The 2021 Tribeca Film Festival (9 June – 20 June) was a hybrid event due to COVID-19 restrictions. Not being a huge fan of screening links (films on the big screen for me…) I limited myself to the feature documentaries category and struggled through a number of streaming glitches. Over all my selections were mainly good choices. Alas, the Brian Wilson documentary “Long Promised Road” was not available for viewing via the Tribeca streaming platform.
Thomas Robsahm’s A-ha: The Movie [Norway/Germany] is more than just a look at the groundbreaking music video “Take On Me” which is what most American audiences would be familiar with as this Norwegian New Wave band was not as popular in the US as they were in Europe.
Running Time: 109m
Distributor: Lightyear Entertainment
Rating: 4 Stars/5 Stars
Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension [US] looks at the 21st Century Chinese obsession with attaining the “Chinese Dream”.
Running Time: 97m
Distributor: MTV Documentary Films
Rating: 2 Stars/5 Stars
Robert Coe & Warwick Ross’ Blind Ambition [Australia] follows four Zimbabwean men striving for middle class status who compete in the renown wine tasting competition ala the Sommelier Olympics.
Running Time: 96m
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Rating: 3 Stars/5 Stars
David Burke’s The Father Of The Cyborgs [Ireland] reads like a science fiction novel but it’s all true. Dr. Paul Kennedy taught a paralyzed man to control a computer after he implanted electrodes in his brain. The expected controversy ensued when Dr. Kennedy began experimenting on himself.
Running Time: 76m
Distributor: No US Distributor
Rating: 3 Stars/5 Stars
Andreas Koefoed’s The Lost Leonardo [Denmark/France] goes down the rabbit hole in search of the truth about the recently discovered lost “masterpiece” the Salvator Mundi which has extremely vocal supporters and detractors over the authenticity of the painting.
Running Time: 96m
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Rating: 2 Stars/5 Stars
Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics [US] takes us on a road trip through the world of underground LGBT comic artists from the 1970s up to the present. Lots of great discoveries for any lover of comic art, whether you’re queer or not.
Running Time: 79m
Distributor: No US Distributor
Rating: 3 Stars/5 Stars
Andre Gaines’ The One & Only Dick Gregory [US] is a great introduction to one of America’s most political comedians who didn’t let a laugh get in the way of his activism for civil rights, feminism, vegetarianism & animal rights. Nearly 50,000 people voted for him when he ran for President in 1968. Alas, Nixon was the one.
Running Time: 113m
Distributor: Showtime Documentary Films
Rating: 4 Stars/5 Stars
Morgan Neville’s Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain [US] gives us an overview on his career as a bad boy chef, author and host of the CNN food & travel series that gave him world acclaim until it became too much for him.
Running Time: 119m
Distributor: Focus Features
Rating: 3 Stars/5 Stars
Mariem Perez Riera’s Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It [US] is one of the more interesting docu-bios in quite some time. The film introduces us to Moreno’s Puerto Rico upbringing, the cultural upheaval she faced upon emigrating to New York on up through her breakthrough on Broadway and smashing the racial barrier when she won the Academy Award for West Side Story on up through today where she’s still fighting to showcase her pride in her people.
Running Time: 90m
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Rating: 4 Stars/5 Stars