by Michelle Jasmine

 

It’s that time of year that New York knows all too well. Launched in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro and currently celebrating its lucky 13th anniversary, the Tribeca Film Fest will be scattered throughout lower Manhattan between April 16 until April 27. Although many are in town for the festival with high expectations to pack into their schedule as many films as they can, tickets are selling at record breaking rates, as the lucky 13 TFF line up looks to be one of the best in the history of the festival, including works by 37 first time film makers.

 

The latest updates from TFF sources are already citing several works that are nearly sold out during the AMEX pre-sale, despite the fact that single ticket sales only opened to the public Monday April 14. A handful of these films include various documentary features and narrative features made by first time film makers. Chris Messina makes his directorial debut with narrative feature Alex of Venice, 86 minutes in length, which explores the separation between George and Alex, played by Chris Messina and Mary Elizabeth Winstead respectively, and Alex’s struggle to reorganize, reevaluate and reinvent her life without her husband. LA independent film maker Chapman Way, along with brother and UCLA alumni Maclain Way present their 74 minute long documentary The Battered Bastards of Baseball, which shares the journey of Bing Russell, former actor turned professional baseball owner, who managed the Portland Mavericks and overhauled the world of Minor League baseball. Although female director Johanna Hamilton has had plenty of experience producing for PBS, A&E, National Geographic and Discovery Channel, she makes her debut as a director with her thriller documentary feature 1971, which explores the breaking and entering of eight Pennsylvanians into their local FBI office in order to expose specific classified files.

 

Other limited films, which have been selling out like hotcakes, include Electric Slide directed by Tristan Patterson, Goodbye to All That directed by Angus MacLachlan, Life Partners directed by Susanna Fogel, and Love & Engineering directed by Tonislav Hirstov. Film screening locations include, but are not limited to AMC Loews Village 7, Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea and SVA Theater.

 

These new film makers are the future story tellers of our generation and TFF is an incredible opportunity for them to showcase their work to an excited public audience and to the array of actors, editors, producers, writers who will be eager to bond in future collaborations. I look forward to following the journeys and successes of these film makers, along with their cast and crew post TFF, as many of them have the potential to create a reputable niche for themselves in the film industry and to launch their careers via Tribeca.

 

For more information on films, locations and specific updates, check out TFF’s website, Facebook and Twitter .