Three Days at Tribeca, Three Years Later

Suite Habana

It was disheartening, but somehow fitting. The sound system was plagued with feedback during last Friday's Tribeca Film Festival panel at which Martin Scorsese discussed the role of music in his films. Here was one of the founders of this 3-year-old festival in downtown New York, a film director whose unique use of popular music is one of the distinguishing characteristics of his work, and the audience had to strain to hear his comments and those of interviewer Lisa Robinson, or recoil from the feedback screech when the volume was turned up to more audible levels. Everyone remained in good humor – even when the auditorium lights flicked off unexpectedly a couple times later in the program – but the sad irony of an audio master victimized by technical difficulties that might have been prevented with a simple sound check was inescapable.

Hastily organized three years ago in the wake of 9/11, the Tribeca Film Festival had a stated purpose of revitalizing the devastated neighborhood that encompassed Ground Zero. In that effort the festival seems to have been very effective. The programming was, and is, diverse and eclectic. That "something for everyone" approach has been both the festival's strength and weakness. The festival indeed proves to be a draw for city residents, who can choose from a wide array of offerings. Should films by first-time directors or international cinemas, documentarians, and Hollywood sneaks not be your thing, how about events like street fairs or outdoor screenings of the final episode of Friends? While such activities have an obvious community appeal, they are not likely to draw in guests from beyond the city's borders. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but at the present, the Tribeca Film Festival suffers from slight schizophrenia as it works through its identity and redefined goals.

Screenings appeared to be well-attended, be they the premiere of the new Ed Burns film Looking for Kitty; a city symphony called Suite Habana; a Baghdad newsreel called War Is Over! by Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi; or the Spanish semidocumentary Whore, starring American beauties Daryl Hannah and Denise Richards. Even in New York, viewers are starved for movies that diverge from the standard Hollywood fare. Yet even though the above-mentioned movies are all interesting projects worthy of attention, none are breakout hits or undiscovered gems. It's the kind of stuff that will attract the neighbors but is not really anything to write home about.