Editor

The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express, the founding sponsor of the Festival, along with the Tribeca Film Institute today announced the selected projects for Tribeca All Access (TAA). TAA is designed to help foster and nurture relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities; the program is made possible by Bloomberg. Celebrating its sixth year, Tribeca All Access will present 27 new projects during the six-day event taking place April 20 – 25 during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, held from April 22 – May 3.

TAA will provide the participating directors and screenwriters with access to workshops and the opportunity to present their upcoming works in one-on-one meetings with more than 100 potential investors, development executives, producers and agents. There are 24 U.S.-based filmmakers involved in 27 projects, which were selected from a pool of more than 475 submissions, and six projects through international associations.

This year’s TAA jury is comprised of respected industry professionals – actors, writers, producers and directors – who will review script excerpts and work samples prior to the Festival, and deliberate over the most promising projects. The 2009 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award Narrative jurors are Viola Davis, Sanaa Lathan, Anne Carey, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Luis Guzman, Darnell Martin, Lance Reddick and Amy Robinson; the 2009 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award Documentary jurors are Ellen Kuras, Fenton Bailey, and Lola Ogunnaike.

2009 Partnerships and Programs

For the second year, Tribeca All Access will include international delegates by featuring six projects through its associations with the UK Film Council, Screen Australia (formerly Australian Film Commission) and Canadian Film Centre. The participants are: from the UK – David Alexander and Lab Ky Mo; from Australia – Pauline Chan and Samantha Saunders; and from Canada – K’naan Warsame and Sudz Sutherland.

Additionally, “Tribeca All Access OnTrack” – an expansion of the TAA program, which provides year-round support to TAA alumni – will host four TAA alumni (Camila Martin, The Row; Michael Golamco, Please By; Rodney Evans, Day Dream; Bennie Klein, Lost Tribes) at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival to showcase a special presentation of their respective work-in-progress films. The event is made possible through the TAA OnTrack Presentation Screenings. OnTrack also offers alumni filmmakers access to camera, lighting and sound packages; in addition, it loans out an on-site editing suite equipped with Final Cut Pro. Alumni may apply twice a year for support in any project in which the alumnus is serving as director or screenwriter; support is not restricted to TAA projects.

TAA: Films in 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and Success Stories

Since its founding in May 2004, Tribeca All Access has supported the careers of more than 155 filmmakers from traditionally under-represented communities within the film industry and facilitated 2,432 one-on-one meetings for them with key industry personnel. From 2004 – 2008, a total of 158 projects have participated in TAA. This year, two TAA alumni were selected to premiere their films at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival in the Discovery program. A third TAA alum was selected to provide a work-in-progress screening, which will be followed by a talk with the filmmaker and other guest speakers.

"Arts and culture is a reflection of our society and it is no secret that there are too many demographics that are underrepresented in our industry," said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Institute. “I am proud that TAA is helping to bring these voices and visions to the forefront - ultimately enhancing all of our film experiences."

• Off And Running, directed by Nicole Opper (2008 TAA participant) – World Premiere, Documentary. Off And Running follows Avery, a 17-year-old African American track star and adopted daughter of two white Jewish lesbian moms in Brooklyn, who embarks on a quest to meet her birth mother in Texas.
• Entre Nos (We Can), directed by Paolo Mendoza and Gloria La Morte (2008 TAA participants) – World Premiere, Narrative. An immigrant mother and her two children struggle to survive in the United States and chase after their American dream after their husband and father abandons them.
• Making the Boys, directed by Crayton Robey (2007 TAA participant) – Work-in-progress, Documentary. Making the Boys is an in-depth look at the creation of the ground breaking play and film that dramatized the complex experience of being a gay man in the 1950s, long before the Stonewall riots and gay pride parades. The screening will be shown as a work-in-progress and a talk with Crayton, Mart Crowley (the writer of The Boys in The Band) and other guests will follow the screening.

Among the other TAA alumni making strides in the past year are:

• 2007 TAA award winner Cherien Dabis premiered Amreeka (for which she secured private financing through an introduction at the program) at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film—which was recently acquired by National Geographic Films, with a release date of Fall ’09—will also open MoMA and The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual Directors/New Films series in New York City.
• Actress Joy Bryant joined The Infinite Life of Stuart Hornsley after being introduced to director Leigh Dana Jackson at TAA 2008.
• After attending TAA 2008, independent producer Frida Torresblanco signed on to produce Bardos by screenwriter and TAA Creative Promise award winner Anslem Richardson.
• Philanthropist Sheila Johnson has become Executive Producer to Ella es el Matador (She is the Matador) after meeting director Gemma Cubero at TAA 2008, where Cubero was presented with the Creative Promise Award for Documentary.
• 2007 TAA alum Tze Chun premiered his feature film Children of Invention at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Chun received postproduction support for the project through TAA Ontrack Equipment Loan program, part of the year round support for TAA alumni.

“This year’s line up continues the tradition of bringing year-round access and exposure for filmmakers with voices often unheard,” said Tamir Muhammad, Director of Tribeca All Access. “The focus is on supporting the careers and not just the one project, allowing the selected filmmakers to continuously make an impact on a larger community. In just six years, we are proud of the success and response the industry has shown to the program.”

“Bloomberg is proud to support Tribeca All Access’ longstanding commitment to filmmakers traditionally underrepresented in the film industry,” said Lex Fenwick of Bloomberg Ventures. “TAA is one of a small number of distinguished programs in New York City expanding the voice and image of film to reflect the rich diversity of the global community. We are delighted after seven years to continue our partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute to give filmmakers the opportunity to meet industry leaders and showcase their films during the Tribeca Film Festival.”

2009 Awards

The 2009 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Awards will provide a total of $55,000 awarded in juried cash prizes to selected TAA winners through the TAA Creative Promise Award and the L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth “Vision” Award. Three filmmakers and one screenwriter will be awarded the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award, which comes with a prize of $11,000 for narrative, documentary and emerging narrative and $7,000 for screenwriting. L’Oréal will once again present “The L'Oréal Paris Women of Worth Vision Award” in the amount of $15,000 to a promising female filmmaker participating in the Tribeca All Access program. Announcements regarding the winners will be made at the 2009 TFI Award Celebration on April 24th at City Winery in New York City.