Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Tribeca >> 2021 >> 2020 Festival Selections
Films invited back after last year's disrupted edition
View other Tribeca Festival Films by strand: Documentary Competition, International Narrative Competition, Midnight, Reunion Screenings, Shorts, Spotlight Documentary, Spotlight Narrative, Tribeca Critics' Week, US Narrative Competition, Viewpoints
Clean and No Future
499
(Country: Mexico, US; Year: 2020; Director: Rodrigo Reyes; Stars: Eduardo San Juan, Eduardo San Juan)
Hybrid documentary, examines Cortez's legacy almost five centuries later through the eyes of a stranded conquistador traveling through Mexico.
All The Streets Are Silent
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jeremy Elkin; Writer: Dana Brown, Jeremy Elkin)
Documentary about the convergence of skateboarding and hip-hop
The Art Of Political Murder
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Paul Taylor)
The shocking murder of human rights activist Bishop Juan Gerardi in the aftermath of the Guatemalan Civil War sets the ground for a powerful battle between justice and corruption.
Asia
(Country: Israel; Year: 2020; Director: Ruthy Pribar; Writer: Ruthy Pribar; Stars: Alena Yiv, Shira Haas, Gera Sandler, Liran David, Tamir Mula, Evgeny Tarlatzky, Nadia Tichonova, Eden Halili, Or Barak, Mirna Fridman, Alena Yiv, Shira Haas, Gera Sandler, Liran David, Tamir Mula)
A mum tries to reconnect with her daughter as the younger woman struggles with a degenerative illness.
Banksy Most Wanted
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Seamus Haley, Aurélia Rouvier; Writer: Aurélia Rouvier, Seamus Haley)
Banksy is a household name, but behind this name hides a multitude of stories, artworks, stunts, political statements and identities, leading to one of the art world’s biggest unanswered questions - who is Banksy?
Jacinta and Not Going Quietly
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Brent Wilson; Writer: Jason Fine, Brent Wilson; Stars: Nick Jonas, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Brian Wilson, Jakob Dylan, Don Was, Taylor Hawkins, Gustavo Dudamel, Jim James, Bob Gaudio, Steven Page, Nick Jonas, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Brian Wilson)
The Beach Boys’ lead songwriter takes a drive around Los Angeles with Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend Jason Fine in this nonlinear cinematic memoir.
Clean
(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Paul Solet; Writer: Adrien Brody, Paul Solet; Stars: Adrien Brody, Glenn Fleshler, Richie Merritt, John Bianco, Dinora Walcott, Antino Crowley-Kamenwati, Alex Corrado, Gerard Cordero, Catherine Nastasi, Scott Matheny, Wayne Pyle, Frankie Montero, Sonia Conlin, David Hadasz, Dannielle Rose)
Tormented by a past life, garbage man Clean attempts a life of quiet redemption. But when his good intentions mark him a target of a local crime boss, Clean is forced to reconcile with the violence of his past.
Contactado
(Country: Peru; Year: 2020; Director: Marité Ugas; Writer: Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugas)
An ageing self-proclaimed prophet revisits his past as a spiritual guru after an eager young follower entices him to return to preaching.
Cowboys
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Anna Kerrigan; Writer: Anna Kerrigan; Stars: Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell, Ann Dowd, Chris Coy, Bob Stephenson, Gary Farmer, Sasha Knight, Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell, Ann Dowd, Chris Coy, Bob Stephenson, Gary Farmer, Sasha Knight)
Troy and his young transgender son Joe are on the run from his conservative mother in the Montana wilderness, with a detective in hot pursuit.
Dear Mr. Brody (Dear Mr Brody)
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Keith Maitland; Stars: Josephine McAdam, Frank Mosley, Chris Doubek, Geoff Marslett, Rebecca Beegle, Josephine McAdam, Frank Mosley, Chris Doubek, Geoff Marslett, Rebecca Beegle)
In 1970, eccentric hippie millionaire Michael Brody, Jr. decided to give $25 million away to anyone who needed it, sparking a media frenzy and thousands of letters from strangers all requesting his help.
Cowboys and Pray Away
Enemies Of The State
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Sonia Kennebeck)
When their hacker son is targeted by the US Government, the DeHarts will do anything to protect him.
Fries! The Movie
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Michael Steed, Gillian Brown; Stars: Chrissy Teigen)
A global culinary journey to examine the lasting appeal of the world's favourite fried food.
