VIMooZ

The Tribeca Film Festival’s lineup describes Mateo Gil’s blazing new western, “Blackthorn” as about “…the final years in the life of legendary bandit Butch Cassidy, which are shrouded in mystery, from his rumored death in a Bolivian military standoff, to his escape from South America to die quietly on a Nevada ranch the 1930s. In Mateo Gil’s intimate and adventurous Western, a re-imagined and aged Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard) is living under the assumed name James Blackthorn, in a secluded village in Bolivia, 20 years after his disappearance in 1908. Surviving humbly off the land, and finding occasional comforts with a local woman, Yana (Magaly Solier, The Milk of Sorrow), he longs to end his personal exile and return to the US to see his family. Reluctantly joining forces with a Spanish mine robber (Eduardo Noriega) who promises him a cut of the loot, Blackthorn sets out on one final adventure… and discovers he’s not the only one harboring a deep secret.”  Stephen Rea also gives a sensational performance as an ex-Pinkerton cop, who never quite got over having never brought Butch and Sundance to custody.

The film has an incredible depth and quiet beauty, and Sam Shepherd  gives the performance of his career. {jathumbnail off}

The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that it has acquired THE BULLY PROJECT, the new documentary from Emmy and Sundance award-winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch (AMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR PART HARMONY) that premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 23.

THE BULLY PROJECT is directed by Lee Hirsch, produced by Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen, and written by Lowen and Hirsch. Cindy Waitt is the executive producer. {jathumbnail off}

I met with the amazing, charismatic and riveting documentary director Alma Har’el, to discuss her first film, the documentary “Bombay Beach,” which is shaping up to be the surprise runaway hit of the Tribeca Film Festival. Shot on a $600 consumer camcorder (using 35 mm lenses), Har’el discusses her background in photography, music videos,  video/concert imagery, and PSAs, how she secured three Bob Dylan songs, and her obsessive love for the band Beirut, whose music comprises most of her magical soundtrack. {jathumbnail off}

Being overwhelmed at Tribeca is not unusual; there is a huge amount of cinema to choose from. Vimooz is here to help! Here are some films that we find to be highlights of the fest, either hidden gems we’ve mentioned, films generating a buzz, or films that are simply not to be missed. These are some documentary feature highlights, put into general categories to give an idea of what kinds of films they are. Of course, many of these films crossover into different categories, and could be included in any or all of them, as complex as they are. But when delving through the many choices Tribeca offers, it helps to have an idea of what subject a film fits into.

Making its international premiere at the the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, the documentary film ‘Give Up Tomorrow’ from director Michael Collins, documents the plight of 19 year-old Paco Larrañaga.

The documentary Renée world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Eric Drath, the film documents the transsformation of all-American boy Richard Raskind to Renée – the first transsexual player in the women’s US Open.

Vimooz.com spoke one-on-one with both the talented director of  “The Last Rites of Joe May,” and the film’s iconic American star, Dennis Farina.

The synopsis from the Tribeca Film Festival’s site : “Sixty-something Chicagoan Joe May—a short-money hustler of Rolex knockoffs and bootleg DVDs—returns home from a hospital stay to find out that his apartment has been rented to single mother Jenny (Jamie Anne Allman) and her young daughter Angelina (Meredith Droeger) because everyone thought he was dead. Begrudgingly, Joe accepts Jenny’s offer to share the apartment. Joe plots his comeback scheme, but instead a domino effect occurs with everything going against him.”

“The Last Rites of Joe May”  plays this week at Tribeca at Chelsea Clearview Cinemas on Tuesday, April 26th and Friday, April 29th, both showtimes are at 4 pm. Arrive by 3:15 pm to wait for “Rush” tickets. Enjoy!

The Bang Bang Club is the real life story of a group of four young combat photographers – Greg Marinovich, Joao Silva, Kevin Carter and Ken Oosterbroek – bonded by friendship and their sense of purpose to tell the truth. These photographers risked their lives and used their camera lenses to tell the world of the brutality and violence associated with the first free elections in post Apartheid South Africa in the early 90s. This intense political period brought out their best work – two won Pulitzers during the period – but cost them a very heavy price.

Based on the book of the same name by Marinovich and Silva, the new  film, directed by Steven Silver, stars Ryan Phillipe, Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch and explores the thrill, danger and moral questions associated with exposing the truth.

Vimooz.com’s Francesca McCaffery had the chance to hear about their new film from its fascinating stars Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch, and real-life combat photojournalist Greg Marinovich, (whom Phillippe plays in the film), as they weigh in on the challenges of making such a topical film, the moral dilemmas faced by war photographers, and the beauty of shooting in a place such as South Africa.

VIMOOZ recently conducted an interview with Bill Morrison, director of The Miners’ Hymns. The film has its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

In The Miners’ Hymn, experimental filmmaker and frequent TFF alum Bill Morrison combines newly shot aerial scenes that he filmed himself with historic found-footage images of the mining communities of Northeast England that he culled from the British national archives. Morrison creates a moving and formally elegant tribute to this vanished era of working-class life, enriched by an original score by avant-garde Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.