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    Robert De Niro Doesn’t Mind Being Celebrated

    Outside the Odeon in Lower Manhattan on Monday night, the bistro’s famed neon sign peeked above a tent shielding celebrities from onlookers trying to glimpse the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival’s 17th annual artists dinner.Selma Blair shared the spotlight with Scout, her service dog, who has been her companion since her 2018 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The actor Blake Lively, who arrived late in Chanel, a sponsor of the night, was apologetic to the photographers for making them wait.“I would’ve bought you Shake Shack or something,” she called out to them as she posed.Selma Blair with her service dog, Scout.Rebecca Smeyne for The New York TimesLily Allen, the singer, and David Harbour, the actor.Rebecca Smeyne for The New York TimesRachel Antonoff, left, with Olivia Munn, the actor.Rebecca Smeyne for The New York TimesChloe Fineman, the actor.Rebecca Smeyne for The New York TimesAfter the step and repeat, more than a hundred actors, directors and artists filed inside the restaurant, a neighborhood mainstay since the 1980s known for its steak frites and celebrity regulars. That evening, the Odeon was even more star-studded than usual: For this year’s dinner, which honors artists who donated work to be given to winners at the film festival, Chanel had pulled in many of the famous names from its Rolodex, who are known to make appearances at their functions wearing the brand.They had also come out to help celebrate the festival’s co-founder, Robert De Niro, who turned 80 last year. “De Niro Con,” a series of screenings and talks, plus an immersive exhibit, starts on June 14.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    At the Tribeca Festival, Vision and Vibe

    The festival favors abundance, which can make it easy for cinema fans (and critics) to miss the loveliest trees for the sheer breadth of forest.Early in the animated film “Boys Go to Jupiter,” premiering at this year’s Tribeca Festival, an indie electronic beat kicks in. Like a music video rendered on Kid Pix, the sequence that follows finds the mulleted Rozebud (voiced by the singer Miya Folick) tending to neon citrus trees while crooning a melody as catchy as it is ethereal. The film, from the artist Julian Glander, belongs to a subset of Tribeca movies that use music in startling and adventurous ways. Their soundscapes conjure vision and feeling, as well as that ineffable thing sometimes called vibe.Running from Wednesday through June 16, the Tribeca Festival — it dropped “film” from its name in 2021 — is big on vibe, for better and for worse. This is an event that embraces virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations, that pairs its screenings with concerts and its concerts with visuals, that touts buzzword-friendly panels about brands, innovation or brand innovation. Spilling across downtown Manhattan and a little into Williamsburg, Tribeca favors multimedia abundance, which can make it easy for cinema fans (and critics) to miss the loveliest trees for the sheer breadth of forest.My favorite Tribeca selection also ranks in my top films of the year so far: Nathan Silver’s fidgety and finely tuned “Between the Temples,” a sensational Jewish love comedy about a dispirited cantor (Jason Schwartzman) and his adult bat mitzvah student (Carol Kane). I caught it at Sundance, and feel a sacred duty to spread the word. But I primarily dedicate my Tribeca time to sampling world premieres — movies that haven’t played at other festivals and need a nudge to break out.A scene from “Boys Go to Jupiter,” directed by Julian Glander.Julian GlanderIn my hunt for gems, I often have luck in the Viewpoints section, designed to house films that push the boundaries of form and perspective. It was there that I made contact with the otherworldly “Boys Go to Jupiter,” a memorable standout, and not only because of Rozebud’s earworm. Following a cast of slackers and crackpots in suburban Florida, the video game-like musical comedy marries gummy 3-D graphics and stoned-guy humor with sly commentary on hustle culture and the gig economy. The ensemble of avatars is voiced by a corps d’elite of quirky comedians like Cole Escola and Julio Torres.Glander’s film would pair nicely with “Eternal Playground,” a Parisian drama that follows Gaspard (Andranic Manet), a middle school music teacher. Shot in sumptuous 16 mm, this labor of love from the filmmakers Pablo Cotten and Joseph Rozé opens just before the bell rings for summer break, although Gaspard won’t be leaving the premises: He and five childhood pals have resolved to secretly camp out in the vacant school while classes are out for summer. A French New Wave-inflected love letter to the schoolyard, “Eternal Playground” accompanies the crew as they sing, romp, reminisce and memorialize a late friend.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Tribeca Festival: Liza Minnelli Documentary Includes Lost Footage