Fully Realized Humans
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Joshua Leonard; Writer: Joshua Leonard, Jess Weixler; Stars: Jess Weixler, Joshua Leonard, Beth Grant, Tom Bower, Michael Chieffo, Janicza Bravo, Erica Chidi Cohen, Zach Shields, Ross Partridge, Jennifer Lafleur, Dan Pfau, Whitney Moorman, Bryan Ross, Jess Weixler, Joshua Leonard)
Parents-to-be Elliott and Jackie embark on a quest for self-actualisation before the imminent birth of their first child.
The God Committee
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Austin Stark; Writer: Austin Stark; Stars: Julia Stiles, Janeane Garofalo, Colman Domingo, Kelsey Grammer, Dan Hedaya, Elizabeth Masucci, Ava Eisenson, Peter Y Kim, Wynter Kullman, Motell Gyn Foster, Alberto Bonilla, Katie Do, Patricia R Floyd, Clark Carmichael, Patricia Mauceri)
When a donor heart arrives at a New York City hospital, a committee of doctors and bureaucrats must convene to decide which of three patients deserves the life-saving transplant.
Happily
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: BenDavid Grabinski; Writer: BenDavid Grabinski; Stars: Natalie Zea, Shannon Woodward, Joel McHale, Kerry Bishé, Charlyne Yi, Stephen Root, Natalie Morales, Breckin Meyer, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Brea Grant, Paul Scheer, Jon Daly, Al Madrigal, Natalie Zea, Shannon Woodward)
Romantic-comedy-thriller about a happily married couple whose friends perform an intervention to put an end to their constant public displays of affection.
Through The Night and Honeydew
Harley
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jean-Cosme Delaloye)
Portrait of criminal defence lawyer Harley Breite.
Honeydew
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Devereux Milburn; Writer: Dan Kennedy, Devereux Milburn, Devereux Milburn; Stars: Sawyer Spielberg, Malin Barr, Barbara Kingsley, Stephen D'Ambrose, Jamie Bradley, Joshua Patrick Dudley, Rachel Alexandria Arnold, William Aydelott, Shauna Mizula, Sawyer Spielberg, Malin Barr, Barbara Kingsley, Stephen D'Ambrose, Jamie Bradley, Joshua Patrick Dudley)
Unfortunately for a young couple on a camping trip, their car broke down in the middle of the night. Even more unfortunate: In hopes of using a phone for help, they’ve stepped foot inside a house of, to put it lightly, very strange horrors.
Ice Cold
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Karam Gill)
Hip-hop documentary.
I Carry You With Me
(Country: US, Mexico; Year: 2020; Director: Heidi Ewing; Writer: Heidi Ewing, Alan Page; Stars: Armando Espitia, Christian Vazquez, Michelle Rodríguez, Ángeles Cruz, Raúl Briones, Arcelia Ramírez, Pascacio López, Michelle González, Luis Alberti, Yael Tadeo, Nery Arredondo, Alexia Morales, Alberto Trujillo, Armando Espitia, Christian Vazquez)
An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.
I Promise
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Marc Levin)
Short doc about LeBron James.
Lorelei and Banksy Most Wanted
Jacinta
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jessica Earnshaw)
A documentary charting a mother, her daughter and granddaughter and cycles of addiction.
Kiss The Ground
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Joshua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell; Writer: Johnny O'Hara; Stars: Patricia Arquette, Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, Patricia Arquette, Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady)
A revolutionary group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians band together in a global movement of “Regenerative Agriculture” that could balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world.
Kubrick By Kubrick (Kubrik Par Kubrik)
(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Gregory Monro; Writer: Gregory Monro)
Featuring a treasure trove of unearthed interview recordings from the director himself.
Landfall
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Cecilia Aldarondo)
Chronicling the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and painting a portrait of the continued fraught relationship between the US and Puerto Rico, a land in mourning and resistance.
Larry Flynt For President
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Nadia Szold; Writer: Nadia Szold)
Documents controversial Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt’s unlikely bid for the White House after a gunman’s bullet left him partially paralyzed.
Asia and Enemies Of The State
The Last Out
(Country: US, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico; Year: 2020; Director: Michael Gassert, Sami Khan)
Follows three Cuban baseball players with Major League dreams who face difficult choices and embark on radically different paths when those dreams don’t pan out.
