Tribeca: Opening Press Conference

As the history books dictate, the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival began this morning with neither a bang nor a whimper, but instead, a rigorously managed press event. As with any film festival's opening ceremonies, the purpose of today's press conference seemed to be three-fold: it gave the Festival organizers a chance to communally pat backs; to tip the press off to various boldface names associated with the fest; and to lavish praise on the corporations that make it all possible.

It was a strange morning. I don't think I've ever seen a group of people seem generally less enthused about the project they were shilling. Monotone script reading seemed to be the order of the day, complete with minimal audience eye contact, and facial expressions ranging from glum to smug all around. There were a few moments of genuinely felt spontaneity. Tribeca Executive Director Peter Scarlet, who Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal introduced as "someone who hasn't seen the light of day in a long time," passionately pimped the very good Restored and Rediscovered sidebar, reminding us that preservation is important because "60% of films made don't exist anymore." Josh Lucas, speaking as both jury member and representative of Poseidon, also seemed genuinely amped whilst going through his bit; at the very least, he did it without a script.

The entirety of the event could be summed up in a single moment: Late in the program, Robert De Niro read a short speech, without looking up from the page, in a singularly lifeless tone. After finishing the line, "It's great that so many people seem to show so much enthusiastic support," De Niro paused – and the press corps burst into giggles.

My notes on the rest of the event follow after the break.


As usual, there are some big -- if sometimes questionable, and occasionally blatantly nepotist -- names on the jury slates. Those deciding the International Narrative Feature awards will include Ed Burns (who has written and directed The Groomsmen, a film in the festival's Spotlight sidebar), Josh Lucas (who stars in one of the festival's big, blatant ploys for national attention, Poseidon), Trudie "Wife of Sting" Styler, and Melvin Van Peebles. Craig "Craig's List" Newmark, Julia Stiles, Lou Reed, Samantha Morton and Mark Cuban (who executive produced One Last Thing, a film in the Tribeca Family Festival) will hand out prizes for shorts. Ken Burns and Whoopi Goldberg will help assure that the cream of the Documentary competition rises to the top; Fugee Wyclef Jean and Sex and the City imagineer Candace Bushnell will join US Weekly's "critic" Thelma Adams, on the NY Narrative Feature sidebar jury; New York's best documentaries will be sorted by Lower Manhattan's favorite militant vegan/techno blues archivist/juice entreprenuer Moby, critics David Edelstein and Glenn Kenny, and actress Rosie Perez ... who wrote and directed a documentary in the NY Specials program.

Rosenthal spent much of the conference pimping the festival's involvement with Transamerica, (which sold at last year's Tribeca after premiering at Berlin), as well as other acquisition sucesses. Her speeches seem to veer wildly between defining Tribeca as a community event, and declaring it a vital film market. In fact, when asked by Ben "Spawn of Jeffrey" Lyons how she feels the Festival is going to evolve, Rosenthal put both aims in the same sentence: "I hope that the festival is embraced by the [NYC] neighborhoods, and I hope that we will eventually evolve as a market." The Q & A was held to about six questions and I didn't get my hand raised fast enough, but I'm hoping to be able get some kind of elaboration from her before the Festival ends, as that split-personality seems to hamper both aims every year.

Jane on Tribeca star power: "In case you haven't heard, Tom Cruise will take over Manhattan on May 3rd!"

"We realize our Festival would not exist without our steadfast partners. ... I wish I could rap or something and say this fast," Rosenthal attempted to joke, before launching into a formidable list of sponsors.

John Hayes, AmEx rep: "In 5 short years, you've turned a great idea into a world class event. ... Every year, American Express strives to create buzz around the Festival." What?

Robert DeNiro approached the podium to much applause. Why is this the right time to show films about 9/11, Bob? "United 93, if it were not opening the festival, it would seem strange ... you can't not be touched by it. It's a very, very good movie. A teriffic movie. I think it's important to see because it's kind of a playback of what happened. You know what's going to happen, but it's still ... you have to see the movie. I'm not that good at articulating. Jane said it was right for the festival. And I knew that."

Okay. What do you think, Jane? "September 11 was the most photographed event in the world. And I think the media has shown the event, over and over again. After a number of years, artists digest it ... and I think its very important to see a filmmaker's point of view. In terms of why now ... why not now?"

The Reeler asked Jane why they're not releasing public tickets to the big-name Hollywood films. "We become venue challenged ... Even though some people don't believe us when we say it, we're still a struggling festival, in terms of finances." Which doesn't really seem to explain why they can't sell tickets to regular people, instead of giving them away to industry friends.

DeNiro on the development of the Ground Zero site: "I hope it will be resolved. It's a tough situation." And, on the United 93 actor denied who was denied a visa to come to the premiere: "That's unfortunate, yeah."

Ed Burns: "I love the fact that you no longer have to schlep to the mountains of Utah for an independent film festival." Well, that's assuming that we're defining Sundance as being more independent than, say, SXSW. Or even Toronto. But, anyway ... Burns went on to define Tribeca as a success, because "you can't get a reservation at restaurants" these days in the neighborhood. Point taken.