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Lee, Levinson To Screen Latest During Tribeca’s Talks Series

by Peter Knegt (March 30, 2009)
Lee, Levinson To Screen Latest During Tribeca’s Talks Series
A scene from Barry Levinson's "Poliwood." Image courtesy of the Tribeca Film Festival.

The 2009 Tribeca Film Festival has announced the line-up for its two discussion programs - the Tribeca Talks Series and “Behind the Screens: Films and Conversations about Truth, Clarity and Responsibility” - which will include the world premiere of Barry Levinson’s “Poliwood,” and a special screening of Spike Lee’s “Passing Strange.”

The Tribeca Talks Series includes “Tribeca Talks Panels,” “Tribeca Talks: After the Movie,” “Tribeca Talks Special Events,” “Tribeca Talks: Industry” and “Tribeca Talks: Pen to Paper hosted by Barnes & Noble.” Open to the public and featuring in-depth discussions and audience Q&A with directors and film participants following select screenings of Festival films, “Tribeca Talks: After the Movie” and “Behind the Screens” will provide audiences “with a unique opportunity to engage in dialogue with filmmakers and industry leaders on a variety of fascinating and provocative subjects.” The 2009 Tribeca Film Festival will take place from April 22 to May 3, 2009.

“The Tribeca Talks panel series has always been one of the Festival’s most compelling programs, examining issues and trends in society and the entertainment industry with some of the biggest names in film, art and media,” said Nancy Schafer, Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival, in a statement.  “This year we are proud to provide increased opportunities for audiences to continue their exploration of films and topics after screenings with thought-provoking conversations featuring filmmakers, actors and thought leaders, as well as increase the number of free events open to the public with the new Barnes & Noble panel discussions.”

“Tribeca Talks Special Events” will include:

The world premiere of “Poliwood,” a film that explores the collision and collusion between politics and Hollywood, followed by a conversation with legendary director Barry Levinson and actors Josh Lucas, Rachael Leigh Cook, Tim Daly, Lynn Whitfield, Tony Goldwyn, Robert Davi and Matthew Modine, moderated by Lawrence O’Donnell, NBC News political analyst and writer.

“Passing Strange,” Spike Lee’s filmed record of the 2008 Tony Award-winning Broadway rock musical, will make its debut in New York for a one-time screening and subsequent panel discussion with Spike Lee, award-winning show creator and star Stew and co-composer Heidi Rodewald (Lee’s “Kobe Doin’ Work” will also premiere at the fest).

“Tribeca Talks: After the Movie” will include:

“Outrage,” a documentary by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick that takes “a bold look at the hidden lives of closeted politicians and the media’s complicity in keeping their secrets,” will be followed by a conversation with the director, former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey and Sirius Radio host Michelangelo Signoreli, moderated by author and activist Rodger McFarlane.

“Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi,” a documentary about the kidnapping of an Italian journalist and his Afghan “fixer”—someone hired by foreign journalists to facilitate, translate and gain access for their stories—will be followed by a discussion with The Nation reporter Christian Parenti, former Afghan fixer Naqeeb Sherzad, director Ian Olds, and New Yorker staff writer and author of “The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq” George Packer after the screening.

“American Casino,” investigative journalist Leslie Cockburn’s feature debut that contrasts high-level players in the subprime mortgage gamble with the working-class Americans who were the unwitting chips on the table, will be followed by a conversation with director Leslie Cockburn, producer Andrew Cockburn, NYU Stern School of Business Economics Professor and Chairman of RGE Monitor Nouriel Roubini and Bloomberg News’ Mark Pittman about the relationship between Wall Street and Main Street.

“The Girlfriend Experience,” featuring Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh and the film’s stars Sasha Grey and Chris Santos in a discussion following the screening of his film, a narrative that follows five days in the life of a $2,000-an-hour Manhattan call girl.

“Making the Boys,” a screening of the documentary, about the groundbreaking play that debuted one year before Stonewall, will be followed by a conversation with director Crayton Robey, playwright/screenwriter Mart Crowley, Village Voice columnist Michael Musto and other special guests, moderated by Tony Award winning producer and filmmaker Dori Berinstein.

“Inherit the Wind,” presented by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: a screening of the 1960 classic about the case against a science teacher teaching evolution will be followed by a conversation between Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Beak of the Finch” Jonathan Weiner, Jon Amiel, director of the Charles Darwin biopic Creation and Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education Dr. Eugenie Scott about how a scientific explanation of the world, backed by evidence, can bring with it both public and private controversy.

For a full list of panels, including their schedule, check out the next pages.

 
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posted on March 30, 2009
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