MYSTIC
Directed by Alex Mar (USA) – World Premiere.
Set against a vivid backdrop of American rural landscapes, Alex Mar’s meditative documentary artfully weaves together the stories of three young Americans exploring alternative religion: a Wiccan in California mining country, a New Ager in upstate New York, and a Native American father and sundancer in South Dakota, all yearning for fulfilling spirituality in disparate but often strikingly similar ways.

THE ARBOR
Directed by Clio Barnard (UK) – World Premiere.
Brilliantly blending the borders of narrative and documentary filmmaking, artist-cum-director Clio Barnard beautifully reconstructs the fascinating true story of troubled British playwright Andrea Dunbar and her tumultuous relationship with her daughter. Working from two years of audio interviews, Bernard uses classic documentary techniques, actors, theatrical performance, and Dunbar’s own neighborhood to generate a unique cinematic feast while unraveling the truths of a dark family past.

BUDRUS
Directed by Julia Bacha (USA, Palestine, Israel) – North American Premiere.
In one of the most conflicted parts of the world, a Palestinian family man unites rival parties Fatah and Hamas, Western activists, and even groups of progressive Israelis in a nonviolent crusade to save his village from being destroyed. Award-winning documentarian Julia Bacha (Encounter Point, TFF ’06) captures with rawness and galvanizing intensity the power of ordinary people to peaceably fight for extraordinary changes. In Arabic, English, Hebrew with English subtitles.

EARTH MADE OF GLASS
Directed by Deborah Scranton (USA) – World Premiere.
This powerful investigative documentary by the director of The War Tapes (best doc, TFF ’06) skillfully weaves interviews with President Kagame of Rwanda and Jean-Pierre Sagahutu, a survivor of the horrific 1994 genocide. When a president and a citizen—bound together by a profound love of country and an unquenchable desire to see the truth revealed—fight to expose the truth behind a murder and France’s hidden role in the Rwandan genocide, their stories will inspire and uplift. In English, French, Kinyarwandan with English subtitles.

FEATHERED COCAINE
Directed by Thorkell Hardarsson and Örn Marino Arnarson (Iceland) – World Premiere.
Behind drugs, people, and weapons, falcon smuggling has become the world’s most mysterious and profitable illegal trade. Held in highest esteem by the wealthy elite throughout the Persian Gulf, the sporting birds have earned the label “feathered cocaine” as thieves race to ransack them from all parts of the world. This bold investigative documentary unspools the surprising links between the falcon trade and royal dynasties, the CIA and KGB, the oil industry, and Al Qaeda….

FREETIME MACHOS
Directed by Mika Ronkainen (Finland, Germany) – North American and TFF Virtual Premiere. Matti and Mikko play for Finland’s worst amateur rugby team. Overworked and domesticated, the two men long for a space to revel in their masculinity and bond with other men. Following the two friends and their teammates on a quest to end the season with just a single win, award-winning writer/director Mika Ronkainen (Screaming Men) crafts a genuine and disarmingly funny love story of modern male friendship. In Finnish with English subtitles. Part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival.

INTO ETERNITY
Directed by Michael Madsen (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Italy) – International Premiere.
Three miles below the earth, the people of Finland are constructing an enormous tomb to lay to rest their share of humans’ 300,000 tons of nuclear waste. To avoid disaster, it must remain untouched for at least 100,000 years. In this poetic, hauntingly beautiful, and thought-provoking doc, Danish filmmaker Michael Madsen ponders how to warn future civilizations that the buried treasure of our nuclear era—unlike the pyramids and great tombs of pharaohs—must never, ever be discovered.

MONICA & DAVID
Directed by Alexandra Codina (USA) – North American Premiere.
Monica and David are in love. Truly, blissfully in love. They also happen to have Down syndrome. Alexandra Codina’s affectionate and heartwarming documentary is an intimate, year-in-the-life portrait of two child-like spirits with adult desires. Supported (and, for more than 30 years, sheltered) by endlessly devoted mothers, Monica and David prepare for their fairy tale wedding and face the realities of married life afterward.

SONS OF PERDITION
Directed by Jennilyn Merten, Tyler Measom (USA) – World Premiere.
In the polygamist community cultivated by the notorious (and now incarcerated) “prophet” Warren Jeffs, women are a commodity, children are reared to be ignorant, and free thought is surrendered. For a group of teenage boys, the desire for autonomy means banishment from their homes and families. This fascinating documentary explores the heartbreaking losses and hopeful determination of these exiles as they struggle to make new lives in mainstream America.

THIEVES BY LAW (Ganavim ba Hok)
Directed by Alexander Gentelev (Israel, Germany, Spain) – World Premiere.
In an unprecedented insider first look, Thieves by Law is a front-row invitation into the living rooms and offices of some of the most controversial and elite head honchos in the Russian mafia. Rising through the criminal ranks, the balance of what’s legitimate versus what’s illegal, and the meaning behind those tattoos made so famous by Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises… it’s all out on the table. In Russian, Hebrew with English subtitles.

THE TWO ESCOBARS
Directed by Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist (USA, Colombia) – World Premiere.
Born in the same city in Colombia but not related, Andrés Escobar and Pablo Escobar shared a fanatical love of soccer. Andrés grew up to become one of Colombia’s most beloved players, while Pablo became the most notorious drug baron of all time. While adeptly investigating the secret marriage of crime and sports, Michael Zimbalist and Jeff Zimbalist (Favela Rising, TFF ’05) reveal the surprising connections between the murders of Andrés and Pablo. An ESPN Films release. Part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival.

THE WOODMANS
Directed by C. Scott Willis (USA, Italy, China) – World Premiere.
The Woodmans are a family united in their belief that art-making is the highest form of expression and an essential way of life, but it’s only photographer daughter Francesca who achieves worldwide acclaim—after a tragedy that would forever scar the family. With unrestricted access to all of Francesca’s works and diaries, The Woodmans paints an incisive portrait of a family broken and then healed by its art. In English, Italian with English subtitles.

Comments

[Deborah Scranton]

Thanks so much AJ. Look forward to seeing you there!