Few documentary filmmakers’ careers are as fascinating to follow as that of Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), and that’s not just because of the consistent quality of his films, but because of the astonishing rate at which he produces them. In the midst of three other projects — an untitled Wikileaks documentary in pre-production; The Road Back, about Lance Armstrong, in post-production; and the newly completed Magic Bus, about Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters — Gibney was at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival with his sports documentary Catching Hell, which […]
by Daniel James Scott on May 2, 2011The Tribeca Film Festival announced today the films selected for the Spotlight, Cinemania, Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival and Special Screenings sections for their 10th edition, which takes place April 20 – May 1. Some of the highlights include Sundance favorites Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, The Guard starring Don Cheadle and Brendan Gleeson, and Higher Ground which is starred and directed by Vera Farmiga. There’s also Revenge of the Electric Car, the follow-up to Chris Paine‘s doc Who Killed the Electric Car?, and Tribeca regular Alex Gibney returns with Catching Hell. Chosen as the […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 14, 2011[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, Jan. 28, 3:00 pm — Temple Theatre] We initially thought that the film would be more conventional — the usual talking heads reflecting on the past. However, there was something so magical about the footage that cutting away from it to interviews of distant memories seemed wrong. Better, we discovered, to create a kind of archival immersion experience in which the footage would either live on its own or be commented upon by audio-tape recordings of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters themselves. Many of these recordings were made closer to the time of the actual bus […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 28, 2011In straightforward PBS style, Canadian Barry Stevens’s Prosecutor follows Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and an unconventional and charismatic Argentinean with a colorful past. Moreno-Ocampo’s resume runs the gamut from bringing to justice the war criminals of his homeland in the 1980s and teaching at Harvard to serving as soccer star Maradona’s lawyer and hosting a Judge Judy-type TV show. Five years on the job and still struggling to reel in big Sudanese fish Omar Al-Bashir, Moreno-Ocampo is finally bringing his first case — the prosecution of a Congolese military leader charged with conscripting child […]
by Lauren Wissot on Nov 23, 2010Some good, or at least interesting, films surfaced at Tribeca this year—I’ll get to a few a couple of paragraphs down, and I wrote about others here last week—almost in spite of the umbrella organization itself. You can’t help but wonder: What is the template for this festival, which has been struggling to find its identity since its inception? Toronto, Sundance, Cannes, Berlin? San Francisco, Denver? Answer: It’s not cast from a festival mold at all, in spite of the invaluable input of former artistic director Peter Scarlet and David Kwok, as far as I can tell the only current […]
by Howard Feinstein on Apr 26, 2010Now online check out select stories from our Spring issue, which will hit stands next week. Alex Gibney talks about this latest doc, Casino Jack and the United States of Money; Laura Poitras follows up her Oscar nominated My Country, My Country with the powerful The Oath; and Bahman Ghobadi explains the challenges behind making No One Knows About Persian Cats. Plus, YouTube’s Sara Pollack discusses the site’s distribution model, production designer Jack Fisk recounts his 30-plus year career, Anthony Kaufman wonders where’s the under-30 indie film audience in Industry Beat, and in two passionate pieces that highlight opposite ends […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Apr 19, 2010The Tribeca Film Festival has announced that Freaknomics will serve as the closing gala of the festival on April 30. Freaknomics is a documentary that was based on the bestseller Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Exposes the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. It melds pop culture with economics, and examines economics in such diverse subject matter as legalized abotion, drug dealing, education, and naming children. The film is directed by an array of critically acclaimed documentary filmmakers: Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Rachel Grady and Heidi […]
by Melissa Silvestri on Mar 30, 2010The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival today announced its remaining out-of-competition feature film selections in the Encounters, Discovery, Cinemania and Spotlight sections. The Festival will run April 21 to May 2. The Encounters section, comprised of 14 films, include selections include new works by Academy Award-winning filmmakers Alex Gibney and Chuck Workman, Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro, and featuring actors like Ellen Barkin, Liev Schreiber, Melissa Leo, Rashida Jones, Tilda Swinton, and many more. The Discovery section include documentaries showcasing everything from the North Pole and Congressional redistricting to a comedy tour of the Middle East. Its narrative films feature […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 15, 2010Announced earlier today, the 9th annual Tribeca Film Festival announced their Competition roster and films in their Showcase category for this year’s fest, which takes place April 21 – May 2 in New York City. Some of the highlights include Alex Gibney‘s work-in-progress screening of his doc on Eliot Spitzer and (get this) Vincent Gallo lending his voice in the animated film, Metropia. Full list of films are below. World Narrative Feature Competition “Buried Land,” directed by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes and Steven Eastwood, written by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, Steven Eastwood, and Dzenan Medanovic. (USA, UK, Bosnia and Herzegovina) – World […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 10, 2010On Feb. 20, 2005 the grandfather of Gonzo journalism, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, was walking around his snow covered compound in Woody Creek, Colorado when he decided to point the gun he was carrying to his head and pull the trigger. For a man who lived his life with a glass of Wild Turkey in one hand and a hand gun in the other it was a fitting end. Now doc filmmaker Alex Gibney recounts Thompson’s roller-coaster life and how his intoxicating prose changed journalism forever with Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Blessed with volumes […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 30, 2008