Tribeca ’14: Family and Community Events

You have to give credit to the Tribeca Film Festival. They will bring both Mr. Met and Scooter the Holy Cow, the Mascot of the Yankee’s Staten Island Single-A farm team to lower Manhattan for their Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day. That is covering the bases. Families on a budget will also appreciate the diverse community events once again programmed by the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.

As one would expect, several of the film event involve screenings, since this is a film festival. For the first time ever, Tribeca is launching the Film For All Friday. All tickets on April 25^th will be completely free, while they last. However, fest regulars know the Tribeca Drive-In is the place for free communal film-going, starting this Thursday (4/17) with Disney’s Mary Poppins, a film very much on cineastes minds’ following the recent Oscar-snubbing of Emma Thompson’s acclaimed turn in Saving Mr. Banks. Released fifty years ago (in late August, but who’s counting), it remains the definitive cinematic portrayal of chimney sweeping.

On Friday (4/18), Tribeca celebrates another anniversary marking thirty years of Ron Howard’s Splash. Arguably the definitive fantasy rom-com of the 1980s (featuring a score composed by Lee Holdridge), it showcased breakout work from Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, but it was the late great John Candy who really made it special. In honor of the theme, the Coney Island Mermaid Parade’s Tails of Glory dancers will give a special performance before the show.

Shifting gears, the Drive-In will present the world premiere of Next Goal Wins on Saturday (4/19). Chronicling the efforts of the American Samoan soccer team, ranked dead last in the world, to qualify for the World Cup, or at least finally score a goal, Mike Brett & Steve Jamison’s documentary is one of several soccer/football films screening at this year’s festival. For early arrivers, there will be Samoan drumming performances before the screening. All Drive-In screenings are free, but on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 6:00 and the films start at dusk (estimated around 8:15).

Although not part of the Drive-In, Tribeca will also present a free family screening of The Wizard of Oz, celebrating its 75^th anniversary on Saturday the 26th. Lines for tickets start thirty minutes before the screening at BMCC in Tribeca proper. On that same day, the Tribeca Family Screening series will also include Listening is an Act of Love, the first full length animated special from the StoryCorps oral history project, including four new stories and two old favorites: the gleefully funny Miss Devine and the bittersweet No More Questions (review here). The Rauch Brothers have a real facility for matching the expressions of their animated figures to the recorded interviews and the subject matter is always A-OK for family viewers.

In between ticketed family screenings, patrons can check out events at the annual Tribeca Family Street Fair on Greenwich. There will be plenty of interactive movie-making activities, the Games for Change public arcade, and performances from current Broadway shows, including the massively swinging After Midnight and appropriately for sports movie fans, Rocky.

Shrewdly, Tribeca has developed a festival-leading reputation for sports programming and they continue the tradition again this year. In addition to the Tribeca/ESPN slate of sports films, the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day returns on April 26^th. There will be plenty of contest, giveaways, and skills tests sponsored by the likes of the NY Rangers, NY Jets, NY Liberty, and NY Mets (with Mr. Met in attendance from noon to 1:00—he’s a busy dude, you know). And Scooter too.

Tribeca has always conscientiously reached out to the community, broadening the film festival experience for many who ordinarily might not be able to afford it. After all, many New Yorkers are still struggling with high local rents, a sluggish economy, and now perhaps even fines for their insurance status. At least, they can get some free entertainment and exercise for the kids during the festival. Tribeca starts this Thursday (4/17) and runs through Sunday (4/27). Look for reviews to start going up here later in the week.

Tribeca '11: Free Events

Launched in 2002 to help revitalize a Lower Manhattan still reeling from the September 11th terrorist attack, the Tribeca Film Festival has become one of the most influential stops on the world festival circuit. Deals will be made, tickets will be bought, and money will most definitely be spent. However, for New Yorkers on a budget (which is most of the City, given the ever deepening recession), Tribeca offers plenty of free programming to enjoy this year, but plan to arrive early. After all, many of the festival’s regular ticketed screenings have already sold out.

There will indeed be free movies, screened at the so-called drive-in at the World Financial Center Plaza. Patrons arriving early enough this Thursday will have a chance to experience Tribeca’s first ever talent completion and then watch a revival screening of Fame (the good one). The drive-in continues Friday night (4/22) with a screening of When the Drum is Beating, a profile of Haiti’s leading Caribbean-Jazz fusion ensemble, Septentrional, followed by a special performance by the band themselves. It concludes with the family friendly but New York-centric Muppets Take Manhattan. Doors open each night at 6:00, with the screenings commencing at dusk (8:15, give or take).

Continuing the festival’s long association with ESPN, Tribeca and the leading sports programmer will present a special “Sports Day” on Saturday the 30th. Featuring New York Knicks, including Riles-era fan favorite John Starks, members of the Brooklyn Cyclones, and the cast of Broadway’s Lombardi, there will be plenty of giveaways, mini-clinics, and family activities.

Of course, Tribeca is first and foremost about film, so parents should keep in mind the free, first-come, first-served screenings held at BMCC Performing Arts Center in conjunction with Tribeca’s Family Street Fair, also happening on the 30th. Tribeca will present a special first look at Niko: the Journey to Magika, an animated adventure set in the Philippines. Perhaps most appropriately given the festival’s origins, Tribeca will also present free of charge fourteen year-old Brook Peter’s debut documentary The Second Day, in which the former World Trade Center neighborhood kindergartner interviews his teachers, classmates, and rescue personnel about their experiences on that tragic day.

Tribeca is truly a New York event that transcends film. Founded to boost the community, the festival offers opportunities for average New Yorkers to enjoy the Tribeca experience, without breaking their budgets. The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival opens tonight and runs through May 1st. For more information about free events and regularly ticketed festival screenings, go to their website: http://www.tribecafilm.com/.