New York, NY [May 1, 2008] – The seventh annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by American Express, announced the winners of its competition categories tonight at the Target-Tribeca Filmmaker Lounge in New York City. Highlights from the Awards Ceremony can be seen on WNBC-TV’s “Tribeca Presents: Best of the Festival” on Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m., as well as on the Festival website, www.tribecafilmfestival.org.

This year’s Festival included 121 features and 79 short films from 41 countries. The world competition winners were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 18 countries. Two awards were also given to honor New York films, which were chosen from seven narrative and nine documentary features. Awards were also given for the best narrative, best documentary and student visionary films in the Shorts competition. The winner of the Cadillac Award, best film in the festival as determined by audience vote, will be announced during the WNBC-TV program on Saturday, May 3rd.

“We are extremely proud of these directors’ accomplishments and we are honored to have had these films as part of the Festival,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.

“It’s especially gratifying and exciting to see that the members of our juries selected an extremely diverse group of films – in terms of both their themes and their countries of production – and that the majority of the prizes are going to filmmakers and performers who are all at an early stage of their careers,” said Peter Scarlet, Artistic Director of the Festival.

Screenings of all winning films will take place at AMC Village VII on Sunday, May 4. Specific times and ticketing information is available on the Festival website, www.tribecafilmfestival.org.

In addition to cash awards and in-kind services provided by sponsors including American Express, Apple, Cadillac, Delta Air Lines, Edelman Studios, The New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development, The New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting the Festival presented the winners with original pieces of art created by 13 acclaimed artists.

Following are the awards and their winners:

· The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – “Let the Right One In” (Lat den rätte komma in) directed by Tomas Alfredson (Sweden). Winner receives $25,000 cash and the art award “Maternal Nocture: Clearing Storm” created by Stephen Hannock.

Jury Comments: “For its mesmerizing exploration of loneliness and alienation through masterful reexamination of the vampire myth.”

· Best New Narrative Filmmaker – “My Marlon and Brando” (Gitmek) directed by Hüseyin Karabey (Turkey, Netherlands, UK). Winner receives $25,000 cash, sponsored by American Express, and the art award “Bonfire,” created by Ross Bleckner.

Jury Comments: “For its skillful blending of documentary style with a classic love story and ultimate creation of a truly modern and unlikely international heroine.”

· Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film – Thomas Turgoose and Piotr Jagiello in “Somers Town” directed by Shane Meadows (UK). Sponsored by Delta Air Lines. Each winner receives a business elite ticket voucher for anywhere Delta travels.

Jury Comments: “For an extraordinary and exhilarating rendering of a friendship found, the Narrative Feature Jury is awarding the Best Actor prize to this magical team.”

· Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film – Eileen Walsh in “Eden” directed by Declan Recks (Ireland). Sponsored by Delta Air Lines. Winner receives two business elite ticket vouchers for anywhere Delta travels.

Jury Comments: “For her exquisite rendering of a lonely wife aching to be seen and heard.”

· Best Documentary Feature – “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” directed by Gini Reticker (USA). Winner receives $25,000 cash and the art award “Liza Minnelli,” created by Timothy White.

Jury Comments: “In a relentless pursuit of peace, the women of Liberia show us how community, motherly love and perseverance can change the fate of a society. Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a reminder that we have the power to say “Enough!” to the atrocities of our world.”

· Best New Documentary Filmmaker – “Old Man Bebo” directed by Carlos Carcas (Spain). Winner receives $25,000 cash, sponsored by American Express, and the art award “Maquette for Primary Compass,” created by Don Gummer.

Jury Comments: “We the jury feel that Carlos Carcas showed us that if you truly have art in your body and soul it will find its way out into the world. We applaud the filmmaker for bringing Old Man Bebo into our consciousness.”

· “New York LOVES Film” – “Zoned In” directed by Daniela Zanzotto (USA,

UK). Winner receives $5,000 cash, sponsored by New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development, and the art award “Table Odeon,” created by Donna Ferrato.

Special Mention: “Hotel Gramercy Park” directed by Douglas Keeve (USA).

Jury Comments: “This was a challenging and spirited discussion with two clear favorites: both films are very different and the jury felt that both should get equal mention even though only one gets the prize. We thought Hotel Gramercy Park was a highly entertaining and moving story about a New York family and a New York institution coming to terms with a changing city, but in the end we felt Zoned In deserved the prize for having the bravery to tell a seemingly typical story that ends up revealing bold and difficult truths.”

