Tribeca 2015: Midnight and Spotlight Film Slates Include Maggie, Emelie, Stung, Backtrack, and More; New Images!
Debi Moore
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The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by AT&T, today announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Screening sections as well as work in progress screenings. While the majority of what Dread Central readers will be interested in falls in the Midnight section, there are a few other treats we want to bring to your attention.
The 14th edition of the Festival will take place from April 15 to April 26 in New York City.
The Midnight section will premiere five films, four of which are world premieres from dynamic new genre voices from around the world. It is an eclectic lineup of twisted tales that run the gamut from creature features to ominous, creepy horror films, including a real life underground wrestling revenge story and an unsettling babysitter thriller.
“As a genre fan myself, I had a lot of fun with the range of storytelling in this year’s section,” said Cara Cusumano, Senior Programmer. “From one worst nightmare to another, I know this year’s selections will engage – and sometimes unnerve – audiences with a range of edgy horror stories, suspenseful thrillers, and absurd humor.”
The Spotlight section features 40 films, consisting of 23 narratives and 17 documentaries. Twenty-four films in the selection world premiere at the Festival. This year’s Special Screenings have been programmed to provide exciting film experiences partnering both new and classic films with unique live performances and include Rifftrax Live: The Room, which is also part of the Midnight section. Rifftrax, an expansion of cult classic TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000” by its original cast members, skewers cult classic films with live comedic commentary.
The complete film selections for the Midnight section include:
MIDNIGHT
Always thrilling and a little bit dangerous, Tribeca’s Midnight section this year features five genre films and one special event for adventurous late night audiences. Creative and unique villains from vengeful anthropomorphic bananas to evil mutant wasps and crazy ass babysitters terrorize the heroes of Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana!, Stung, and Emelie. Conversely, it’s antiheroes who take the spotlight in corrupt cop drama Hyena and envelope-pushing kidnapping story Scherzo Diabolico. The program is capped off with a one-night only live performance from cinephile comedy group Rifftrax, who will skewer the reigning king of Midnight Movies: Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Stay up late with these scary, funny, surprising tales in Midnight at Tribeca.
Bodyslam: The Revenge of the Banana!, directed and written by Ryan Harvie and John Paul Horstmann. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Ronald McFondle, Eddie Van Glam, and other social outcasts made up the Seattle Semi-Pro (SSP) Wrestlers, an off-kilter family of cabaret fighters that spoofed the pros. When a newcomer Paul, The Banana, fell on the wrong end of the joke, he ran to the government to disband the SSP. Bodyslam: The Revenge of the Banana! captures the wrestlers’ fight to keep the theatrics alive.
“The bunch of Bananas in happier times” from “Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana” / Photo credit: Luke Keyes
Emelie, directed by Michael Thelin, written by Richard Raymond Harry Herbeck. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. After their regular babysitter Maggie can’t make it, the Thompson family turns to her friend Anna to supervise their children while the parents go out to celebrate their anniversary. At first Anna seems like a dream come true to the kids, allowing them to eat extra cookies and play with things that are usually off-limits, but as her behavior becomes increasingly odd, the kids soon find out that her intentions are dark and twisted, and she is not who she seems to be.
Little Boy (Thomas Bair) and Girl (Sarah Bolger) / Cinematographer: Luca Del Puppo
Hyena, directed and written by Gerard Johnson. (UK) – U.S. Premiere, Narrative. Michael Logan (Peter Ferdinando) may be a corrupt, coke-addled cop, but he’s a bad lieutenant with a conscience. After years of dodging the same laws he was assigned to uphold, Michael suddenly finds himself trying to change while safeguarding a young Albanian woman from the sex trade. Equal parts grit and neon, Hyena blurs the line between cop and criminal and exposes the illicit underworld inhabited by London’s most ruthless policemen. A Tribeca Film release.
