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Agnes Varnum is a freelance writer, film programmer and communications manager for the Austin Film Society. She is the primary contributor to doc it out and Tribeca Film Institute's Resources.

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Tribeca Doc Competition Films

March 16th, 2007 • Related Posts • Tags

Somehow I missed the press release in my inbox…Oh wait, it never arrived. Hmm. Tribeca announced their competition films while we were hunkered down in Austin. Full documentary competition line-up after the jump, or go to the press release for the whole enchilada.

  9 Star Hotel (Malon 9 Kochavim), directed by Ido Haar. (Israel) – U.S. Premiere. Slipping through the predawn darkness over highways, through traffic and across the border, Palestinian construction workers go to work clandestinely in Israel everyday. Haar’s raw, handheld photography follows workers who build their own border shanty community to enter Israel more easily, with no choice but to risk their lives simply to earn a living. In Arabic. A Koch Lorber Release.
 
• Between Heaven and Earth (Tussen Hemel en Aarde), directed by Frank van den Engel, Masja Novikova. (Netherlands) – North American Premiere. In the heart of the Eurasian continent, the ancient center of the world where the Silk Road connected China to Europe, the circus is a deeply rooted cultural phenomenon. This film focuses on two circus artists, whose lifelong friendship under the dictatorship in Uzbekistan is affected by the differing political choices they make under the dictatorshop in Uzbekistan. In Russian and Uzbek.
 
• Beyond Belief, directed by Beth Murphy. (U.S.A.) – World Premiere. Inspired by compassion for others whose loss they recognize as mirroring their own, two courageous women whose husbands died on September 11 turn their grief into a catalyst for action. They travel to Kabul to help other widows, soon recognizing that the plight of the Afghan women leaves them feeling almost blessed. In English and Dari.
 
• Bomb It, directed and written by Jon Reiss. (U.S.A.) – World Premiere. Bomb It tells the story of contemporary graffiti, tracing its roots in ancient rock paintings through Picasso to its place in hip-hop culture in 1970’s New York City. This kinetic documentary looks at graffiti on five continents, using guerilla footage of graffiti-writers in action. You’ll never look at public space the same way again. In English, German, French, Japanese.
 
• Forging a Nation (Hacer Patria), directed by David Blaustein, written by Irene Ickowicz. (Argentina) – North American Premiere. Accompanied by his mother, cousins, aunts and uncles, the director retraces the steps of his Jewish ancestors, who fled Europe in the 1920s hoping to find in Argentina the land of their dreams. This poignant film journey uses the documentary as a singular tool to explore the multifaceted ways in which the Argentine nation was built.
 
• I Am an American Soldier: One Year in Iraq with the 101st Airborne, directed by John Laurence. (U.K.) – World Premiere. This unflinching examination of the war in Iraq follows soldiers from the elite 101st Airborne Division for 14 months, from stateside preparations to their deployment in Iraq and back home again. Throughout, soldiers speak candidly about their experience in the military and demonstrate the powerful bond established as they struggle to stay alive.
 
• Miss Universe 1929, directed and written by Péter Forgács. (Austria) – U.S. Premiere. Amateur filmmaker Marci Tenczer was smitten with his cousin, Liesl Goldarbeiter and chronicled her rise from a modest childhood in Vienna to the Texas competition where she was crowned the first Miss Universe. Then Hitler upended everyone’s universe. Péter Forgács (Best Documentary El Perro Negro, 2005 Tribeca Film Festival) continues his fascinating exploration of Europe’s private history through home movies. In English.
 
• Planet B-Boy, directed by Benson Lee. (U.S.A.) – World Premiere. A powerful documentary about the vibrant global resurgence of break-dancing, Planet B-Boy goes inside the underground hip hop dance scenes around the world, as the best crews prepare for the “The Battle of the Year”—an annual “World Cup” of b-boying. Director Lee combines spectacular dance footage with poignant insight explaining why these dancers make tremendous sacrifices for their art. In English, French, Japanese and Korean.
 
• Santiago, directed and written by João Moreira Salles. (Brazil) –In 1992, Salles began making a film about Santiago, the butler who had worked for his parents since his childhood. Years later, after the death of the flamboyant servant, he looked back at the unused footage. Combining Santiago’s detailed memories and erudite contemplations with the director’s voice-over, the film reflects deftly on identity, memory and the nature of documentaries.
 
