Tribeca2023: Three for the Reel as Tribeca Festival Opens

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Robert De Niro receives the key to New York City from Mayor Eric Adams.

NEW YORK, NY – The 22nd edition of the Tribeca Festival opened with its usual combination of exalted cinema, star power glitz and the power of New York City, baby. “Kiss the Future,” produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, screened on Wednesday, June 7th at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

The Tribeca Festival was founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Craig Hatkoff and actor Robert De Niro as a reactive strike back at the September 11th attack in 2001 on New York City and the nearby Tribeca neighborhood.The film category of the 2023 22nd edition will show 109 feature films from 127 filmmakers across 36 countries, and will have screenings and awards for U.S. Narrative Films, World Narrative Films, Short Film Competition, Best Documentary, the Spotlight Competition and Best New Narrative and Documentary Filmmakers, among it’s presentations.

The Slideshow combines Opening Night with the first three Capsule Reviews below, by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com. Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual celebrity photo with the captioned links below. All photos © Tribeca.com

1. 23TRIBECA1: Matt Damon, Co-Producer of Tribeca Opener ‘Kiss the Future.’
2. 23TRIBECA2: Robert De Niro receives the key to New York City from Mayor Eric Adams.
3. 23TRIBECA3: Tribeca Founder Jane Rosenthal, Mayor Adams, Martin Scorcese and De Niro.
4. 23TRIBECA4: ‘Chasing Chasing Amy,’ directed by Sav Rodgers.
5. 23TRIBECA5: ‘A Strange Path,’ directed by Guto Parente.
6. 23TRIBECA6: ‘Rather,’ directed by Frank Marshall.

Capsule Film Reviews, Tribeca Festival 2023

Chasing Chasing Amy On a quest to dig into the controversial LGBTQ+ 1990s rom-com, Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy,” that saved his life, filmmaker Sav Rodgers must confront revealing truths that will forever alter the trajectory of his life.


CAPSULE REVIEW: A somewhat disjointed documentary that never found its center still packed a pretty essential punch. Filmmaker Rodgers started his journey by doing a well-received TED talk on how “Chasing Amy” spoke to him in his queerness and path toward transition to identifying as male. This led to meeting Kevin Smith, and their mutual journey towards a film that still held significance for Smith, in both negative and positive connotations. The most touching moments are the interplay between Sav Rodgers and Kevin Smith. 3.5/5

A Strange Path A young filmmaker returns to his hometown and attempts to reconnect with his father as the pandemic rapidly accelerates across Brazil. However, their relationship proves to be more complicated with increasingly bizarre phenomena occurring as they get closer.


CAPSULE REVIEW: Just in time for Father’s Day, filmmaker Guto Parente is an avant garde director whose relationship with a distant Dad inspired this interestingly claustrophobic narrative film. His actor representative, Lucas Limeira, seems like a lone alien in Brazil as he maneuvers through the shut down city, while at the same time trying to reconcile feelings about Dad that seeks closure. The remembrance of the pandemic in the early days is chilling, and the relationships that changed because of it … including Parente and his Father … are in need of that memory. 4/5

Rather For decades, Dan Rather delivered the news with authenticity, integrity and yes … “Courage.” The documentary “Rather” chronicles his rise to prominence, sudden downfall, and re-emergence as voice of reason to a new generation.


CAPSULE REVIEW: The reminder of who Dan Rather was – especially as a man that absolutely affected my lifetime – is absolutely necessary, especially as the 90-year-old is still circling the track. This doc is brilliant, taking on the almost monumental task of summarizing a man who reported everywhere and in every major story for over 60 years … the dude covered the 1963 JFK assassination on CBS, for courage’s sake. Also a reminder of where the news was, what it became and how its devolution occurred all in the midst in the career of the legendary Dan Rather. A must see. 4.5/5

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Critic/Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com