By Alison Gregor
Films about New York and by New Yorkers
New York, New York, it’s a helluva town…..a city that lends itself to the sophistication of a Woody Allen film or the simplicity of a musical like “On the Town.”
Besides being a compelling subject, it’s also a city that produces an inordinately large number of filmmakers.
This year, they’ll get a chance to shine at the first-ever judging of New York films at the Tribeca Film Festival. There will be a section for documentaries and one for features either about New York or made by New York filmmakers.
Since it’s inception, the festival has screened New York films, but they’ve never been competitive. Festival organizers hope the move will further reinforce the informal institution of New York filmmaking.
“One of the reasons for the birth of this festival two years ago was to draw attention to the remarkable work being done in New York,” Festival Director Peter Scarlet said.
This year, there are films like “Tying the Knot,” which explores the consequences of same-sex discrimination in marriage; “Crazy Legs Conti,” about an aspiring champion competitive eater; “My Uncle Berns,” featuring the uncle of Lindsay Crystal, daughter of Billy Crystal; and “Another Road Home” about the Middle Eastern conflict explored through the life of a Palestinian maid in a Jewish household.
Most of these, and others – either about the city or created by New York filmmakers – will be judged in documentary and narrative film categories. Six critics from the New York Film Critics Circle have agreed to judge the 25 works.
“I can’t wait for it to start,” said Jonathan Foreman of the New York Post, chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle. “There’s just so many films that I want to see. And films about New York – I love it.”
Foreman will be judging the documentary film section, along with Jan Stuart of Newsday and Nathan Lee of The New York Sun. Judging the narrative films will be Thelma Adams of US Weekly, David Sterritt of the Christian Science Monitor and Dennis Lim of the Village Voice.
Though there are a handful of film festivals held annually in New York, the Tribeca festival has a certain distinction for Foreman.
“It’s a very unpretentious festival, and I like that very much,” he said.
One of the highlights of the New York, New York narrative film section of the festival is “2BPerfectlyHonest,” directed by Randel Cole and starring Andrew McCarthy, John Turturro, and Aida Turturro of The Sopranos fame. The movie is a morality tale set in contemporary New York.
“Brother to Brother,” a feature film directed by Rodney Evans, is about a city artist who strikes up a friendship with a Harlem Renaissance artist. The film won a special jury prize this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Festival-goers can screen a visually sumptuous film called “Homework,” directed by Kevin Asher Green, about a young ballet dancer who is liberated by an older modern dancer. And then there’s an experimental film, “The Time We Killed,” directed by Jennifer Todd Reeves and shot in high-contrast black-and-white and digital video, which plumbs the psyche of an agoraphobic writer unable to leave her apartment.
“Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding,” the popular New York stage show, has finally been adapted for film by Roger Paradiso and will be judged in the narrative category.
The New York, New York documentary category will feature “Resist,” which was made by Belgians Dirk Szuszies and Karin Kaper but is about the city’s Living Theatre, envisioned by its founders in the 1940s as an activist alternative to traditional theater. There’s also Anja Baron’s historical look at the 30-year-old Harlem Blues & Jazz Band in “Last of the First.”
Bruce Weber, the acclaimed photographer, is perhaps the best-known director in the New York sections. His “Letter to True,” a visual collage based on an epistle that Weber wrote to his dog True, a favorite among five Golden Retrievers, is only being screened and not judged.
In previous years, the festival has screened New York films, and even held an online poll for the “Best of New York” film. To recognize the city’s cinematic landmarks, the “Set in New York” program was initiated in 2003 in which plaques are placed in locations where popular films were shot, such as Katz’s Deli from “When Harry Met Sally.
But the New York film competition should be a real boon to city filmmakers, Scarlet said.
“A prize never hurts – both the cash involved, and the fact that you can then go and say you’re a prize-winner,” he said.
Wrapping it all up will be a May 8 panel on “New York, New York: A Moviemakers Muse” in which panelists, including Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini of American Splendor; Gary Winick of “13 Going on 30” and “Tadpole”; Ted Hope of “This is That”; and Christine Vachon of “Killer Films” will talk about why they love making movies in New York.
“New York has traditionally just been an amazing subject for filmmakers,” Foreman said. “I’m not a filmmaker, but I get the impression that it’s just an extraordinarily generous place for filmmakers.”
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