    The director Bruce David Klein’s documentary, premiering at the Tribeca Festival, includes old footage found in Minnelli’s closet.A new documentary celebrates the life of the singer and actress Liza Minnelli. And it kicks off with the death of her mother, Judy Garland.“Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story” (which premieres at the Tribeca Festival on June 12) opens with the vision of Garland’s rose-covered coffin being carried past thousands of mourning fans in New York in 1969.With that somber start, the director Bruce David Klein is making a point. Rather than dwell on Minnelli’s childhood years in the orbit of her prodigiously gifted mother, he sets out to show that Minnelli, 78, shot to fame almost immediately after her mother’s passing — as if it were a catalyst of her success.Klein includes interviews with Minnelli’s artistic mentors, stage partners and close friends, including the actress Mia Farrow, who speaks of her with affection and insight.There are also glimpses of the media nastiness she faced throughout her career, such as the male journalist who asked, “They write about you that you are ugly?” Her reply: “I don’t really care. When I’m onstage, I just do my job.”Bruce David Klein, the director of the Liza Minnelli documentary. “Liza deserves it, because she has a level of artistry that many people have forgotten and need to be reminded of, that is really mind-blowing,” he said.Arin Sang-urai/Atlas Media CorpWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    The Nigerian Filmmaker Daniel Oriahi Seeks to Elevate Nollywood

    The director Daniel Oriahi is capturing the audience’s attention with his latest film, “The Weekend,” which will premiere at the Tribeca Festival.The bustling Nigerian film industry known as Nollywood certainly keeps directors busy: In the past decade, Daniel Oriahi has made over 25 movies. But the filmmaker hit a new career breakthrough when the Tribeca Festival accepted his latest, “The Weekend,” a simmering thriller about in-laws with nightmarish appetites.The selection brings the 41-year-old director welcome recognition after years of churning out movies. “You’re like, ‘Where does it end?’” Oriahi said of the relentless pace. “The Weekend,” premiering Sunday, is intended as a polished, genre-bending departure from Nollywood quickies, and it screens in the mature-themed Midnight section of the festival, which runs Wednesday through June 16.Oriahi’s debut feature in 2013 was a psychological thriller called “Misfit,” and he scored a breakthrough hit in 2015 with the action comedy “Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo,” set in the Nigerian capital, Lagos.Oriahi’s love of movies dates back to his childhood in the small town of Ewu when he drew comics of films like “Die Hard with a Vengeance” and watched Steven Spielberg pictures on cable television. After attending film school in Nigeria, he founded his own production company, meeting demand with supply.Daniel Oriahi, third from right, on set for “The Weekend.” He noted that, “in the Nigerian landscape, ‘The Weekend’ is seen as a high-budget film.”The WeekendIn “The Weekend,” normal tensions escalate to grisly demands as Nikya (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and her fiancé, Luke (Bucci Franklin), grapple with his cheery but profoundly unsettling family. In a video interview, Oriahi spoke about keeping the audience on tenterhooks, the challenges of Nollywood and his filmmaking heroes. The conversation has been edited and condensed.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Tribeca Festival: ‘Mars’ Provides Refuge for its Writers

    The comedy group The Whitest Kids U’ Know completed the project dealing with the loss of one of its founding members, Trevor Moore, who died in 2021.The animated film “Mars” — about a ragtag group of civilians visiting the red planet on a trip financed by a billionaire with an asteroid-sized ego — will premiere Thursday at the Tribeca Festival. It will mark the end to a bittersweet journey for the film’s writers that began more than a decade ago.“Mars” was written as a live-action film in 2012 by Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger and Sam Brown, the founders of the comedy group The Whitest Kids U’ Know. They met thanks to living in the same dormitory at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where they performed lots of gigs. From there came tours of the city’s comedy clubs and a television show that ran from 2007 to 2011.During the Covid-19 pandemic, they decided animation was the best way forward for the feature and opted to crowdfund the film. But in August 2021, tragedy struck when Moore died in an accident.“It did seem kind of unfathomable to complete this movie without him,” Cregger said during a recent video interview with Brown and Timmy Williams, who is also in the comedy group. They, Darren Trumeter (the fifth member of the group), and Moore, who completed his recordings before the accident, provide the voices for all the characters in “Mars.”“Trevor’s death changed everything,” Cregger said. Before Moore died, the group was having regular interactions with fans on Twitch and other social media platforms, which helped fuel interest in “Mars.” Continuing that was difficult. “When he died, it kind of became like, this hurts every time,” Cregger said. But they felt a responsibility to their fans, who helped fund the film, to complete the project.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Nathan Silver’s Movie, “Between the Temples,” Shows at Tribeca

