The 15th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival will take place from April 13 to April 24 in New York City and will screen two films that are works in progress, and five special screenings and four special events that include live performances by artists including Steve Aoki and Billie Joe Armstrong and special appearances including Sir Richard Branson and Pelè.
Dan Aykroyd (The Heart of the
Ghostbusters) in his Sony Ghost Corps office with pictures of his grandfather and father in the background along and other parapsychologist. Photo credit: Derrick Kunzer (co-producer and cinematographer of
Ghostheads)
Writer/director Brendan Mertens’ work in progress documentary Ghostheads is a special sneak preview into the many faces of the Ghostbusters fandom and its 30-year celebration as one of cinema’s most iconic franchises. The WIP features interviews with Dan Aykroyd, Ivan Reitman, Sigourney Weaver and Paul Feig.
From left to right: Bill Nye, Director Jason Sussberg,
Director David Alvarado Photo by Erika Kapin
The Untitled Bill Nye Documentary, directed by David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg broke fundraising site Kickstarter’s records when it raised over $800,000 and instantly became one of the most anticipated upcoming documentaries in its history. Audiences can join the filmmakers as they discuss their process, collaboration, and fundraising strategy, and preview exclusive scenes from the upcoming documentary.
This year’s Special Screenings and events highlight luminaries, who will each be in attendance, from Pelé in the biopic Pelé: Birth of a Legend and Sir Richard Branson in the documentary Don’t Look Down, to Steve Aoki in the documentary I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, which will premiere at the Beacon followed by a special performance by Aoki. Other musical performances include Billie Joe Armstrong, following the world premiere of Geezer, the film he stars in.
Furthering Tribeca’s commitment to supporting the arts and culture in New York City and building audiences for filmmakers, TFF will present three exclusive screenings and experiences in partnership with New York museums. Everybody Knows…Elizabeth Murray will premiere at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back at the Guggenheim Museum, and The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals at MoMA PS1.
The special events and screenings include:
Steve Aoki travels to Tokyo to explore his family’s roots.
Cinematographer: Michael Dwyer
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
Justin Krook (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary
From producers Matthew Weaver, Matt Colon, Happy Walters and David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi, TFF 2011), I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead is an energetic, heart-pumping documentary about one of the most eminent DJs working today: Steve Aoki. In the lead-up to Aoki’s biggest show of his career, the documentary examines the driving force behind his passion: Rocky Aoki, daredevil showman, Benihana founder, and Steve’s absent father.
Following the film, there will be a conversation and performance with Steve Aoki at The Beacon Theatre.
Don’t Look Down
Daniel Gordon (UK) – World Premiere, Documentary
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, daredevil entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson made an audacious attempt to cross the Atlantic and Pacific in the world’s largest hot air balloon. Don’t Look Down is a personal revelation; a dramatic tale of survival and drive. Branson recounts his experience with uncanny vividity, and reveals how baiting death forever changed him.
Elizabeth Murray painting.
Photographer: Sidney Felsen
Everybody Knows…Elizabeth Murray
Kristi Zea (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary
This tribute to the dynamic artist Elizabeth Murray, an intrinsic figure in New York’s contemporary art landscape from the 1970s until the early 2000s, highlights her struggle to balance personal and family ambition with artistic drive in a male-dominated art world. It also addresses her later battle with cancer, at the peak of her career.
Screening in partnership with the Whitney Museum of American Art where the film will screen.
The Man Who Knew Infinity
Matthew Brown (UK) – New York Premiere, Narrative
In 1913, a self-taught mathematics prodigy Ramanujan (Dev Patel) traveled from his home in India to Trinity College in Cambridge to study with the esteemed professor GH Hardy (Jeremy Irons). Hardy fights for Ramanujan to be recognized as the two struggle with prejudice, illness, and culture on the road to perfecting the theorems that changed the course of history of math. In English, Tamil with subtitles. An IFC Films release.
Following the screening there will be an in depth conversation with Dev Patel and the film’s creators. Presented in association with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation/Tribeca Film Institute partnership, this Special Screening Event is co-sponsored by Bira 91.
Billie Joe Armstrong as Perry in the film GEEZER. Photo Credit: Scott Miller
Geezer
Lee Kirk (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative
Perry (Billie Joe Armstrong) is a happily married father of two living a comfortable but sedate life in the suburbs. On the occasion of his 40th birthday, he seeks to revisit his former life as the lead singer in a popular punk band though his middle-aged reality quickly (and hilariously) clashes with the indulgences of his youth. With Fred Armisen, Selma Blair, Judy Greer and Chris Messina.
With a special live performance from Billie Joe Armstrong following the film.
“Maurizio Cattelan kicks a burning baby carriage in Milan.” Photo Credit: Maurizio Cattelan Archive
Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back
Maura Axelrod (UK) – World Premiere, Documentary
An art world upstart, provocative and elusive artist Maurizio Cattelan made his career on playful and subversive works that send up the artistic establishment, until a retrospective at the Guggenheim in 2011 finally solidified his place in the contemporary art canon. Axelrod’s equally playful profile leaves no stone unturned in trying to figure out: who is Maurizio Cattelan? In English, Italian with subtitles.
Screening in partnership with the Guggenheim Museum where the film will screen.
Young Pelé (Leonardo Lima Carvalho) in Jeff and Michael Zimbalist’s PELÉ BIRTH OF A LEGEND. Courtesy of Ique Esteves. An IFC Films Release.
Pelè: Birth of a Legend
Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist (UK) – World Premiere, Narrative
From the slums of Brazil to center stage at the world’s biggest sporting event, Pelé’s rise to become the youngest-ever World Cup winner, at the age of 17, was nothing short of a miracle. Full of laughs, life lessons, and heart, this inspiring biopic is perfect for introducing a new generation to the greatest soccer player of all time. With Vincent D’Onofrio, Rodrigo Santoro, Diego Boneta, Seu Jorge, Colm Meaney. An IFC Films release.
Followed by a conversation with Pelé.
SHOT! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock
Barnaby Clay (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary
Legendary music photographer Mick Rock is best known for his iconic photographs of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Queen, and countless others. In a documentary as rock-n-roll as its subject, Mick Rock guides us through his psychedelic, shambolic first-hand experiences as the visual record-keeper of these myths and legends.
With a special live music tribute following the screening.
BRENDA CONTORTIONIST. Photo Credit: National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield Library
The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals
Benedikt Erlingsson (UK, Iceland) – North American Premiere, Documentary
Benedikt Erlingsson brings us a world of imagination with a compendium of wonderful unseen archival footage of circus performers, cabaret acts, and fairground attractions. The films are set to a haunting electronic score composed by members of Sigur Rós in collaboration with Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
Screening in partnership with MoMA PS1 where the film will screen inside the VW Dome.
If you are interested in attending the Festival, passes and ticket packages are currently on sale here, with single ticket sales available for purchase from 29th March 2016.
Make sure to join the conversation with us at Tribeca ’16.
