Tribeca Festival 2013

These 12 documentaries will compete for Best Documentary Feature, Best New Documentary Director, and Best Editing.

View other Tribeca Festival Films by strand: Midnight, Shorts, Special Screenings, Spotlight, Storyscapes, Viewpoints, World Narrative Competition

Teenage Teenage
Teenage and Alias Ruby Blade
Aatsinki: The Story Of Arctic Cowboys (Country: US, Finland; Year: 2013; Director: Jessica Oreck; Writer: Jessica Oreck)
In the forests of Finnish Lapland, brothers Aarne and Lasse Aatsinki carry on the generations-old tradition of reindeer herding. These modern cowboys maintain an intricate bond with the environment that has allowed them to preserve their lifestyle in one of the harshest climates imaginable. This documentary charts a year in their lives.
World premiere
Alias Ruby Blade (Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Alex Meillier; Writer: Alex Meillier, Tanya Meillier; Stars: Kirsty Sword Gusmao, Xanana Gusmão, José Ramos Horta, Geoffrey Robinson, Max Stahl)
The love story of human rights activist Kirsty Sword and political prisoner Xanana Gusmão.
North American premiere
Big Men (Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Rachel Boynton)
For her latest industrial exposé, Rachel Boynton (Our Brand Is Crisis) gained unprecedented access to Africa's oil companies. The result is a gripping account of the costly personal tolls levied when American corporate interests pursue oil in places like Ghana and the Niger River Delta.
World premiere
The Genius Of Marian (Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Banker White, Anna Fitch)
Weaving past into present, filmmakers Banker White and Anna Fitch immerse the audience in the daily life of White’s mother, Pam. Her Alzheimer’s threatens to wipe out the memory of her own mother, Marian, a celebrated artist who died of the same disease. The Genius of Marian retraces both women’s lives to paint a complex and powerful contemporary portrait of motherhood, chronic illness and legacy.
World premiere
The Kill Team (Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Dan Krauss)
In 2010, the media branded a platoon of U.S. Army infantry soldiers “The Kill Team” following reports of its killing for sport in Afghanistan. Now, one of the accused must fight the government he defended on the battlefield, while grappling with his own role in the alleged murders. Dan Krauss’s documentary examines the stories of four men implicated in heinous war crimes in a stark reminder that, in war, innocence may be relative to the insanity around you.
World premiere
Oxyana Oxyana
Oxyana and Michael H - Profession: Director
Let The Fire Burn (Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Jason Osder)
Account of the incidents leading up to and during the 1985 standoff between the extremist African-American organization MOVE and Philadelphia authorities. The dramatic clash claimed eleven lives and literally and figuratively devastated an entire community.
World premiere
Michael H - Profession: Director (Michael Haneke - Porträt eines Film-Handwerkers) (Country: Austria, France; Year: 2013; Director: Yves Montmayeur; Writer: Yves Montmayeur; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Béatrice Dalle, Michael Haneke, Isabelle Huppert, Susanne Lothar, Emmanuelle Riva, Jean-Louis Trintignant)
An exploration of the work of Michael Haneke.
World premiere
Oxyana (Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Sean Dunne)
Exploration of a small Appalachian town in the grip of drug addiction.
World premiere
Powerless (Country: India; Year: 2013; Director: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar)
The battle against electricity theft in Konpur is complicated by local resentment of perceived profiteering.
North American premiere
Raw Herring (Hollandse Nieuwe) (Country: Netherlands; Year: 2013; Director: Leonard Retel Helmrich, Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich)
Every year millions of people look forward to the first preparation of Hollandse Nieuwe, the popular snack of raw herring from the North Sea’s spring catch. But how do you find glory in the gruelling pursuit of a once-iconic fish that even the queen no longer accepts as definitively Dutch? Raw Herring celebrates the cultural legacy maintained by Holland’s last great herring fishers even as new trends and foreign competition threaten their way of life.
World premiere
Big Men Big Men
Big Men and Powerless
Red Obsession (Country: Australia; Year: 2012; Director: Warwick Ross, David Roach)
A documentary showing the impact on Bordeaux traditions of a growing Chinese middle class with an increasing appetite for fine wine.
North American premiere
Teenage (Country: US, Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Matt Wolf; Writer: Jon Savage, Matt Wolf; Stars: Narrated by actors Jena Malone, Ben Whishaw, Julia Hummer and Jesse Usher)
A social history of the teenager.
World premiere
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