Rolling On Introduction to the Tribeca Film Festival 2006
Where else could United 93 be shown other than at Tribeca - the film festival started in 2002, by Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro, in the aftermath of 9/11 to help lower Manhattan recover from the disaster, and to celebrate film in New York.
United 93 is the feature film dramatisation about the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco on September 11th 2001 who memorably fought back, spurred on in the public’s consciousness by the apocryphal quote attributed to Todd Beamer “Let’s Roll”. Directed by Paul Greengrass, who came to international renown with Bloody Sunday a similarly documentary-fiction approach to another country’s national tragedy; despite all the furore over the advance trailers if any film should open Tribeca, it should be United 93. With almost horrific timing the unveiling of this film has also loosely coincided with the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the sole individual currently on trial for his connection to the events of 9/11.
Gazing elsewhere in the programme it soon becomes apparent that despite Tribeca’s genesis the shadow of 9/11 is slowly being stepped out of even if one foot remains firmly in that missing shadow. Moving beyond the opening night film, the Poseidon Adventure was another late addition to the schedule. A remake of the 1970s original, this version’s all star cast is lead by Kurt Russell who will no doubt lead the survivors of a civic disaster to safety. Spot any patterns here? Again here is a film that might well fit with a film festival created to help a traumatised city cope with a civic disaster.
As George Clooney no less has proved in the last year with Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck there might just be a place for thought provoking political cinema in contemporary US filmmaking. Easy thoughts of trying to dismiss these two high profile examples of how reactionary the Hollywood mainstream can be though are quickly sobered by the reported public outrage in North America last month over the screenings of the trailer for United 93. Lots of people are going to be watching the reception of United 93 very carefully indeed.
Leaving behind the high profile late additions reveals a dual festival bound by its two founding aims which are slowly but surely drifting apart with the force of tectonic plates. On the one hand Tribeca simply can’t turn down anything to do with 9/11 because the festival was created as a response to the attacks. The festival is about New York, and 9/11 is a cataclysm in the city’s recent history which no one is going to forget in a hurry. Hence works being shown including The Heart of Steel, Saint of 9/11, Civic Duty and Punching at the Sun. All films about or which reference 9/11 explicitly.
Meanwhile revitalisation of Lower Manhattan is occurring.
The roaring success of the Tribeca Film Festival, including the renovation
of the Tribeca Cinemas complex, is just one example. The festival is moving
on and struggling hard to achieve its aim of revitalising downtown, and the
rest of the city, with film. With a fistful of acquisitions from other film
festivals and more than a few premieres there’s certainly plenty to
see here from Colour Me Kubrick (John Malkovich as Alan Conway,
a conman who passed himself off as the famous director) to Blessed
by Fire (An Argentinean reminiscence of the Falklands War) to
Lunacy (Jan Svankmajer’s mad on a good day “philosophical
horror film”). With films like these on offer, simply walking into a
cinema with an open mind is likely to be rewarding at this festival.
It’s the documentary sections that seem most exciting though. Films
like From Dust, possibly one of the first films to deal with
the aftermath of the Christmas 2004 Tsunami. A Sri Lankan Documentary, the
film examines how a natural disaster of unparalleled scale has created opportunities
for some whilst denying it to others. Iraq of course naturally provides fertile
ground for the documentary makers with no less than four non-fiction films
in the various competitions covering the conflict. Of these The Blood
of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq covers the ongoing struggle
from an Iraqi perspective whilst Home Front, When
I Come Home and The War Tapes all examine the various
experiences of US soldiers who have served during the conflict.
As far as one can move on from the tragedy that created it, the Tribeca Film Festival has moved on. But owing to its creation and New York outlook the festival willingly embraces anything connected 9/11 and will continue to do so indefinitely. Put simply the festival’s aims are to ‘move on’ and to ‘not more on’ simultaneously.
No one said that therapy would be easy but the Tribeca
Film Festival continues to provide just that for New York.
Still, Mission Impossible 3 is showing…
Five to Watch
United 93
Regardless of how well director Paul Greengrass captures the feelings of a
day that continues to define our times, United 93 is the film to watch at
this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
37 Uses for a Dead Sheep
Great little documentary that throws the conventions we carry around in our
heads in fine humour. Review
here...
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
Documentary that re-visits Jim Jones and the People’s Temple
who orchestrated a mass suicide in the late 1970s. Review
here...
The Bridge
Another documentary, this time about suicide and its aftermath, centred around
footage of people leaping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Blessed by Fire
An Argentinean participant in the Falklands War remembers the conflict after
a fellow combatant commits suicide.
It’s always difficult choosing just five so…
Another Gay Movie
A gay teen spoof of films like American Pie? The Teen genre continues to evolve…
A Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent
Design Circus
Documentary about the Evolution-Intelligent design debate. Will someone mention
the spaghetti monster?