· “Made In NY” – Narrative – “The Caller” directed by Richard Ledes (USA). Winner receives $5,000 cash, sponsored by The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, and the art award “Nude on Guitar” created by Ralph Gibson.

Jury Comments: “The Caller superbly uses its New York locations – from the sleek mid-town high-rises to the desolate Brooklyn Bridge piers – to create a chilling and finally stirring suspense movie; an unusual thriller whose mysterious plot finally exposes the mysteries of the heart.”

· Best Narrative Short – “New Boy” directed by Steph Green. Sponsored by Edelman Studios. Winner receives $5,000 cash and the art award “Air” created by Francesco Clemente.

Jury Comments: “New Boy took us on a complete emotional journey. It was moving, funny and powerful.”

· Best Documentary Short – “Mandatory Service” directed by Jessica Habie. Sponsored by Edelman Studios. Winner receives $5,000 cash and the art award “The Screamer,” created by John Alexander.

Jury Comments: “Mandatory Service, a perspective of war and conflict from participants themselves. The Israeli’s empathy for the Palestinians is not a perspective we glimpse too often in Western Media.”

· Student Visionary Award – “Elephant Garden” directed by Sasie Sealy. Sponsored by Apple. Winner receives an Apple Mac Pro Desktop with a 15″ Display and Final Cut Studio 2 and the art award “Harmonium” created by Clifford Ross.

Jury Comments: “Elephant Garden captured the “inner-life” of a beautiful young girl; her confusion as she becomes a young adult. Wonderful visual story telling and the performance of Kelley Mack is stellar.”

· Cadillac Award – Winner to be chosen by the Audience and will be announced on WNBC-TV on Saturday, May 3rd. Winner receives $25,000 cash and the art award “Peripheral Drift Illusion,” created by Ryan McGinness, as well as a trophy created by Cadillac.

So, for NAICA, Tribeca is over.

See we have full-time jobs besides running this here non-profit (which soon we shall be) and traveling around film festivals and the like, so paychecks are needed and returning to our respective grinds was an absolute must. However, Logan managed to see one film on Sunday. Of course, it was a documentary.

Secrecy by directors Robb Moss and Peter Galison.

The film is about the U.S. government’s policies in determining which documents are to be classied as “secret” and does a run down of one case that was classified and withheld for years from the family members of men who died in a crash which was detailed in this very case. Logan said it was really quite well done.

I attempted to see a film (documentary) that came to fruition through the All-Access program, Marina of the Zabaleen by director Engi Wassef. They pushed the screening from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. I was early so needed to kill time. I went and got that tattoo shown above. I missed the screening. That was our end to Tribeca.

Until next year!

Revolucionario hasta la muerte!

So far the documentaries are th best thing about Tribeca. They are just too damn good. Even Guy Maddin’s quasi-psycho-analytic My Winnipeg has been billed a “documentary” by some nit on Wikipedia.

Well, o.k.

Logan and I weigh in on the what we saw today: two narrative, two docs. We mercifully forget to mention the abysmal shorts block we briefly attended but left as we realized the title of the block was completely mis-leading: Identity Crisis” it was called but what they really should have titled it was “White People Who Get Angsty in Times of Angst”

Collective roll of the eyes is warranted so go right ahead.

 Winnepeg is cold!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“..for a mere 65 million you can, buy..I mean help, a Malawian child.”

While editor Maria Colon cried crocodile tears at various documentaries relating the cruelties of the modern age exacted on small children and illegal immigrants in gruesome detail, Logan Green developed a hatred for John Cusack.

Listen to episode two in our daily film review podcasts covering Tribeca 2008.

(How much you wanna bet that dress, those couture fishnets and chunky chains can feed, cure, and house a Malawian village of 50?)

 Madonna loves Malawi: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Blech!

Anyway a few notes about this year’s festival:
1. It sucks 50 films less than it did last year.

2. They have assigned press and industry screenings to two theaters one block away from each other making it infinitely easier to get to multiple screenings in one day.

3. The theaters are located in my beloved East Village where some of my favorite restaurants and bars are located! YAY!

4. The staff is way nicer and more organized than last year.

5. Everything is better than last year.

Today we saw two films which e review at length in the podcast attached below. I warn you, there are spoliers, but trust me when I write, one of the films was a spoiler from the very first frame. Have at’er!

