Trailer for 2013 Tribeca Film Festival world premiere GORE VIDAL: THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA was released.

Directed by Nicholas Wrathall (Abandoned: The Betrayal of America’s Immigrants), the film features the final interviews with the iconic American writer, essayist, and singular intellectual.  Featuring interviews with Gore Vidal, Burr Steers, Christopher Hitchens, Jodie Evans, Tim Robbins, Mikhail Gorbachev, Sting, David Mamet, Bob Scheer, William F. Buckley, Jay Parini, Norman Mailer, Nina Straight and Dick Cavett.

No twentieth-century figure has had a more profound effect on the worlds of literature, film, politics, historical debate, and the culture wars than Gore Vidal.  Anchored by intimate one-on-one interviews with the man himself, Nicholas Wrathall’s new documentary is a fascinating and wholly entertaining portrait of the last lion of the age of American liberalism. 

Commentary by those who knew him best—including filmmaker/nephew Burr Steers and the late Christopher Hitchens—blends with footage from Vidal’s legendary on-air career to remind us why he will forever stand as one of the most brilliant and fearless critics of our time.

GORE VIDAL: THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA is playing in the Spotlight Section of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, and will world premiere on Thursday, April 18th at 8:30pm at the AMC Loews Village 7.  Additional public screenings are Saturday, April 20th, 2:30pm at the AMC Loews Village 7, and Friday, April 26th at 5:30pm at the Clearview Cinemas Chelsea.

http://youtu.be/INW6i6K1NmQ

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[caption id="attachment_3411" align="alignnone" width="550"]Fresh Meat[/caption]

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) which runs April 17-28, 2013 in lower Manhattan, New York, announced the lineup and programming for the Tribeca Online Festival.  The Tribeca Online Festival (TOF) will provide free streaming of Festival films.

Seven titles including features Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution, Lil Bub & Friendz, and Farah Goes Bang (which will be streamed just after their Festival theatrical premieres), and short films RPG OKC, Delicacy, The Exit Room, and A Short Film About Guns will be accessible on tribecaonlinefestival.com . Via TribecaOnlineFestival.com audiences can vote on the best online feature and short, with the winners receiving a total of $16,000 in prize money.  

The Tribeca Online Festival will also stream a number of highly anticipated conversations during the Festival as well as the 2013 TFF awards show on Thursday April 25, 2013.  

Tribeca Film will also release 2013 TFF selections What Richard Did, Greetings from Tim Buckley, Fresh Meat andThe English Teacher nationwide via on demand during the Festival window. The titles will be available in more than 50 million homes in the U.S. and Canada through all major cable video-on-demand providers, as well as iTunes, Amazon Watch Instantly, VUDU, Xbox, Google Play and YouTube.

New this year is the launch of Tribeca Film Festival’s #6SECFILMS Vine Competition, an online juried competition using the six-second, micro-movie making app. Filmmakers can  submit in one of four categories — #genre, #auteur, #animate and #series – using both the category hashtag and #6SECFILMS . Shortlists in each category will be viewable for the public on April 17 and will compete for cash prizes of $600. Submissions are now open through midnight on April 7. Winners will be announced by the Tribeca Online Festival on April 26.

Details on the VOD and Tribeca Online Festival offerings follow:

TRIBECA ONLINE FESTIVAL

FREE STREAMING OF OFFICIAL FESTIVAL SELECTIONS:

Three feature titles and four short films from the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival will be available on TOF. Each film will have limited screening windows and capacity. Online viewers will be able to vote for the Best Tribeca Online Feature Film, a prize of $10,000, and the Best Tribeca Online Short Film, a prize of $5,000. Winners will be announced at the Tribeca Film Festival Awards on April 25.

The full list of feature films streamed on the Tribeca Online Festival is as follows:

[caption id="attachment_3412" align="alignnone" width="550"]ALIAS RUBY BLADE: A Story of Love and Revolution[/caption]

Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution, directed by Alex Meillier, written by Tanya Ager Meillier and Meillier. (USA) – North American Premiere. Kirsty Sword Gusmão went to Timor-Leste to document injustice in an area closed to Western journalists. Over the next decade, she became the lynchpin that sustained the nation’s harrowing struggle for independence and met the man who would redefine the cause for which she was fighting. Using astonishing footage of the years-long resistance, director Alex Meillier presents a highly personal account of the courage needed to create a new democracy in modern times.

