2 weeks before the Tribeca Film Festival began, I managed to get my US Visa issues resolved and I was able to get back to doing what I love – attending film festivals.
Film Festivals officially came back as live events from July 2020 – we had one of our feature films screen in competition at a children’s film festival in South Korea, however there were very few running live as all of the countries managed the pandemic differently. Tribeca ran online during their 2020 edition in April. However this year the team pushed the dates back to June so that it could run as a hybrid event during the New York Sunshine outdoors and also available on-line. What a great idea that turned out to be as it worked and sold out screenings were back in full force.
Tribeca have now become the Tribeca Film Festival. The Dropped the ‘festival’ part of the title as it’s now become a lot more than just a film festival encompassing VR, Interactive, Podcasts and so much more to explore.The opening night kicked off with the charming musical IN THE HEIGHTS screening simultaneously across 5 New York boroughs – even as far as Staten Island.
Not all filmmakers warmed to the outdoor screening model. It was a different experience at each venue. The best outdoor screening for me was at Pier 74 as the sound was incredible and the picture was pristine. It soon became clear that the best time to watch films outdoors was during the evening when the sun went down and it began to get dark. As an added bonus watching films at Pier 74 meant that you got to see an incredible view of Manhattan on the water.
However, watching the brilliant Sci-Fi shorts programme ‘Update Required’ was hard work at the park in the not so cool area of Brooklyn. The sound was okay but the picture was not so much as it was very hard to see it with the sun glaring in your eyes. We also had to bring our own deckchairs or blanket which was not ideal or particularly comfortable either compared to the stylish ones at the other venues.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the closing night as that was an indoor face mask free screening for fully vaccinated people only. Overall, Tribeca did a great job this year for their twentieth anniversary and put on a memorable show. I’m so thrilled to have discovered the documentary short film THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL and many other gems.