Lorelei
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Sabrina Doyle; Writer: Sabrina Doyle; Stars: Jena Malone, Pablo Schreiber, Gretchen Corbett, Dana Millican, Quinn Liebling, Sabina Friedman-Seitz, Jeb Berrier, Joseph Bertót, Jerry Bell Jr., Trish Egan, Ryan Findley, Lynn Sher, Chancellor Perry, Bob Barr, Bionka Simone)
Reformed ex-con Wayland returns to his hometown and reconnects with his high school girlfriend Dolores, now a single mom with dreams of Hollywood in Doyle’s fable-like tale of second chances.
Love Spreads
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jamie Adams; Writer: Jamie Adams; Stars: Alia Shawkat, Dolly Wells, Chanel Cresswell, Nick Helm, Tara Lee, Alia Shawkat, Dolly Wells, Chanel Cresswell, Nick Helm, Tara Lee)
Rock band Glass Heart seclude themselves in a remote cottage to find inspiration and energy for their next album. It all hinges on star Kelly, but inspiration won’t come, and tensions start to build.
La Madrina: The Savage Life Of Lorine Padilla
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Raquel Cepeda; Writer: Raquel Cepeda)
While the Bronx burned, Lorine claimed her place as queen of the NYC street gang The Savage Skulls. 40 years later, she examines her impact in the intervening years: as mother, spiritual advisor, activist, and keeper of a controversial legacy.
Marvelous And The Black Hole
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Kate Tsang; Writer: Kate Tsang; Stars: Miya Cech, Rhea Perlman, Beth Hall, Paulina Lule, Raymond McAnally)
A teenage delinquent befriends a surly magician who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional family with sleight of hand magic.
Socks On Fire and I Carry You With Me
Materna
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: David Gutnik; Writer: Assol Abdullina, Jade Eshete, David Gutnik; Stars: Rory Culkin, Michael Chernus, Kate Lyn Sheil, Sturgill Simpson, Jade Eshete, Lindsay Burdge, Cassandra Freeman, Kaili Vernoff, Kara Young, Jake Katzman, Assol Abdullina, Jamal Seidakmatova, Zhamilya Sydykbaeva, Rory Culkin, Michael Chernus)
Four women whose lives are separated by race, culture, and class but connected by the complexities of motherhood become inextricably bound together by an incident on the New York City subway.
Miracle Fishing
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Miles Hargrove)
1994, Tom Hargrove was kidnapped in Colombia by the FARC. With a $6M ransom price and without support from the authorities, Tom’s wife and sons pick up the phone (and a Video8 camcorder) to negotiate directly with the largest terrorist group in the Western Hemisphere.
My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jonathan Cuartas; Writer: Jonathan Cuartas; Stars: Patrick Fugit, Owen Campbell, Ingrid Sophie Schram, Katie Preston, Anthony Pedone, Moises L. Tovar, Judah Bateman, Lizzy Dabczynski Bean, Jeffrey Hanson, Jesse R. Brown, Gary Mclaren, Waine Riches, Ivanna Picon, Camilla Fowler, Nancy Fong)
Dwight and his sister Jessie reach a crossroads over what to do about their little brother Thomas, a sickly child with a mysterious affliction.
Not Going Quietly
(Year: 2020; Director: Nicholas Bruckman; Writer: Nicholas Bruckman, Amanda Roddy)
An intimate, inspiring look at activist and loving father Ady Barkan, diagnosed with ALS at age 32 and who, in spite of declining physical abilities, embarks on a nationwide campaign for healthcare reform.
No Future
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Mark Smoot; Writer: Andrew Irvine, Mark Smoot; Stars: Catherine Keener, Charlie Heaton, Rosa Salazar, Jackie Earle Haley, Jefferson White)
Following the overdose of an estranged friend, recovering addict Will, still struggling with his own sobriety, returns to his hometown where he begins a troubled affair with his friend’s grieving mother.
The Outside Story
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Casimir Nozkowski; Writer: Casimir Nozkowski; Stars: Brian Tyree Henry, Sonequa Martin-Green, Sunita Mani, Olivia Edward, Asia Kate Dillon, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Michael Cyril Creighton, Matthew Maher, Hannah Bos, Maria Dizzia, Jordan Carlos, Lynda Gravatt, Paul Thureen, Nadia Bowers, Suzette Gunn)
Having just broken up with his girlfriend, introverted video editor Charles gets locked out of his apartment, accidentally embarking on a transformative odyssey through his neighbourhood.
Pray Away
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Kristine Stolakis; Stars: Michael Bussee, Alan Chambers, Ricky Chelette, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Joni Lamb, Jeffrey McCall, Joseph Nicolosi, Anne Paulk, John Paulk, Julie Rodgers, Yvette Cantu Schneider, Randy Thomas)
Exposé of gay conversion programmes.
