Tribeca Film Festival 2016 to Open With World Premiere of ‘the First Monday in May’

Tribeca Film Festival 2016 to Open With World Premiere of ‘the First Monday in May’


The Tribeca Film Festival is in fashion for 2016, as the fest has announced it is opening with the world premiere of The First Monday in May, a documentary about The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s most attended Costume Institute exhibition ever, “China: Through the Looking Glass.” Directed by Emmy Award nominated filmmaker Andrew Rossi (Page One: Inside The New York Times), the film delves into the long-standing debate about whether fashion should be viewed as fine art. It features appearances by Wong Kar Wai, Baz Luhrmann, Vogue’s Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Talley, Jean Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld and more. You can watch the trailer for The First Monday in May below. Following the festival, the film will be released by Magnolia Pictures.

Focusing on Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton, Rossi looks at the creation of “China: Through the Looking Glass,” an exhibition that explored how China has fueled fashion in the West for centuries. Filmmaker Wong Kar Wai served as the exhibit’s artistic director and Nathan Crowley acted as production designer. In addition to capturing the exhibit, which was on view from May 7, 2015 – September 7, 2015, Rossi also filmed at the celebrity-filled Met Ball. Among last year’s attendees were Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Madonna, Katy Perry, Sarah Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara, Ivanka Trump, Allison Williams, and more.

Originally set to close on August 16, “China: Through the Looking Glass” was extended three weeks due to its popularity. It attracted over 815,000 visitors to the museum, making it the fifth most visited exhibition in the museum’s history.

This will be the fourth year that Tribeca has kicked off with a documentary feature. Other doc openers have included Mistaken for Strangers, a film (loosely) about indie rock band The National, One9’s Time is Illmatic, which followed the rise of Queens, NY-born rapper NAS, and Bao Nguyen’s Live From New York!, a film that follows SNL’s evolution into a comedy institution.

Tribeca celebrates its 15th year in 2016 and runs from Wednesday, April 13-Sunday, April 24. Pass and ticket packages go on sale begin Monday, February 29. For more information visit the festival’s website.