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Tribeca Panel: Visions of History and Truth: Artists in Action After 9/11

By Karina Longworth (Subscribe to Karina Longworth's posts), Posted Apr 27th 2006 8:00AM
Filed under: Drama, Tribeca, Universal, Politics, Movie News, Tribeca Film Festival, Cinematical



Panelists:

Lloyd Levin, Producer of United 93
David Alan Basche: stars in United 93 as Todd Beamer
Ann Hoog: Library of Congress, curator of "September 11 Documentary Project".
Paula Berry: Lost husband in WTC, on advisory council of Lower Manhattan Development Corporation

Moderator:
Brian Lehrer, morning anchor on NPR's NYC affiliate, WNYC

Though ostensibly about the role of art in response to the events of September 11, this panel essentially functioned like an expanded press conference for Paul Greengrass' United 93. Lehrer, who is usually nothing if not a muscular journalist, did his best to stir up a discussion, but those involved with the film brilliantly deflected each attempt to steer the talk off a "go see United 93" course. Still, there were some strong moments – particularly when Lehrer pressed producer Levin on what Lehrer feels are aspects of the film that "really ripp[ed] the government, and when Levin admitted that some of the marketing on the film (including its first trailer) may have been misguided. My notes follow; I couldn't type fast enough to quote word-for-word, but it's pretty accurate.

Brian Lehrer: When we first heard in the media about this film coming out, it generated immediate negative responses from the callers to my show. We've heard a lot about this "too soon" thing ... and of course there was that whole thing that happened with the trailer on the Upper East Side. ... But when I talked [on the radio] about the consultation that went on with family members ... I think it's very interesting, people's gut, first reaction, and then gradual reaction ... when they hear some of the facts, some of the context.

Lloyd Levin: I worked with Paul Greengrass, from the inception of his idea to make the film, all the way through the making of the film ,and the completion of the film, as well as on the marketing. Not as a financier.

Lehrer: Talk about the contact with family members ... because I gather there's going to be some skepticism about a Hollywood studio making a film like this ... when obviously a studio is not going to do it out of the goodness of their heart.
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Tribeca Review: 'The War Tapes'

By Karina Longworth (Subscribe to Karina Longworth's posts), Posted Apr 26th 2006 5:07PM
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Tribeca, Politics, Cinematical Indie, Movie News, Tribeca Film Festival, Cinematical


The current Iraq War is possibly the most misreported American military engagement in history. Embed reporters are heavily censored, each network has its own spin, and it's simply not in our government's interest to disseminate details on what's really going on. The driving concept behind The War Tapes is so simple, it's amazing no one's tried it up to this point: attack the media problem head-on by giving soldiers small, consumer quality camcorders and, communicating with them nightly from the US via the internet, allow them to tell their own stories from the center of the conflict. Director Deborah Scranton has managed something that I haven't seen in documentary film or television in a long time. Under her shaping, the selected soldiers aren't particularly brilliant, nor especially brave; they sometimes talk themselves into corners, and sometimes, know exactly what to say; they're sometimes intensely unlikeable, and sometimes, incredibly sympathetic. In other words, the director has managed to shape real people's lives into a drama, without imposing ideological filters, and without sacrificing what makes them real.
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Tribeca: 'United 93' Premiere

By Karina Longworth (Subscribe to Karina Longworth's posts), Posted Apr 26th 2006 3:00PM
Filed under: Tribeca, Politics, Movie News, Tribeca Film Festival, Cinematical


I tried to cover last night's New York premiere of United 93, which doubled as the official opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival. I tried really hard. First, I tried to get tickets to the event. When my requests on that front were denied, I RSVPed to be part of the red carpet press line. But when I got to the Ziegfeld Theater last night, I was told that I wasn't on the press list. Already exhausted, just two days into the Festival, from arguing with publicists and volunteers, at that point I slunk off to watch the proceedings from afar.

Most of the red carpet real estate seemed to have been given to publications like Extra and Entertainment Tonight. The crowd seemed about half-and-half split between black-tie industry types, all smiles, patting one another on the back in between introductions to heavily-iced female escorts; and casually dressed, slightly befuddled-looking everyday citizens brandishing green slips of paper. I asked a Festival volunteer if these were the victims' family members; she told me that I couldn't "stand there," and asked me to cross the street. It was at that point that I decided to give up and go get a drink.

