A New Yorker’s Guide to All Things Tribeca Film Festival

TRIBECA, NY – It’s that time of the year again. Faces that seem all too familiar, yet foreign at the same time, will flock to a certain lower Manhattan neighborhood where they will showcase films near and dear to them.

No it’s not your annual extended family reunion where you reminisce during home videos, it’s the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival!

If previous years are anything to go by, this year’s festival in the artsy neighborhood of Tribeca is sure to feature the world premieres of interesting and diverse independent films, which includes narratives, documentaries, and short films, that landscape the troubles—and triumphs—currently in our nation and the world around us.

On the Tribeca Film website, there is a whole host of movies listed that will be showcased during the annual festival. There is Zoe, a film starring Lea Seydoux, Ewan McGregor, Christina Aguilera, Rashida Jones and many other recognizable faces. This is the centerpiece film at this year’s festival. It’s a story set in the future where advancements in technology make it seemingly difficult to have real connections with people. This is something that is very apparent in our society today, but it is haunting to think about how this can be even more detrimental to the relationships we make (or don’t make) in the future.

Then there is The Fourth Estate, a documentary slated to premiere during the closing night of the festival. It tells the story of journalists and their challenge to report the news on and about our current administration, as the head of this administration believes all the media does is spread “fake news”. This is another feature that is rooted in reality. So there is a fine line in making people care and understand the news and media when there is a powerful man standing on his soapbox claiming it’s not important.

But not all the films premiering that the Tribeca Film Festival this year have a melancholy tone. All About Nina, part of the narrative competition, tells the story of a young woman’s double life in her successful profession as a comedian, with trying to maintain her emotional antics within her personal life. But, as it goes when things are seemingly going well, these two parts of her life are forced to coincide when romance gets in the way. This seems to be a fun, quirky film that one can see to forget the troubles of everyday life for a short period of time (something the other films don’t offer, which isn’t a terrible thing either). And audiences are sure to recognize some of the talent in this film like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Common, Chace Crawford, Clea Duvall and more. So another reason to make this movie one to look out for.

The Tribeca Film Festival isn’t, ironically, all about films. They also have VR and AR experiences that festival goers can look forward to.

Some of the film industry’s most recognizable names and faces have taken part in some of these immersive experiences either through narration, collaboraton, or creating the experience themselves. According to TechCrunch, people can look forward to augmented reality pieces that feature stars such as Terrence Malik, Rosario Dawson, Lupita Nyong’o, Alicia Vikander, Darren Aronofsky, and even a band that you’ve probably grown up listening to (if you’re a millennial like me), “OK Go”. And for all you gamers out there, there are VR and AR experiences for you too.

The most exciting piece, however, has got to be Cinema360, a theatrical program that has multiple VR pieces that can be experienced by everyone in that room. This is a standout in a sea of VRs that are experienced solely by the individual. This will cut through that by having everyone have a certain experience at the same time.

This VR and AR part of the festival is definitely an experience worth having even if you’re just looking for ways to buy time in between all the films.

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival is sure to be a hoot, with a slew of exciting films that will hold their world premieres, and incredible VR and AR experiences. Be sure to catch the annual festival, in its 17th year now, when it returns on April 18th to the 29th.

(Lead image courtesy of Deadline and body image courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter)