"The Garden Left Behind" is a Must-See Festival Hit

Part 3 of 3 by Nathaniel R

"The Garden Left Behind" is a festival hit

The 5th annual Bentonville Film Festival deserved more than three posts but we do what we can with our time (ICYMI - parts one and two). At any rate we will have an opportunity to revisit a few of the films when they arrive in movie theaters. But herewith the wrap up via our "Best of Fest" winner. Don't miss it when it hits a festival near you (it'll be on the circuit for at least a few more months) or your local arthouse movie theater a bit later.

THE GARDEN LEFT BEHIND
This first time feature, a trans drama from gay Brazilian director Flavio Alves, picked up its second festival Audience Award at Bentonville. The first was at SXSW. Alves is still talking with distributors and the film has sparked interest but at this writing nothing is quite nailed down yet. Given that trans stories are increasingly popular with audiences, someone really ought to bite, as there's surely an arthouse market for it...

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Marielle Heller at Tribeca

by Murtada Elfadl

Marielle Heller has built quite a reputation as a director based on two films; Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) and Can You Ever Forgive Me (2018). We attended a talk at the Tribeca Film Festival in which she was interviewed by the writer Jo Piazza. They talked about how she started as an actor and her transition to writing and directing. Of course she mentioned her next project, scheduled to come out later this year, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Tom Hanks plays Mr. Rogers in the film, but Heller was adamant that it’s not a biopic. She said it's a story about fathers and sons and based on journalist Tom Junod (Matthew Rhys) profile of Mr. Rogers. 

“Mr. Rogers is not the lead character. You can’t create a narrative around Mr. Rogers because he’s too good...”

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Tribeca 2019: "You Don't Nomi"

Team Experience reporting from Tribeca Film Festival which wraps up tomorrow. Here's Nathaniel R

Of all the titles that I most looked forward to at Tribeca's 2019 edition, You Don't Nomi was at the top of the list. The debut documentary from Jeffrey McHale examines the cult fandom and critical rehabilitation (of sorts) surrounding Paul Verhoeven's trash-masterpiece Showgirls (1995). And readers, I was not dissapointed so much as seething with envy while watching it...

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Tribeca 2019: "Lucky Grandma"

And here is Jason Adams reporting from Tribeca again...

It's easy to recognize Grandma -- she's the one called Grandma. But if you're sitting about ten feet away from Chinatown NYC as I am as I type this review, it's even easier -- I could step out onto the street and see a dozen women who look just like Grandma. If I happened to walk just a little further away to the local movie theater, I wouldn't see a single Grandma, not one. And that is what makes Sasie Sealy's film Lucky Grandma feel so easily revolutionary. Grandmas are everywhere, but this is the one...

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The Winners of Tribeca 2019

Murtada, Jason and I have all been attending Tribeca screenings (more reviews to come) but as per usual the winners mostly somehow escaped us. But here they are.

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION
The jury members were: Lucy Alibar, Jonathan Ames, Cory Hardrict, Dana Harris, and Jenny Lumet. 

Wendell Pierce as a troubled Louisiana preacher in "Burning Cane" 

Feature: Burning Cane, directed by Phillip Youmans. which the jury calls "searingly original". Director Phillip Youman is just 19 years old and started making this movie two years ago in high school (!!!!!!!!) and also makes history as the first black man to win Tribeca!
Actress: Haley Bennett in Swallow who the jury calls "sensitive and engaging" (Special mention: Geetanjali Thapa in Stray Dolls). Our review here. 
Actor: – Wendell Pierce in Burning Cane...

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