The final weekend of the Tribeca Film Festival has arrived. George Oliphant goes behind the scenes for one last look at the titillating documentary “The Workshop”, a film about a sex workshop that brings new meaning to the phrase “voyage of self-discovery.” George speaks with director Jamie Morgan about why he made the boundary-pushing movie. Mature audiences can view the racy film in Saturday’s midnight show. As we wrap up, get all the highlights and red carpet outtakes from the last week. Even if the festival films were the main event, you can indulge in a little star gazing in this video. The glitz and glam of Tribeca is all here and the stars got candid with Shira Lazar and Cecile Raubenheimer. You won’t want to miss these exclusive interviews with Drew on singing, Topher on being bad and John Turturro on Brando.
One of the highlights at Tribeca is the number of incredible short films featured during the festival. In this video George Oliphant goes behind the scenes of “Red Angel”, a sexually charged drama about the forbidden relationship between student and teacher. Katie Nehra, who plays the seductive co-ed, speaks about the film’s twist on role-reversal with her professor, played by Fisher Stevens. Catch the final screening on May 6 at 4 p.m. Thursday night don’t miss one of the festival’s most heralded documentaries “Doubletime”, which goes inside the world of competitive jump roping. Director Stephanie Johnes chats about the subtext of race and class woven into the story. But the jump rope competition’s high-energy finale, filmed at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, proves that a little ‘Double Dutch’ conquers all. “Doubletime” plays on May 3 at 8:00 p.m.
Tribeca went high stakes on Tuesday night with the world premiere of “Lucky You.” Cecile Raubenheimer was on the red carpet to speak with stars Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall, and director Curtis Hanson. The film chronicles the win, lose or draw game of life, love and luck between co-stars Eric Bana, a card shark, and Drew Barrymore, an aspiring singer. But can Drew really sing? In this video Cecile gets the inside scoop on Drew’s vocal talents. Making a movie about poker wasn’t such a reach for Curtis Hanson however. Cecile speaks with the director about the connection between Texas Hold ‘Em and movie making. If you missed the emotionally-charged documentary “The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez” at the festival, here’s you chance to see a clip from the film that explores the legacy of a deadly border dispute between a Mexican family and US marines. Director Kieran Fitzgerald discusses how emotions outweigh politics in his film.
The summer movie season got an early start in Queens last night. The Tribeca Film Festival’s flashiest and biggest event – the premiere of “Spiderman 3” – brought fans and stars alike to the outer borough. Cecile Raubenheimer works the red carpet and speaks with director Sam Raimi about what it means to open at New York’s homegrown festival. She also gets the scoop from Topher Grace on his new role as a villain in this highly-anticipated action movie. Moving south of Queens to Brooklyn, Shira Lazar previews another film set in NYC in the middle of the infamous city-wide blackout of August 2003, appropriately called “Blackout”. Check in with Brooklyn-native director Jerry Lamothe about the urban drama set in East Flatbush. The film’s next screening is May 4th at 8:30 p.m.
LX takes a break from the red-carpet to send Cecile Raubenheimer to the Tribeca Film Festival drive-in for the outdoor screening of the documentary “Planet B-Boy”. The film chronicles the history and art of competitive break-dancing, following a group of competitors to the World Championship. Amid weekend film go-ers and live street-dancers, Cecile speaks to director Benson Lee about his film and the resurgence of this dance movement. Next, Cecile takes a look at some projects from Tribeca Midnight Films, a unique and often unusual group of films. Director Jim Mickle describes the hair-raising story line behind his horror film “Mulberry Street”, appropriately set in New York City. The next screening of “Mulberry Street” is May 1st at 11pm.
It’s day three of the Tribeca Film Festival and LX.com is back on the red-carpet for the premiere of “The Grand”, a comedic, un-scripted mockumentary starring Woody Harrelson. LX.com’s Tracie Jayne catches up with Harrelson and the rest of the A-list cast to find out if it really is more fun without a script. And as usual, Shira Lazar shares highlights from the daily film festival schedule, beginning with this evening’s premiere of “Third Wave”, a true documentary that trails volunteer aide worker Alison Thompson to Sri Lanka after the catastrophic 2004 tsunami. Producer Oscar Gubernati and Director Alison Thompson speak with LX about their experience making this emotionally charged film about hope and rebuilding.
Shira Lazar is back on the red carpet for Thursday night’s premiere of “Brando”, a documentary that pays tribute to the acting great with never-before-seen footage of the legendary actor, as well as interviews with actors and directors whom he inspired. Producers Leslie Greif and Mimi Friedman speak with Shira about the gorgeous film that brought out a star-studded audience, including Patricia Clarkson and John Turturro. First-time filmmakers are also in the spotlight in this video. Shira sits down with former sportscaster and first-time filmmaker John Frankel, director of the gritty documentary “Hellfighters”. The film follows the Hellfighters, Harlem’s only high school football team, as they struggle to find the money and resources needed to play. “Hellfighters” premieres at the festival on April 27th, at 9pm.