Tribeca Fest Diary: Day Eleven

For Tribeca’s Closing Night film, the legendary Radio City Music Hall hosted its first event post-COVID, the documentary produced by Dave Chapelle’s Pilot Boy Productions. Filmmakers Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert walked the red carpet, along with Tribeca Festival co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca Enterprises CCO Paula Weinstein, Tribeca Festival director Cara Cusumano, Kathryn and James Murdoch, along with festival jurors Sharon Stone, Iyabo Boyd, Judith Godreche, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Delroy Lindo, Omar Metwally, and Hari Nef.  The star-studded event was also attended by Jesse Williams, Bob Saget, Dale Moss, Zoe Kravitz, Anthony Anderson and more. 

Fueled by the murder of George Floyd, shut-in by the closures of business, and unable to perform around the country, the movie follows Chappelle as he provides the community he calls home with two things desperately needed in difficult times – economic and comic relief. The premiere was followed by a surprise concert featuring performances by Redman, Talib Kweli, De La Sol, Ghostface Killah, A$AP Ferg, Q-Tip, and Fat Joe.

Tribeca presented the inaugural Harry Belafonte Voices For Social Justice Award, named for the famed performer, actor, activist, and civil rights leader. The Belafonte Award recognizes individuals who have used storytelling and the arts to enact change in their communities. The first-ever recipient is political leader Stacey Abrams; honored for her outstanding leadership, service, and commitment to fighting against injustices through her work as a political leader, voting rights activist, and novelist. The Award was presented to her by Rev. Al Sharpton following a conversation with Abrams moderated by Robin Roberts at The Battery.

Award-Winning Director/Producer/Writer Gina Prince-Bythewood sat down for a conversation with actress and Love & Basketball star, Sanaa Lathan on the roof at Spring Studios as part of the Tribeca Talks Director Series. The conversation centered on the need to tell all stories and equal representation in film/TV. Gina and Sanaa also delved into Gina’s vision for Love & Basketball. Gina said she came up with the story because she was inspired by the film When Harry Met Sally and wanted to create a similar story with a Black cast, and pulled a lot of her vision for the love story from her own personal life.

Gina also discussed the ups and downs of being a director and how important it is to tell your own story and stay authentic to the story you want to tell without letting outside opinions influence your vision as a director/storyteller. 

Ahead of the release of 7 Years, an Audible Original Words + Music production from rapper and The Roots frontman Tariq Trotter, the performer and Head of Audible Studios Zola Mashariki came together for an exclusive conversation on the roof at Spring Studios. The two discussed Trotter’s innovative audio production, the evolution of his singular creative voice, the unique joy of Black storytelling, and the integration of song and story to create something truly exceptional for listeners.

For the premiere of the documentary, The One and Only Dick Gregory at The Battery, director/writer/producer Andre Gaines, Executive Producer Lena Waithe, and Special Guests were joined on stage to discuss the impact that Dick Gregory’s work had on subsequent generations of artists and activists. The Q&A was moderated by The Grio’s Entertainment Director Cortney Wills.

Kinfolk is an augmented reality app that highlights Black and Brown figures. The viewer can use Kinfolk as a roaming “virtual museum” to bring digital monuments to life through a phone/tablet, hear voiceovers from iconic black figures, see generative art emanating from every sculpture and listen to an original afro-futurist jazz composition while walking across various historical sites in NYC. The immersive was created by Idris Brewster, Glenn Cantave, Micah Milner and was part of a special presentation at the Harry Belafonte Award Presentation.

Grammy-winning singer Cécile McLorin Salvant took photos before this afternoon’s Tribeca Talk event at Brookfield Place, a musical storytelling performance where she previewed her wildly original upcoming animated film Ogresse – including some of the film’s songs, accompanied by pianist Sullivan Fortner – and also told personal stories and spoke about her artistic inspirations. The event was part of Tribeca’s Juneteenth programming. 

Visual artist JR, named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2018, world premiered his film Paper & Glue this afternoon at Brookfield Place. In the film, which is executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, director JR turns the camera on his own work, as he undertakes massive installation efforts, turning some of the most provocative spaces of the world into eye-catching immersive art that challenges perspectives and unites communities. After the film, Tribeca co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal moderated a conversation with JR. 

Adrian Brody gave a heartfelt intro for the world premiere of feature film Clean acknowledging the Juneteenth holiday and the tumultuous year that has passed while also celebrating the tremendous work of the film’s cast and crew including director Paul Solet, producer Daniel Sollinger, RZA , Glenn Fleshler, Chandler Air-DuPont, Michelle Wilson, John Blanco, Jade Yorker, and Johnny “Boogotti” Hopkins. Clean is a hyper-violent meditation on the power of the past and the struggle for salvation when an unsuspecting garbage collector becomes the target for a local crime boss. 

Over at Astoria Park in Queens, the Tribeca mobile cinema screened Selma, Just Another Girl, and Daughters Of The Dust. Simultaneously, the mobile cinema at Walter Gladwin Park in the Bronx screened The Last Dragon, He Got Game,and Shaft.

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