As we celebrate Pride month and as L.G.B.T.Q. rights are being questioned, the 2023 Tribeca Festival offers a number of films that celebrate the resilience of the community. This year’s festival will showcase 109 features, including 93 world premieres that are worth watching. Check out the official website tribecafilm.com for more information.
Here are five of the most exciting films from the program:
‘Chasing Chasing Amy’
Director: Sav Rodgers
Through the lenses of different aspects of the Kevin Smith’s 1997 comedy film that centers on a young comic-book artist who is attracted to a lesbian, Sav Rodgers provides insights into the reasons for the importance of the film to Smith’s career, the debate around sexual identity, and Rodgers’s own self-discovery.
Stephen Kijak explores the facets of Rock Hudson’s fame. This documentary puts under scrutiny the screen idol known for his performances in Douglas Sirk melodramas and Doris Day sex comedies. Kijak’s film highlights Hudson’s private life, contrasts it with the version of the star known to his audience, and sheds light on his struggle to reconcile his public and private personas.
‘The Lesson’
Director: Alice Troughton
In this taut psychological drama, Daryl McCormack stars as an ambitious aspiring novelist who becomes a tutor for the son of an acclaimed writer played by Richard E. Grant. Their relationship unfolds and is complicated by ego and generational resentment and is a story of authorship, homoerotic rivalry, and power.
“Every Body” explores the lives of three intersex individuals and provides an educational experience to the audience. The film humanizes its engaging subjects as they explain what it means to be intersex while criticizing the medical interventions that have caused harm to intersex people over the years.
‘Transition’
Directors: Jordan Bryon and Monica Villamizar
“Transition” by Jordan Bryon is a compelling documentary about identity in transition. The film showcases Bryon’s journey through his gender transition while shooting footage in Afghanistan for The New York Times, during the tumultuous time following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul. The film provides a stirring commentary on global affairs, gender, and identity in a state of flux.
