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| Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer on Pierfrancesco Favino, star of Andrea Di Stefano’s The Last Night Of Amore: “He’s an extraordinary actor.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze |
The Opening Night Gala selection of the 22nd edition of the Tribeca Film Festival is Nenad Cicin-Sain’s terrific documentary Kiss the Future (produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sarah Anthony, written by Bill Carter, edited by Eric Burton), which includes on-camera interviews with U2 members Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton, plus Bill Clinton, Christiane Amanpour, Enes Zlatar (Sikter), Srdan Gino Jevdević (Kulture Shock), Vesna Andree Zaimović (journalist), and Senad Zaimović (editor-in-chief of the Rat Art).
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| Frédéric Boyer with Anne-Katrin Titze on Pier-Philippe Chevigny’s Richelieu: “This is about workers, the actors are extraordinary in the film.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze |
In the second instalment with Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer on the 2023 selections we discuss Robert De Niro’s A Bronx Tale (Closing Night Gala selection) Andrea Di Stefano’s (the priest in Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi) The Last Night Of Amore (L'ultima Notte Di Amore) starring Pierfrancesco Favino of Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor (Il Traditore) and Francesca Archibugi’s The Hummingbird (Il Colibrì, the Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Opening Night selection); Michel Hazanavicius’s Final Cut; Katja Gaurilof’s Je’vida; Pier-Philippe Chevigny’s Richelieu (Temporaries); Alice Troughton’s The Lesson (with Julie Delpy); David Gutnik’s Rule Of Two Walls (on artists in Ukraine); Virginie Verrier’s Marinette; Noam Kaplan’s The Future; Guto Parente’s A Strange Path; Hugo Ruiz’s One Night With Adela (Una Noche Con Adela); Gabriella Moses’s Boca Chica; Nate Pommer and Eric Weinrib’s Scream Of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story, and Ashley Sabin and David Redmon’s Kim’s Video, of which I was a member.
“A Bronx Tale is a very personal project that marked my directorial debut,” said Robert De Niro. “I’m pleased to celebrate its 30th anniversary at Tribeca with my longtime producing partner and Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal, the wonderful Chazz Palminteri, and a live New York audience at the iconic Beacon Theatre.”
Kiss The Future follows the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year-long siege of Sarajevo, as well as the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.
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| Frédéric Boyer on Guto Parente's A Strange Path: “Maybe of the films that happened during the pandemic - this is the best one.” |
"We know U2’s marquee is helpful in getting the lives of these local heroes to a wider audience, but even at my most puffed up I couldn’t have imagined our tiny role being given so much care, attention, and screen time by Nenad Cicin-Sain,” said Bono. “If defiance is the essence of romance, then the people of Sarajevo are the most romantic figures. Viva Sarajevo!"
“Ben and I are proud of this film and are honoured that it has been selected to open the Tribeca Festival,” said Damon. “We are grateful to the people of Sarajevo and to U2 for giving us the opportunity to help tell this special story. Though this event happened almost 30 years ago, we feel it has strong relevance to today’s world, serving as a powerful reminder that human creativity can provide a powerful antidote to even the most horrific of situations.”
From Paris before the Cannes Film Festival, Frédéric Boyer joined me on Zoom for an in-depth conversation on the 22nd edition of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Are there other international films you can recommend?
Frédéric Boyer: Of course! I selected the film Marinette [by Virginie Verrier], it’s a biopic, but it’s also about the World Cup happening in August. They are going to bring some stars of the female soccer world and the film is fine. I really like The Future [by Noam Kaplan]. This is probably the most accomplished Israeli film this year.
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| Frédéric Boyer on Ariane (Ariane Castellanos) with Stephane (Marc-André Grondin) in Richelieu: "There is something new, social, maybe Loachian." |
By the way, the brochure in Berlin this year of Israeli films, the cover is The Future. Extremely interesting film, very smart second film. We have A Strange Path which is also extremely interesting. Maybe of the films that happened during the pandemic - this is the best one.
AKT: A Strange Path?
FB: Yes, Guto Parente who’s an experimental genre filmmaker. He’s a very interesting man.
AKT: I saw that you have a special event around Michel Hazanavicius’s zombie film Final Cut.
FB: It’s going to be fine, they want to do zombie costumes, but the film opened Cannes last year. The screenings outside are going to be interesting - a restored print of Enter The Dragon and a film about Bruce Lee and the family of Bruce Lee with demonstrations; they’re going to sell posters. This is kind of Hong Kong Seventies vibe, which I think is cool.
AKT: I noticed a gala screening of A Bronx Tale [by Robert De Niro, Closing Gala selection]. I was on the jury at First Time Fest in 2014 and we had a special 20th anniversary screening with De Niro and everyone there. It was lovely.