Peter Ferdinando as Michael Logan in Hyena / Courtesy Tribeca Film
Scherzo Diabolico, directed and written by Adrián García Bogliano. (Mexico, USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Armed with a fine-tuned chokehold and penchant for piano sonatas, a wearied accountant breaks his mild-mannered routine when he kidnaps a young woman. What starts as a carefully calculated plan soon crescendos into his worst nightmare. A delightfully twisted black comedy, Scherzo Diaboloco is the latest opus from director Adrián García Bogliano. In Spanish with subtitles
Daniela Soto Vell as Anabela in Scherzo Diabolico / Photo credit: Dario Goldgel
Stung, directed by Benni Diez, written by Adam Aresty. (Germany, USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. For catering staffers Paul and Julia, Mrs. Perch’s fancy garden party at her remote country villa is nothing out of the ordinary. A mishap with toxic plant fertilizer leads to the most unwelcome of dinner guests: giant killer wasps. Director Benni Diez takes audiences on a thrilling, gory rollercoaster ride from campy to creepy, in this delightful and dreadful creature-feature.
Paul is attacked by the dog-wasp Matt O ́Leary as Paul / Photographers: Sebastian Nozon, Peter Hacker
Horror highlights (and films that piqued our interest) in the Spotlight section include:
SPOTLIGHT – Co-Sponsored by Brookfield Place and The Lincoln Motor Company
Backtrack, directed and written by Michael Petroni. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. In this spine-tingling supernatural thriller, troubled psychotherapist Peter Bowers (Adrien Brody) is suffering from nightmares and eerie visions. When he uncovers a horrifying secret that all of his patients share, he is put on a course that takes him back to the small hometown he fled years ago. There he confronts his demons and unravels a mystery 20 years in the making.
Maggie, directed by Henry Hobson, written by John Scott 3. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. There’s a deadly zombie epidemic threatening humanity, but Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a small-town farmer and family man, refuses to accept defeat even when his daughter, Maggie (Abigail Breslin), becomes infected. As Maggie’s condition worsens and the authorities seek to eradicate those with the virus, Wade is pushed to the limits in an effort to protect her. Joely Richardson co-stars in this post-apocalyptic thriller. Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions release.
Mojave, directed by and written by William Monahan. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. William Monahan’s second feature, starring Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedlund, is a delirious trip from the fringes of the desert to the center of the film industry. Armed with little more than a knife and two handles of vodka, an on-edge Hollywood director sets out to the Mojave Desert, where he finds a drifter brandishing a rifle and claiming to be the Devil.
Thought Crimes, directed by Erin Lee Carr. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. Convicted yet then acquitted of conspiring to kidnap, rape, kill, and eat several women, NYPD officer Gilberto Valle quickly rose to infamy as New York’s own “Cannibal Cop”. With exclusive access to Valle, Erin Lee Carr’s unflinching documentary asks a fundamental question that challenges our beliefs about the criminal justice system, and even the very nature of right and wrong: Can you be guilty of a crime you only thought about committing? An HBO Documentary Film.
Starting March 18, the Film Guide and screening schedule will be live on www.tribecafilm.com and detail all feature films announced to date; additional programs will be added upon announcement.
Passes and tickets for the 2015 Festival
The new Spring Pass is on sale now at tribecafilm.com/festival/tickets. This pass will provide access to Spring Studios throughout the Festival, including innovation talks, exhibitions, as well as a resource center and creative workspace with food, and drinks. It also includes access to select special events at Spring Studios. The Pass will give discounts to all general screenings and panels during the Festival. The Spring Pass costs $400, discounted to $300 if purchased before April 15. Pass holders can invite one guest to accompany them to Spring Studios each day of the Festival. An Individual Day Pass for Spring Studios costs $50, discounted to $40 if purchased before April 15.
Advance selection ticket packages and passes go on sale Monday, March 2, for American Express Card Members and on Monday, March 9, for the general public. All advance selection packages and passes can be purchased online at tribecafilm.com/festival/tickets, or by telephone at (646) 502-5296 or toll free at (866) 941-FEST (3378).
Single tickets cost $18.00 for evening and weekend screening, and $10.00 for weekday matinee screenings.
Single ticket sales begin Tuesday, March 31, for American Express Card Members; Sunday, April 5, for downtown residents; and Monday, April 6, for the general public. Single tickets can be purchased online, by telephone, or at one of the Ticket Outlets, with locations at Regal Cinemas Battery Park (102 North End Avenue), Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea (260 W. 23rd Street), and the Tribeca Film Festival creative hub at Spring Studios (50 Varick Street). The 2015 Festival will offer ticket discounts on general screenings and Tribeca Talks: After the Movie and Directors Series panels for students, seniors, and select downtown Manhattan residents. Discounted tickets are available at Ticket Outlet locations only.
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