Check back daily for more reviews, possible interviews, and photos galore. Ciao darlings!

P.S. Neither NAICA, Inc nor it’s subsidiaries condone reckless imbibement but this is the NYC and we are adults. Drink responsibly!

 Savage Grace SUCKED [17:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

New York, NY – April 23, 2008 –Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal was today joined by New York Governor David Paterson, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, American Express Chief Marketing Officer John Hayes, Festival Artistic Director Peter Scarlet and Director and Festival Juror Doug Liman to kickoff the seventh annual Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express, and announce the 2008 Festival Jury. American Express also announced an additional five-year commitment of its support for the Festival. Festival organizers were joined by filmmakers participating in this year’s Festival at the press conference, which took place at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in lower Manhattan.

The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival will run from April 23 – May 4 and will include 121 feature films and 79 short films representing 41 different countries. The film slate features 53 world premieres, 6 international premieres, and 30 North American premieres. In addition to the line-up of films, this year’s Festival highlights include an array of panel discussions, gala premieres of major studio releases – including Universal’s Baby Mama and Warner Bros. Pictures’ Speed Racer – and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. There are also free events, including Drive-In outdoor movies, the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day.

“Great films energize our lives,” said Rosenthal. “We started this Festival to heal our neighborhood and bring the magic of film to the city we love. Over the next 11 days we will view the world through the lens of filmmakers – advancing their work as we seek to inspire and entertain our audiences. I want to thank our sponsors and all those who helped to put together another great Festival, and invite all New Yorkers and our international visitors, to come experience the great creative work we will showcase and enjoy all that Tribeca has to offer.”

“New York has inspired filmmakers since the industry’s beginning,” said Governor Paterson. “But recently, we started losing business to our neighbors, like Canada, Connecticut and Massachusetts. New Yorkers never go down without a fight, and with the significantly expanded state film tax credit I announced today, New York will continue to serve as the most fascinating backdrop in the world. I am proud to have our great state foster an even greater number of productions, and feel fortunate that we have an event like the Tribeca Film Festival to showcase the work of great filmmakers and highlight the importance of this industry in our state.”

“New York City offers the best backdrop in the world to make movies, and every spring, Lower Manhattan offers the best place in the world to celebrate them,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The Tribeca Film Festival was founded to spur revitalization downtown, and its ongoing success reaffirms Lower Manhattan’s role as a vibrant cultural destination and New York City’s place as a center of movie magic.”

“The Tribeca Film Festival is a unique opportunity for American Express to bring unforgettable experiences to our Cardmembers who are passionate about film and entertainment,” said John Hayes, Chief Marketing Officer of American Express. “It is for that reason that we are happy to announce our commitment to the Festival for another five years. We look forward to another year of exciting and innovative programming and to our continued partnership.”

“American Express has been a true partner to the Tribeca Film Festival - not just financially, but also creatively - since the beginning,” added Rosenthal. “The company’s steadfast support and John Hayes’ personal friendship have enabled us to grow and take risks, and we look forward to what we will achieve together over the next five years.”

Jurors for the competitive categories were announced by Director and Festival Juror Doug Liman. Below is the list of jurors and their respective categories.

World Competition Categories:
The jurors for the 2008 World Narrative Competition are Peter Hedges, Gregory Hoblit, Callie Khouri, Oliver Platt and Christine Vachon.

The jurors for the 2008 World Documentary Competition are Jared Cohen, Whoopi Goldberg, Ross Kauffman, Padma Lakshmi(?!) and Jose Padilha.

New York Competition Categories:
The 2008 “Made in NY” Narrative Feature Award jurors are Peter Dinklage, Fred Durst(?!), Greg Mottola, Stephen Schiff and Annabella Sciorra.

The 2008 “NY Loves Film” Documentary Feature Award jurors are Liya Kebede(!?), Doug Liman, Esther Robinson, Josh Schwartz, Jay McInerney and Andre Leon Talley(?!).

Short Film Competition Categories:
The 2008 Narrative Short jurors are Mario Batali(?!), Christine Lahti, Molly Shannon, Lili Taylor and Zac Posen(?!).

The 2008 Documentary and Student Short jurors are David Bowie, Red Burns, Matthew Modine, Lee Schrager(?!) and David de Rothschild.