FB: Yes, it’s still a good film. It’s a film I really like. It’s not a film made by a great filmmaker but in terms of acting, it’s very warm.
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| Frédéric Boyer on Alice Troughton’s The Lesson: “It’s really good.” |
AKT: The film with Julie Delpy is called The Lesson [by Alice Troughton].
FB: It’s really good. There’s a story about a film submitted randomly, it never happens with this sort of film and we play it in Midnight. It’s a first film. Someone told me about it - I saw the film and said immediately “Let’s invite the film” because this is really something very strong. It’s a Spanish film called Una Noche Con Adela - One Night With Adela [by Hugo Ruiz].
AKT: Midnight is not where I find most things for me.
FB: Ha, yes, but this film is a little bit in the vein of Dekalog, Krzysztof Kieślowski.
AKT: Oh, that’s interesting!
FB: It’s only one shot. There’s something at the end that I have never seen. It’s shocking, maybe the film is not for you, not for me, but in terms of something nobody knows. It’s really totally new.
AKT: Some films speak to what you said earlier, having a conversation. There is Poisoned - The Danger in our Food.
FB: Yeah, you can watch it on a plane or sleep, you know. I don’t know what to say, yes, I’m against poisonous food. I respect, but it’s not exactly my domain of competence. The conversation may be more interesting than the film.
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| Frédéric Boyer on Noam Kaplan's The Future: “Extremely interesting film, very smart second film.” Photo: Nati Levi |
AKT: It’s not Mirazur. The connection with Ukraine …
FB: Ah, there is one film, absolutely!
AKT: Rule of Two Walls [by David Gutnik] is one of them?
FB: Yes, but the film that is very interesting is Gogol Bordello [Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story by Nate Pommer and Eric Weinrib]. It’s a concert, by the way. It has incredible footage. It’s produced by VICE, but not in a VICE way. I would say VICE is dying [VICE Media filed for bankruptcy on May 15].
AKT: One of my neighbours just left his job at VICE. He was a writer on a film you had in Tribeca two years ago, called The Neutral Ground [directed by CJ Hunt] about the Confederate monuments coming down.
FB: Oh yes!
AKT: I can see his cat across the courtyard. What about The Adults by Dustin Guy Defa?
FB: I don’t remember this one.
AKT: Boca Chica [by Gabriella Moses]?
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| First Time Fest co-founders Johanna Bennett and Mandy Ward with the director of A Bronx Tale Robert De Niro at the 20th anniversary screening Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze |
FB: Again, this is absolutely not my choice. It’s from a Dominican Republic female filmmaker living in the US. I prefer Richelieu, I think it’s quite interesting. Boca Rica, yes it’s coming-of-age, I’m not against it, it’s a decorative film. I respect it.
All the others are my choice. The director of Richelieu is Pier-Philippe Chevigny and it’s a debut from Quebec. Usually Quebecois cinema never does social films. This is about workers, the actors are extraordinary in the film. Hey, finally you wake up! You don’t only have Xavier Dolan whom I love, by the way. But there is something new, social, maybe Loachian, I think it’s really a good film.
AKT: Kim’s Video [by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon], of course, because I went there.
FB: Extraordinary, yeah, it’s so cool. We cannot not play it in New York, of course.
AKT: It sounds like a full festival.
FB: There’s a lot to see. In terms of history, we have the first film in Sami language. Je’vida [by Katja Gauriloff], it’s a black & white film from Finland. It’s an indigenous Sami story, it’s a debut and pretty interesting.
Also we have for me one superstar attending, Pierfrancesco Favino, who was in The Traitor by Marco Bellocchio. He is in the only Italian film we have, called The Last Night Of Amore [by Andrea Di Stefano], it’s like a Michael Mann movie. He’s the most important Italian actor now. He’s an extraordinary actor.
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| "It’s a debut and pretty interesting" - Frédéric Boyer on Je'vida Photo: Tribeca Film Festival |
AKT: I met him once when I was interviewing Bellocchio. I am hoping to speak with him this time.
FB: Oh yes, if you need any help. If they’ll do something good, they will have a reception. I hope to see you. I’ll invite you to receptions, if you can come.
AKT: That would be lovely, as always.
Kiss The Future opens Tribeca on Wednesday, June 7 at 8:00pm - OKX Theater at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.
After the 3:00pm screening on Saturday, June 17 at the Beacon Theatre, Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal, and writer/co-star Chazz Palminteri will participate in a conversation with the editor of The New Yorker David Remnick.
Read more on what Frédéric Boyer had to say on the 22nd edition of the Tribeca Film Festival.
The 22nd edition of the Tribeca Film Festival runs from June 7 through June 18.
