Tribeca: Festival TV Highlights Include Trayvon Martin Doc, Westworld Premiere, Paul Wesley Pilot
Carissa Pavlica
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The Tribeca Film festival will continue to bring the best of television with world premieres of new and returning series.
The 17th Annual Tribeca Film Festival has announced its TV and N.O.W. selections and they're incredibly enticing.
From the TV standpoint, the premieres will include Starz’s Sweetbitter, National Geographic’s Genius: Picasso, HBO's Westworld, Netflix’s Bobby Kennedy for President, Paramount Network’s Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, YouTube Red’s Cobra Kai, and feature documentaries Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary and Mr. SOUL!
Many of the premieres will feature conversations with those involved with the works after the screenings.
After the premiere of The Trayvon Martin Story, there will be a conversation with co-directors Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst, the parents of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, executive producers Mike Gasparro and Chachi Senior, and special guest.
Related: Westworld Season 2: Super Bowl Ad Promises New World & Premiere Date!
After the premiere of Westworld, there will be a conversation with co-creators, showrunners, and directors Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, and cast-members Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, and James Marsden.
“Tribeca TV has become a destination for some of the most highly anticipated and well-received shows on television,” said Cara Cusumano, Director of Programming at the Tribeca Film Festival.
“While we continue that tradition with an exciting slate of new and returning series premieres, we also sought to pay homage to the rich cultural history of TV through two feature documentaries about groundbreaking shows of the past, and all-new episodes of a true-crime trailblazer.”
A generous showing of independently produced TV pilots represents exciting new voices and stories in the area of episodic television.
Pilots include:
Fabled from Evan Jonigkeit, Alex Gayner, Zosia Mamet and Refinery29.
This anthology series reimagines classic fairy tales through the perspective of its female characters, whose overlapping stories take place in the same small town. With Zosia Mamet, Trace Lysette, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Paul Wesley, Norbert Butz.
Related: Sweetbitter Official Trailer: Life Happens While You Wait
Tantalum from Clara Aranovich.
Detroit-based tech mogul Colton stands on the edge of a bridge in the middle of the night, ready to jump to his death. But when a strange woman perched above him derails his plan, he finds he’s in for a bizarre, and increasingly violent, night. With Marcus Henderson, Susan Deming, Jeffery Waddell, Langston Fishburne.
The N.O.W. Showcase features the latest work from 18 unique online creators who are using their platforms to tell original stories.
In the Episodic Showcase the projects range from coming-of-age stories about gender non-conforming friends in Dinette to Snugglr, a comedic series about a young Turkish woman who takes up the strange profession of cuddling with strangers for profit.
“We started Tribeca N.O.W. five years ago to recognize a truly unique brand of storytellers emerging from the online space,” said Liza Domnitz, Senior Programmer, Tribeca Film Festival.
“Here were creators who found the Wild West landscape of the web the perfect playground for their hysterical, provocative and moving visions.
Tribeca is proud to be a leader in recognizing these diverse filmmakers who, this year, have created vastly different work ranging from an episodic, dark comedy about addiction, to a visual extension of a popular podcast, to a serial version of a beloved Oscar®-nominated animated short film.”
You can find more information about the TV and NOW lineups here.
The 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival takes place from April 18-29, 2018. Single tickets go on sale beginning Tuesday, March 27.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