Underscoring the diversity and strength of the film program, Rosenthal showed clips from four highly anticipated Festival films at today’s press conference:

· Pray the Devil Back to Hell, directed by Gini Reticker. (USA) - World Premiere. After more than a decade of civil wars leading to more than 250,000 deaths and one million refugees, a group of courageous women rose up to force peace on their shattered Liberia and propel to victory the first female head of state on the African continent.

· Ramchand Pakistani, directed by Mehreen Jabbar, written by Mohammad Ahmed. (Pakistan) - World Premiere. Gorgeous colors enhance this tense tale, based on actual events, about a young Pakistani boy who, with his father, inadvertently crosses the border into India. Both wind up in jail for years, while mother (Nandita Das) is left bewildered and alone.

· War Child, directed by C. Karim Chrobog. (USA) - North American Premiere. Emmanuel Jal spent his childhood as a soldier in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. Now this rising hip-hop star is using his music to raise awareness about his homeland’s ongoing humanitarian crisis. Dinka, English, Nuer with English subtitles.

· Bart Got A Room, directed and written by Brian Hecker. (USA) - World Premiere. It’s ticktock ticktock for Danny as the prom approaches, and he still doesn’t have a date. With the help of his plain-Jane best friend and likable but wacky parents (Cheryl Hines and William H. Macy), his hopes for that “special” night may come true in this colorful and quirky comedy.

Following the screening of these clips, Rosenthal welcomed and introduced Leymah Gbowee (subject of Pray the Devil Back to Hell), Mehreen Jabbar (director, Ramchand Pakistani), C. Karim Chrobog (director, War Child) and Brian Hecker (director, Bart Got A Room), who were all on hand for the press conference.

“It is incredibly important to us to support filmmakers from around the world and around the corner and to help them tell their stories. Whether that story is the touching real life story of a Sudanese child soldier who overcomes tremendous odds to become an advocate for peace in his native country or a coming of age tale about a fictitious young boy’s struggle to find a prom date, we believe that our audiences will embrace all of the films in this year’s Festival,” said Rosenthal.

NAICA and Longviews will begin it’s extensive coverage of the festival starting Wednesday night April 23rd through the end of the festival May 4th.
Look for interviews, film reviews, and copious amounts of images, plus, any other sundry what have you that we can come up with, like video? Yeah, maybe.
This year the line up looks to be more cohesive and interesting-lots of social-political documentaries which we like here at NAICA and Longviews. Last year was slim pickins in terms of anything worth actually spending time watching. It was also near impossible to attend, say, three or four screenings per day since the venues were so spread out. NYC is a large island filled with tons of people and traffic. Impossible to get from one end of the city to the next, hell it’s difficult to get three blocks over on a good day, for screening scheduled ten minutes after the one you just attended? Impossible. But this year the organization has worked out it’s scheduling and venue foibles. Truly last year was a disaster of disorganization, but this year they have it together. It should make for an easy time for the press as well as general festival goers. Yay for NAICA.

We are attempting to see 22 movies (press screenings) and a few we’ll have to watch on DVD. No, we will see 22 plus movies and tell you all about them!
Stay Tuned!

In a recent press release posted to The Hollywood Reporter website it was revealed that Canadian actor, Adam Beach, would be a juror for this year’s All-Access “minority” film-maker program. That’s pretty decent news given the company in which Adam will be judging; such autueurs and art- film tastemakers as Jesse L. Martin, Damon Dash (WTF?), and Joy Bryant (!?) who are but a few of the total 10 jurors who will participate in the fifth annual Tribeca All Access program. Basically all a bunch of actors judging film. Again, actors judging film. Good Lord?
So Jesse L. Martin is o.k. I guess. He’s been around-on T.V.- for a long while, but “Who the fuck is Joy Bryant?”, you may be asking yourself.
Well I will tell you who she is, a wannabe actress who’s few credits, besides modeling for Tommy Hilfiger, include playing the “understanding girlfriend” in Denzel Washington’s Antwone Fisher. Wow with credentials like that it’s a wonder she hasn’t sat on the jury at Cannes. (She probably has!)
Don’t even get me started on Damon Dash! He definitely don’t know shit about shit let alone film making. But hey he’s married to that hot Rachel Roy chick and that’s goos enough, right?
Anyway, I can see why you’d pick an actor who happens to be Aboriginal from Canada as a juror-though I doubt his judging capabilities-but Damon Dash and Joy Bryant?
But if I were a filmmaker going through the All-Access program this year I would be shitting my pants in trepidation and protest!