[caption id="attachment_3413" align="alignnone" width="550"]LIL BUB & FRIENDZ[/caption]

Lil Bub & Friendz, directed by Andy Capper and Juliette Eisner. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. Called “the most famous cat on the Internet,” the wide-eyed perma-kitten Lil Bub is the adorable embodiment of the Web’s fascination with all things cats. Join Lil Bub and her owner on a wild cross-country romp as they meet the Internet’s most famous cat-lebrities. Chock full of adorable kitties, hilarious videos and the dedicated cat enthusiasts who love them, Lil Bub & Friendz is a fun and hip peek behind the memes we know and love. Includes Mike “The Dude” Bridavsky, Ben Lashes, Grumpy Cat, Nyan Cat, Keyboard Cat.

Farah Goes Bang, directed by Meera Menon, written by Laura Goode and Menon. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Farah hits the road with her buddies to stump for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, hoping the trip will be her opportunity to finally shed her unwanted virginity. She soon finds her efforts on both political and sexual fronts continuously thwarted. Comically balancing that moment’s climate of intolerance with a universal coming-of-age tale, Farah Goes Bang paints a comic portrait of the overdue growing pains of a group of girlfriends and the country itself.

The full list of short films streamed on the Tribeca Online Festival is as follows:

RPG OKC, Directed and written by Emily Carmichael, (USA), World Premiere. Two video game characters forge an unlikely romance.

Delicacy, Directed by Jason Mann, written by Frieda Luk and Jason Mann, (USA), New York Premiere. A culinary connoisseur and a chef go on a hunt for a rare animal.

The Exit Room, Directed and written by Todd Wiseman Jr, (USA), World Premiere. It is 2021, and imprisoned journalist Joseph Michaels faces government execution and contemplates a desperate escape attempt in order to return to his young family.

A Short Film About Guns, Directed by Minos Papas, (Cyprus), (U.K.), (USA), World Premiere. Four experts on arms trafficking recount first-hand experiences with the black market and how the illegal flow of weapons facilitates loss of life and devastation.

TRIBECA FILM VIDEO-ON-DEMAND

[caption id="attachment_3415" align="alignnone" width="550"]WHAT RICHARD DID[/caption]

What Richard Did, directed by Lenny Abrahamson, written by Malcolm Campbell. (Ireland) – U.S. Premiere, Narrative. Charismatic Richard leads a group of devoted friends through the rituals of their final summer break together: partying on the beach, hazing younger students, hooking up. But the good times will not last forever. When jealousy leads to a senseless act, Richard’s perfect life unravels amid self-doubt, shame, grief and guilt. What Richard Did is a gripping dissection of an action and its consequences, featuring a stellar lead performance by Jack Reynor.  A Tribeca Film release.

[caption id="attachment_3416" align="alignnone" width="550"]Greetings from Tim Buckley[/caption]

Greetings from Tim Buckley, directed by Daniel Algrant, written by David Brendel, Emma Sheanshang and  Algrant. (USA) – U.S. Premiere, Narrative. “Like father, like son” is a demanding expression for someone who never knew his dad. When young Jeff Buckley (Penn Badgley) is asked to participate in a tribute concert for his late musician father Tim, music opens his eyes to the artistic legacy that he is destined to follow. Imogen Poots co-stars in this quiet and powerful tribute to those legends sustained by admiration, love and, in this case, beautiful music.  A Focus World and Tribeca Film release.

[caption id="attachment_3411" align="alignnone" width="550"]Fresh Meat[/caption]

Fresh Meat, directed by Danny Mulheron, written by Briar Grace-Smith. (New Zealand) – New York Premiere, Narrative. After a poorly executed escape from the police, a gang of dysfunctional criminals flees to the suburbs and gets more than it bargained for when it crash lands in the garage of an upper-class Maori family whose refined palates have developed a taste for human flesh. This action-packed horror comedy tells a blood-spattered tale of basement butchery and shifting allegiances as these unlikely adversaries enter a deadly showdown. A Tribeca Film release.

