Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Tribeca >> 2017 >> Spotlight Narrative

Tribeca Festival 2017

Focused on marquee filmmakers and star performers

View other Tribeca Festival Films by strand: Documentary Competition, Galas, International Narrative Competition, Midnight, Retrospectives, Special Screenings, Spotlight Documentary, US Narrative Competition, Viewpoints

Sweet Virginia Sweet Virginia
Sweet Virginia and Literally, Right Before Aaron
The Boy Downstairs (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Sophie Brooks; Writer: Sophie Brooks; Stars: Zosia Mamet, Matthew Shear, Deirdre O'Connell, Sarah Ramos, Diana Irvine)
A woman finds a jewel of a home in New York until realising her downstairs neighbour is her ex whose heart she broke. Like a true New Yorker, she keeps the apartment.
Full Review See: Sophie Brooks in conversation on The Boy Downstairs
World premiere
Buster's Mal Heart (Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Sarah Adina Smith; Writer: Sarah Adina Smith; Stars: Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lin Shaye, Toby Huss, Mark Kelly, Teresa Yenque, Bruce Bundy, Jared Larson, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Nicholas Pryor, Kimberly Arland, Lance Barber, Greg Behrendt, Kate Berlant)
A fugitive hotly pursued by rangers reviews the pathway to his present circumstances and finds conflicting stories.
NYC premiere
Chuck (Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Philippe Falardeau; Writer: Jeff Feuerzeig, Jerry Stahl; Stars: Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, Ron Perlman, Naomi Watts, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Rapaport)
The true story of Chuck Wepner, the man who inspired the billion-dollar film series Rocky
US premiere
The Clapper (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Dito Montiel; Writer: Dito Montiel; Stars: Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, Tracy Morgan, Adam Levine, Russell Peters, PJ Byrne, Alan Thicke, James Ransone, PJ Byrne)
A professional audience member gains unwanted notoriety when a late-night talk show turns his life into a national obsession.
World premiere
Dabka (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Bryan Buckley; Writer: Jay Bahadur, Bryan Buckley; Stars: Al Pacino, Evan Peters, Melanie Griffith, Barkhad Abdi, Aidan Whytock, Edward Gelbinovich, Robert Hobbs, Philip Ettinger, Kiana Madani, Darron Meyer, Russell Posner, Vere Tindale, Armaan Haggio, Hakeemshady Mohamed, Lindsay Sullivan)
When rookie journalist Jay Bahadur has an inspiring chance encounter with his idol, he uproots his life and moves to Somalia looking for the story of a lifetime but quickly finds he is in over his head.
World premiere
The Boy Downstairs The Boy Downstairs
The Boy Downstairs and Permission
The Dinner (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Oren Moverman; Writer: Oren Moverman, based on the novel by Herman Koch; Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Charlie Plummer, Adepero Oduye, Michael Chernus, Taylor Rae Almonte, Joel Bissonnette, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Dominic Colón, Benjamin Snyder, Robert McKay, Onika Day)
How far will parents go to protect their children?
See: Article about highlights of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival
North American premiere
Literally, Right Before Aaron (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Ryan Eggold; Writer: Ryan Eggold; Stars: Cobie Smulders, Lea Thompson, Dana Delany, John Cho, Kristen Schaal, Justin Long, Charlotte McKinney, Peter Gallagher, Luis Guzmán, Briga Heelan, Vella Lovell, Charlyne Yi, Ivy George, Ginger Gonzaga, Manu Intiraymi)
Still reeling from his breakup with college sweetheart Allison, Adam's world is thrown into further chaos when he’s surprisingly invited to attend her wedding.
Full Review
World premiere
The Lovers (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Azazel Jacobs; Writer: Azazel Jacobs; Stars: Jessica Sula, Debra Winger, Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters, Tracy Letts, Tyler Ross, Lesley Fera, Eric Satterberg, Janine Mitchell)
Years into a dispassionate marriage, a long-married couple, both seriously involved with other people, resolve to call it quits. To their surprise, their decision reignites a dormant spark that leads to an impulsive affair.
World premiere
Manifesto (Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Julian Rosefeldt; Writer: Julian Rosefeldt; Stars: Cate Blanchett, Erika Bauer, Carl Dietrich, Marie Borkowski Foedrowitz, Ea-Ja Kim, Marina Michael, Hannelore Ohlendorf, Ottokar Sachse, Ralf Tempel, Jimmy Trash, Andrew Upton)
Can history’s art manifestos apply to contemporary society? An homage to the 20th Century’s most impassioned artistic statements and innovators, from Futurists and Dadaists to Pop Art, Fluxus, Lars von Trier and Jim Jarmusch, this series of reenactments performed by Cate Blanchett explores these declarations’ performative components and political significance.
See: Article about Cate Blanchett in Manifesto and The Present
NYC premiere
Permission (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Brian Crano; Writer: Brian Crano; Stars: Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Gina Gershon, Francois Arnaud, Morgan Spector, David Joseph Craig, Jason Sudeikis)
A couple experiment with sleeping with other people and find it has unexpected effects on their lives.
Full Review
World premiere
Manifesto Manifesto
Manifesto and The Lovers
Rock'n Roll (Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Guillaume Canet; Writer: Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Canet, Rodolphe Lauga, Rodolphe Lauga, Philippe Lefebvre, Philippe Lefebvre; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, Philippe Lefebvre, Gilles Lellouche, Camille Rowe, Kev Adams, Ben Foster, Maxim Nucci, Yarol Poupaud, Yvan Attal, Alain Attal, Johnny Hallyday, Laeticia Hallyday, Tifenn Michel-Borgey, Fabrice Lamy)
Real-life couple Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard play themselves in this satirical comedy about a couple dealing with ageing in the limelight.
International premiere
Sweet Virginia (Country: US, Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Jamie M Dagg; Writer: Benjamin China, Paul China; Stars: Jon Bernthal, Rosemarie DeWitt, Imogen Poots, Odessa Young. Christopher Abbot)
A burglary-homicide rattles the residents of a small Alaska town.
Full Review
World premiere
Take Me (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Pat Healy; Writer: Mike Makowsky; Stars: Taylor Schilling, Pat Healy, Alycia Delmore, Jim O'Heir, Mark Kelly)
Ray is in the boutique simulated abduction business. It’s an understandably threadbare market, so he jumps at the chance when a mysterious call contracts him for a weekend kidnapping with a handsome payday at the end. But the job isn't all that it seems.
World premiere
Thumper (Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Jordan Ross; Writer: Jordan Ross; Stars: Eliza Taylor, Lena Headey, Pablo Schreiber, Ben Feldman, Daniel Webber, Grant Harvey, Britain Dalton, Brett Rice, Nick Alvarez, Elizabeth Greer, Micah Parker, Chuck Saale, Jazzy De Lisser, Alexandra Manea, Brigitte Kali Canales)
This suspenseful crime drama follows Kat Carter, the troubled new girl in a school harboring a deep secret.
World premiere
The Trip To Spain (Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Michael Winterbottom; Stars: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Marta Barrio, Claire Keelan, Margo Stilley)
The comedians take a culinary road trip to Spain.
World premiere
News

59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground

More news and features

Playing Now
Festival Image

Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:

Sands Film Festival
Weekend film event in St Andrews

Queer East

Visions du Réel
Swiss documentary showcase

Overlook Film Festival

New Directors/New Films
New York's celebration of new voices

In the Archive
Competition Picture


Archive of festival coverage.

Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.

Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.