Tribeca Film Festival 2016: 4 Must-See Films for Art Lovers

Tribeca Film Festival 2016: 4 Must-See Films for Art Lovers


Hey art fans, the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival is talking to you. This year’s cinematic extravaganza delivers some outstanding films that deal with art world subjects. From documentaries profiling artists to narratives exploring what it might be like to grow up with famous performance artists parents, below are four films we recommend catching at the festival. The Tribeca Film Festival, which is now in its 15th year, is on now and runs until April 24, so get a move on.

The Family Fang

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A pet project of Nicole Kidman, The Family Fang is based on Kevin Wilson’s best-selling novel of the same name. Kidman enlisted Jason Bateman to direct and play her brother in the film, which finds them cast as the children of zealous performance artists parents. From a young age, Kidman and Bateman’s characters, who are known in art circles as Child A and B, were drafted to participate in their parent’s art experiments. Christopher Walken, Kathryn Hahn, and Maryann Plunkett round out the cast of this smart and affecting dramedy that was adapted for the screen by Pulitzer Prize-winning scribe David Lindsay-Abaire. Lindsay-Abaire also worked with Kidman on Rabbit Hole. If you miss The Family Fang at Tribeca, not to worry, it opens theatrically April 29.

Burden

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Filmmakers Timothy Marrinan and Richard Dewey present an engaging then and now portrait of the late great artist Chris Burden in the pair’s debut feature-length documentary now screening at Tribeca. Simply titled Burden, the film presents the artist as a young provocateur in the 1970s who was challenging the definition of art through a series of performance works. These pieces found Burden crucified to the back of a VW bug, shot in the arm by a fellow artist, and stuffed in an art school locker for several days. In the film, the early works are interwoven with more recent footage of the artist at his home in Topanga Canyon, where he continued to make art until his death in 2015. Fortunately for the filmmakers, Burden liked to document his work and also gave scores of interviews. Additionally, the film features conversations with Burden’s friends, art critics, art collectors, gallerists, and admirers such as Marina Abramović, as well as an amazing soundtrack by Andrew Bird.

Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back

Maura Axelrod pulls back the curtain on the famous and elusive art-world prankster Maurizio Cattelan, a man who convinced the Guggenheim to suspend all the works he’d ever done from the ceiling of the museum for his 2011 retrospective. Tracking Cattelan from his childhood to his first break as an artist and on up to his supposed retirement with the Guggenheim show, the film provides an overview the enigmatic artist’s career. Axelrod peppers her portrait with insightful interviews with curators, collectors, and art-world luminaries, as well as current and former girlfriends. Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back‘s screening at Tribeca comes as news permeates that Cattelan is coming out of retirement. According to a story in The New York Times, the artist will be installing a solid 18-karat-gold toilet in one of the Guggenheim’s restrooms in early May. Probably not so coincidentally, the Tribeca Film Festival screening of the documentary is also taking place at the Guggenheim.

Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock

Tribeca Film Festival 2016 Art Films Shot!

Take a trip down the rabbit hole with legendary British rock photographer Mick Rock. Directed by Barnaby Clay, Karen O’s better half, Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock hands the mic over to Rock to recount his experiences photographing the likes of Bowie, Queen, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and more. The documentary is produced by VICE. A special live music tribute and party follow the screening of the film on Friday, April 22.