[caption id="attachment_3417" align="alignnone" width="550"]THE ENGLISH TEACHER[/caption]

The English Teacher, directed by Craig Zisk, written by Dan Chariton and Stacy Chariton. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Teacher Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore) balances her staid home life with an incredible passion for her subject, but her routine is forever altered when a former star pupil and his unsupportive father reenter her life. Go-to television director Craig Zisk, whose credits include Scrubs, Weeds and United States of Tara, takes a turn on the big screen with this insightful comedy about self-discovery co-starring Greg Kinnear, Nathan Lane, Michael Angarano and Lily Collins. A Cinedigm and Tribeca Film release.

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[caption id="attachment_3400" align="alignnone" width="550"]Jerry Lewis and Robert De Niro in The King of Comedy directed by Martin Scorsese.[/caption]

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), has chosen the 30th Anniversary of Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, restored in association with The Film Foundation, Regency Enterprises and Twentieth Century Fox, to close its 12th edition on Saturday, April 27. 

The King of Comedy – directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul D. Zimmerman, produced by Arnon Milchan, and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott and Sandra Bernhard –was originally released in 1983. Lauded as “shockingly prescient” by Moviefone, the film is recognized for its groundbreaking foresight into reality-TV culture and lack of distinction between renown and notoriety. It also holds up as the finest dramatic work of Lewis’ career, one of Martin Scorsese’s most underrated movies and a darkly funny film that features Robert De Niro playing the scary and fascinating character, Rupert Pupkin.

The King of Comedy is being restored digitally in 4K from the original camera negatives at Sony Colorworks; John Polito at Audio Mechanics is digitally restoring the soundtrack.

“Twelve years ago when we announced the first Festival, it was Marty’s idea for us to feature Restored and Rediscovered films. This year we are proud to close our 12th Festival with a restoration of his The King of Comedy,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder, Tribeca Film Festival. “The King of Comedy was so ahead of its time; it seems more relevant today than it was 30 years ago. We are so grateful to Jim Gianopulos and Regency for helping to restore such an iconic film and ensuring it remains a part of our cultural heritage.”

In this unforgettable film, a funny thing happens to talk show host Jerry Langford (Lewis) on his way to the studio. Kidnapped by stand-up comedian Rupert Pupkin (De Niro) and his wacky sidekick (Bernhard), Langford is forced to give Pupkin a shot at the big time by allowing the struggling comic to perform his routine on Langford’s show. What unfolds is an incredibly funny and poignant story about the darker side of comedy.

“I was a big fan of the script and was very excited to do it with Marty and happy that we finally made it. The fact that it’s been restored (hard to believe so many years have passed) is even all the better, and I can’t wait to see it on our closing night,” said Robert De Niro, co-founder, Tribeca Film Festival.      

Scorsese said, “I’ve always been partial to comedians – the irreverence, the absurdity, the hostility, all the feelings under the surface – and to the old world of late night variety shows hosted by Steve Allen and Jack Paar and, of course, Johnny Carson, to the familiarity and the camaraderie between the guests. You had the feeling that they were there with you, in your living room. Robert De Niro and I were both drawn to Paul Zimmerman’s script for The King of Comedy, which really captured the show business atmosphere and the desperate attachments that some of the people on the other side of the screen could form, the ones that in certain cases turned dangerous.

“Making the picture was quite an experience. We had Sandra Bernhard in her debut. We had New York in summer. We had the beautiful Diahnne Abbott. We had all those wonderful guest stars like Tony Randall and Victor Borge and Ed Herlihy and Dr. Joyce Brothers, and the people who were really in the business, like Freddy De Cordova and Ed Scherick. We had my mother, and my father, and my daughter Cathy. We even had The Clash in a couple of shots, in the role of ‘street trash.’ And, we had a living legend, the great Jerry Lewis.

“I’m so happy that after all this time, The King of Comedy is finally getting a restoration, from our wonderful friends at Fox.”

The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival will take place from April 17-28, 2013.

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