PS Burn This Letter Please (P.S. Burn This Letter Please)
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Michael Seligman, Jennifer Tiexiera; Writer: Michael Seligman, Jennifer Tiexiera)
A box found in an abandoned storage unit unearths a time capsule of correspondences from a forgotten era: the underground drag scene in 1950s New York City.
Ricky Powell: The Individualist
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Josh Swade; Writer: Christopher McGlynn, Josh Swade)
Documentary about the street photographer's rise to fame.
She Paradise
(Year: 2020; Director: Maya Cozier; Writer: Melina Brown, Maya Cozier; Stars: Kimberly Crichton, Michael Cherrie, Onessa Nestor, Kern Mollineau, Denisia Latchman, Chelsey Rampersad)
When naïve teenager Sparkle joins a dance crew of confident older girls, she encounters an alluring but unsettling new world of sex and money.
Simple As Water
(Country: US, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Megan Mylan)
Fragments of lives cut between Turkey, Greece, Germany, and the U.S.. Each unfolding scene portrays the elemental bonds holding together Syrian families pulled apart by war, searching for a new life.
The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Yoruba Richen)
While the country was embroiled in a divisive election with racial tensions flaring, civil rights activist Harry Belafonte guest hosted The Tonight Show for one week in 1968 transforming it into a multicultural political experience.
Socks On Fire
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Bo McGuire; Writer: Bo McGuire; Stars: Michael Patrick Nicholson, Carron Clark, Bo McGuire, Chuck Duck, Michael Patrick Nicholson, Carron Clark, Bo McGuire, Chuck Duck)
Bo McGuire returns home to rural Alabama to document the bitter property feud between his homophobic aunt and gay uncle.
Stateless (Apátrida)
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Michèle Stephenson; Writer: Michèle Stephenson; Stars: Rosa Iris Diendomi-Álvarez, Teofilo Murat, Gladys Feliz)
In 2013, the Dominican Republic stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, rendering over 200,000 people without nationality, identity or homeland. Stateless explores this complex history and politics through one young woman’s fight to protect the right to citizenship for all people.
The State of Texas vs Melissa
(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Sabrina Van Tassel)
Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and now faces her last appeal.
Sweet Thing
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Alexandre Rockwell; Stars: Lana Rockwell, Nico Rockwell, Jabari Watkins, Will Patton, Karyn Parsons)
Nico and Billie are not protected by their dysfunctional and irresponsible parents, so the siblings embark on a journey with young Malik – full of cinematic references and intense moments of freedom.
Television Event
(Country: Australia; Year: 2020; Director: Jeff Daniels; Stars: Nicholas Meyer, Ted Koppel, Stephanie Austin, Ellen Anthony, Stu Samuels, Robert A. Papazian, Jack Wright, Edward Hume, Walton Dornisch, Brandon Stoddard, Mark Weinberg, David Longhurst, Nicholas Meyer, Ted Koppel, Stephanie Austin)
On November 20, 1983, ABC-TV broadcast The Day After, a chilling fictional account of the aftermath of a nuclear war on a small Kansas town. This film investigates its impact on the Regan era and beyond.
This Is Paris
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Alexandra Dean)
Documentary about heiress Paris Hilton.
Through The Night
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Loira Limbal; Stars: Deloris Hogan, Patrick Hogan)
Documentary examining the emotional toll of our modern economy on families, told through the lens of a 24-hour daycare centre in Westchester, New York.
Wake Up On Mars (Réveil sur Mars)
(Country: France, Switzerland; Year: 2020; Director: Dea Gjinovci; Writer: Dea Gjinovci)
Two teenage sisters lie in a vegetative state in the small Swedish home of their Kosovar family, the cause of their mysterious malady, known as “resignation syndrome,” entwined with their personal trauma experienced as refugees.
Woman In Blue
(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Deirdre Fishel; Stars: Nekima Levy-Pounds, Erin Grabosky, Alice White, Melissa Chiodo, Janee Harteau, Nekima Levy-Pounds, Erin Grabosky, Alice White, Melissa Chiodo, Janee Harteau)
Documentary follows the stories of the women police officers in Minneapolis who try to reform the department.
Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn
(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Muta'Ali)
In 1989, a black youth was murdered in Brooklyn when he was misidentified as the boyfriend of a local white girl. The aftermath of Yusuf Hawkins’ death exploded into a social movement, exposing racial prejudices that continue to plague us today.
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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