    Nathan Silver’s ninth feature film, “Between the Temples,” continues his work as someone who is unafraid of emotional and narrative complexity.Early on in Nathan Silver’s “Between the Temples,” Ben Gottlieb, a 40-ish widower played by Jason Schwartzman, walks into a bar in his tallit and skullcap with the intention of getting plastered.Ben, a synagogue cantor in upstate New York who has lost the ability to praise the Lord through song since his wife died a year earlier, gets sloshed on mudslides, punched in the face and attracts the notice of another patron, Carla Kessler, a feisty septuagenarian played by Carol Kane. It is, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Before long, Ben is giving Carla adult bat mitzvah lessons.“Between the Temples,” showing at the Tribeca Festival, which runs Wednesday through June 16, is Silver’s ninth feature film. It first screened in January at the Sundance Film Festival, followed by its international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February. The film has already won praise for Silver’s direction and its performances. When the movie is released in U.S. theaters on Aug. 23, it may finally bring Silver and his kinetic, fiercely intelligent films wider recognition.Silver’s career is one of the most singular in contemporary independent American filmmaking. Over the past 15 years, Silver, 41, has emerged as a chronicler of the uncomfortably intimate and as an auteur who is unafraid of emotional and narrative complexity. He directed his first feature film at 25. From 2012 to 2018, he worked at a frantic pace that recalled the relentless productivity of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who made over 40 films before his death at 37. Not surprisingly, the German filmmaker is one of Silver’s cinematic idols.The raw spontaneous energy and naturalism of Silver’s films result from close collaboration with his artistic team, including his writers and actors.Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane in a still image from “Between the Temples.”Sony Pictures ClassicsWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    The Tribeca Festival, Beyond the Spotlight

    From the ticket booth and the red carpet to a restaurant and a theater, here are stories from people not in the spotlight.When it comes to who gets the most attention during the Tribeca Festival, the actors, the directors and the celebrities who walk the red carpet are foremost.But behind the scenes, there are many people who aren’t under the spotlight, yet are integral to the event nonetheless. Without them, the festival, which runs Wednesday through June 16, would not happen.These players include the attendees and the employees — more than 600 of them, according to the festival’s chief executive, Jane Rosenthal, who co-founded the festival with Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff. This staff works across 18 departments, ranging from security and box office to production and operations.Rosenthal calls them the festival’s invisible figures. “As a guest and supporter, you, of course, want to have a great time, but the team who brings it to life ensures that you have it,” she said. “They keep guests happy and the schedule running.”Here are four snapshots of people who are hidden from the spotlight’s glare, but key to the festival.Angela Robinson, a customer service manager of the call center for the festival’s ticket sales. She has gotten to know repeat visitors and said, when they return, “we pick up exactly where we left off.”Kirsten Luce for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Tribeca Festival’s 2024 Lineup Features Films With the Brat Pack, Lily Gladstone

    Organizers released the event lineup for the annual New York event, set for June. It includes films that trace the lives of Linda Perry and Avicii.The 2024 Tribeca Festival will offer the world premieres of a Brat Pack documentary, a movie starring Lily Gladstone and films that trace the lives of the music world figures Linda Perry and Avicii, organizers said Wednesday as they announced the event lineup.Also on the schedule will be a feature starring Jenna Ortega, a buddy comedy with Michael Cera, Maya Erskine and Kristen Stewart and a documentary that looks at the world of queer stand-up comedy.This year’s festival, which will run in Lower Manhattan from June 5-16, will open with the documentary “Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge” and will include 103 features from 114 filmmakers in 48 countries. The festival will offer 86 world premieres and 30 movies directed by first-time filmmakers.Officials said their final selections were chosen from more than 13,000 submissions — a record high.“We feel really lucky that there was such enthusiasm, particularly with all of the challenges that the industry had this year,” Cara Cusumano, the Tribeca Festival’s director, said in a phone interview. “It made me feel really optimistic about the future of independent film and about the resiliency of the creative community.”The documentary “Brats” will follow Andrew McCarthy as he crisscrosses the country reconnecting with fellow actors Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and others who in the 1980s and ’90s became collectively known as the Brat Pack. A panel featuring McCarthy, who directed the documentary, and other members of the cast will follow the premiere.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More