Tribeca Film Fest: Part the Last

Okay, I went to nine showings this year, of which I've reported on five. Four to go, but I'm running out of steam, so I'm going to wrap it all up in this one post. I do want to say that I was among the volunteer crew for the first time this year, and the rewards of that were well worth the effort. If nothing else, there were 4 screenings that I went to that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. And there was a party for the volunteers last Tuesday night, but if the party were ever a reason to volunteer, I sure wouldn't do so again. Um. Too many strangers and too loud for my taste. Heh. But I'll probably volunteer again next year too. It's a great way to experience the Festival from another perspective, meet some interesting folks, and have a story or two to tell!

Express Stops Only: A number of shorts, the funniest of which was Super Powers, the story of a couple who find adventure as Wonder Woman and Batman (in boxers), or maybe the funniest was Happiness, in which a worker in a condom factory .... oh but let me not spoil it. Surely you'll see for yourself. The best overall, imho, was A Nick In Time, a tale of morality and caring told in a barber shop. Remember the name Be Garrett. If he doesn't go places, then there's just no justice.

The Gates: A documentary covering the process Jeanne-Claude and Christo went through to get their 2-week installation, The Gates, up and running in Central Park. I'd seen it only from afar while it was there, so I truly appreciated the close-up vistas this film afforded. And the 20+-year work up to the event was well worth seeing and lessons in and of themselves. And, in many cases, a hoot! Although I'm quite sure the artists saw it far more as utter frustration than a hoot.

Portraits of Women: Another series of short films, the most interesting of which were at either end: the first, Manuelle Labor, and the last (and longest), So. Manuelle Labor was an odd piece of absurdity about the birth of a pair of hands. Trust me, you had to be there. So was the long-ish documentary of a solo sojourney through Australia, taken, says just-turned-30 filmmaker Aimee Jennings, as a kind of honeymoon as she realized she would "never" marry. There is a thread of risk-taking throughout ... although, having seen Shame, things like bungee-jumping -- though something I would most assuredly never dare to do -- pale into useless frivolity. And Theresa and I agreed that a little more distance/time and some judicious editing would have improved this film. Even so, well worth seeing, and I'd guess we'll be seeing more of Ms. Jennings.

Tootie's Last Suit: A good film to end on! Tootie Montana, known among the "Indians" of New Orleans for his wonderful Mardi Gras get-ups, makes his last suit. Well, his purported last suit. Which is to say, he's addicted to 'masking' for Mardi Gras and he isn't *really* about to retire, if he can help it. Thing is, in the end, he _can't_ help it. None of us can. Tootie dies, as is noted, on the battlefield. And, in the end, we have another father-son-relationship tale. With as unstintingly honest a camera lens as you can get, which is to say that both Tootie and his son opened up some, which the camera caught and filmmaker Lisa Katzman edited well. A film well worth seeing, and a legacy well worth preserving.