• A Slim Peace, directed by Yael Luttwak. (U.K.) ¬– World Premiere. When 14 women—Israelis, Palestinians, Bedouin Arabs, and American settlers—in the West Bank are brought together with the shared goal of losing weight, they find out they have far more in common than they ever would have imagined. A Slim Peace takes a revealing look at the universal struggle for acceptance, understanding and personal transformation in a land of intractable conflict.
 
• A Story of People in War & Peace, directed by Vardan Hovhannisyan. (Armenia) – U.S. Premiere. A deeply personal meditation on the horrors of war and its effects is shown through the eyes of Armenian journalist Vardan Hovhannisyan. Weaving together footage he shot during his country’s 1994 conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh region, Hovhannisyan creates a devastating portrait of lasting damage inflicted by the battlefield. In English and Russian.
 
• The Sugar Curtain (El Telón de Azúcar), directed by Camila Guzmán Urzúa. (France, Cuba, Spain) – U.S. Premiere. Guzmán Urzúa makes her feature documentary debut with The Sugar Curtain, an intimate portrayal of the singular experience shared by people of her generation — those living Cuba’s utopian dream during the golden era of the revolution. It is also a lament for the end of that dream, which began to fizzle after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Spanish
 
• Taxi to the Dark Side, directed by Alex Gibney. (U.S.A.) – World Premiere. This documentary murder mystery examines the death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base from injuries inflicted by U.S. soldiers. An unflinching look at the Bush administration’s policy on torture, the filmmaker behind Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room takes us from a village in Afghanistan to Guantanamo and straight to the White House. In English and Pashtu.
 
• The Tree (El Árbol), directed and written by Gustavo Fontán. (Argentina) – International Premiere. Returning to his childhood home, filmmaker Gustavo Fontán documents his parents’ deliberations over a tree planted the day he was born. Simple questions that pass between them—Is the tree dead? Should we cut it down?—become meditations on history, memory, knowledge and the sensory symphony of daily life.
 
• A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and The Warhol Factory,directed by Esther B. Robinson. (U.S.A.) – U.S. Premiere. Esther Robinson’s engrossing portrait of her uncle Danny Williams—Warhol’s onetime lover, collaborator and filmmaker in his own right—offers an engaging exploration of the Factory era, an homage to Williams’s talent, a journey of family discovery and a compelling inquiry into Williams’s mysterious disappearance at age 27
 
• We Are Together (Thina Simunye), directed by Paul Taylor. (U.K.) – North American Premiere. Though they’ve endured painful setbacks, including the loss of loved ones to AIDS, nothing can quell the angelic singing voices of the children in South Africa’s Agape Orphanage. Told with compassion and grace, Paul Taylor’s uplifting documentary celebrates the children’s indomitable spirits and musical aspirations. Includes a special appearance by Alicia Keys and Paul Simon. In Zulu and English

There Are 4 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by T, Avey on 18 March 2007:

    Overall, pretty disappointing lineup of docs. Nothing that jumps out as a “must see”. These days it seems like all docs are more of the same.

  2. Comment by agnes on 18 March 2007:

    I’ve seen Planet B-Boy as a work in progress and I’m really looking forward to it. I saw We Are Together at IDFA and it will be a wonderful screening. I’ve heard good things about A Walk Into the Sea, and The Sugar Curtain is by Patricio Guzman’s daughter about growing up in Cuba. I’m looking forward to seeing the work of Guzman’s progeny.

    I saw Vardan Hovhannisyan’s A Story of People in War & Peace. It was interesting in some ways but I was underwhelmed. Later it was on the shortlist to win the Joris Ivens award at IDFA, so I feel like I should watch it again. Maybe I was tired at the time. I’ll also line up for the new Alex Gibney film.

    So that is my beginning screening schedule. I agree that descriptions can often leave me feeling flat, but there is some strong work in this line-up so try to psych yourself up!

  3. Comment by Steve Rhodes on 23 March 2007:

    Taxi to the Dark Side looks interesting.

    There is a New School webcast on it (haven’t had a chance to watch it and not sure how long the link will work - they really need a page or post for each webcast).

    And I’m curious to see A Walk into the Sea since I’ve heard Doug Block talk about it.

    I won’t know until April 3rd which of these films will be at the SF Int. Film Fest though a few of the docs that will be there have either been announced (For City Mavericks) or I’ve heard unofficially (Strange Culture, Wonders are Many).

  4. Comment by Andy on 28 March 2007:

    I saw a work-in-progress screening of “Beyond Belief” (used to be called “Beyond the 11th”) back in September. Very powerful film, but I don’t think the description does it justice.