But as I was leaving the area, I walked straight into a small protest, one which the media at the event has so far seemingly ignored.
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Cinematicast: Okay, We Lied.

By Karina Longworth (Subscribe to Karina Longworth's posts), Posted Apr 26th 2006 9:00AM
Filed under: Site Announcements, Fill-In-The-Blank, Announcements, Cinematical


...but really, we didn't mean to. I really hoped to be able to get audio editions of our podcast out every day this week, but with Randall in LA covering Milken, and me, here in New York, busy busy busy with Tribeca, we haven't been able to make it happen. So, we're just going to give up on this week, and come back on Monday, with super magical video coverage of Tribeca, as well as your daily news update. Don't cry – it's only a couple of days away. In the meantime, use the comments on this post to tell us what you'd like to see more/less of on the podcast. We aim to serve you.

Tribeca: Opening Press Conference

By Karina Longworth (Subscribe to Karina Longworth's posts), Posted Apr 24th 2006 7:01PM
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Tribeca, Cinematical Indie, Tribeca Film Festival, Cinematical
As the history books dictate, the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival began this morning with neither a bang nor a whimper, but instead, a rigorously managed press event. As with any film festival's opening ceremonies, the purpose of today's press conference seemed to be three-fold: it gave the Festival organizers a chance to communally pat backs; to tip the press off to various boldface names associated with the fest; and to lavish praise on the corporations that make it all possible.

It was a strange morning. I don't think I've ever seen a group of people seem generally less enthused about the project they were shilling. Monotone script reading seemed to be the order of the day, complete with minimal audience eye contact, and facial expressions ranging from glum to smug all around. There were a few moments of genuinely felt spontaneity. Tribeca Executive Director Peter Scarlet, who Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal introduced as "someone who hasn't seen the light of day in a long time," passionately pimped the very good Restored and Rediscovered sidebar, reminding us that preservation is important because "60% of films made don't exist anymore." Josh Lucas, speaking as both jury member and representative of Poseidon, also seemed genuinely amped whilst going through his bit; at the very least, he did it without a script.

The entirety of the event could be summed up in a single moment: Late in the program, Robert De Niro read a short speech, without looking up from the page, in a singularly lifeless tone. After finishing the line, "It's great that so many people seem to show so much enthusiastic support," De Niro paused – and the press corps burst into giggles.

My notes on the rest of the event follow after the break.
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Tribeca Review: Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project

By Karina Longworth (Subscribe to Karina Longworth's posts), Posted Apr 24th 2006 1:05PM
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Tribeca, Cinematical Indie, Tribeca Film Festival, Cinematical


Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project is such a beautiful, emotionally complex, and intellectually layered film, it's a shame its makers sought fit to stick it with such a literal, potentially crippling title. It begins with shades of Tarnation, as the titular, internationally renowned model-turned-photographer Gearon drives through blinding snow to the rangy, ramshackle upstate NY home of her schizophrenic mother, who she'll proceed to photographically document, off-and-on, for the next three years. As a story of art under the influence of familial tension and mental illness, comparisons to Jonathan Caouette's me-me-me-a-thon are seemingly inevitable. But filmmakers Jack Youngelson and Peter Sutherland provide a welcome layer of distance; their film is undeniably as interested as Caouette's in the role that personal mythology plays on art, but they wisely stick to documenting that relationship, without weaving it into an artificial mysticism.
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Fill-in-the-Blank is Dead. Long Live Cinematicast!

By Karina Longworth (Subscribe to Karina Longworth's posts), Posted Apr 24th 2006 9:01AM
Filed under: Site Announcements, Fill-In-The-Blank, Announcements, Cinematical


Celebrate! Two weeks in, the readers (that's you) have finally settled on a permanent name for our daily podcast. Thanks to reader Alex, our morning missive will now be called ... Cinematicast! We're actually taking today off from the podcast, as producer Randall is currently on a jet plane, but we'll be back with an audio-only version tomorrow. In the meantime, if you are Alex, contact us at karina AT cinematical DOT com so that we can appropriately thank you.
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