Boca Chica dby Gabriella A. Móses
The Tribeca Film Festival unveiled this week most of the lineup for its 2023 edition, taking place June 7-18, which will have some titles directed by U.S. Latinx and Latin American filmmakers among the 109 features selected for this year’s edition.
Two Latin American films will have their world premiere in the International Narrative Competition: Boca Chica by Gabriella A. Moses from the Dominican Republic and A Strange Path / Estranho caminho by Guto Parente from Brazil. A lively coming-of-age drama, Boca Chica follows twelve-year-old Desi in her pursuit of becoming a famous singer. As Desi braces to leave her hometown, she's met with deep-seated secrets that have long tormented her family and their coastal Dominican community.
Set in Mid-March 2020 and at the heart of the pandemic, A Strange Path follows David, a young filmmaker who returns home to Brazil to quarantine. Seeing no other living alternative, he reaches out to his father, Gerardo, an eccentric man with whom he has not spoken to for over ten years. When David arrives at Gerardo's apartment, strange things start to happen.
Additionally, the Guatemalan-Canadian-French co-production Richelieu will also have its world premiere in the International Narrative Competition. With a cast that includes Guatemalan actress María Mercedes Coroy (Ixcanul), the film follows Ariane, a young Canadian who moves home and gets a job as an interpreter for seasonal migrant workers. Witnessing workplace abuses against them, Ariane must decide how far she is willing to go to speak out against injustice.
Mountains, the debut feature by Haitian-American director Monica Sorelle will have its world premiere in the U.S. Narrative Competition. The drama tells the story of Xavier, a Haitian demolition worker living in Florida, who dreams of buying a bigger house for his family. Meanwhile, his adult son, caught between two cultures, struggles to find a place for himself. What results is a loving portrait of the immigrant Haitian community in Miami.
Three films by U.S. Latinx directors will have their world premiere in the Documentary Competition at Tribeca: Breaking the News by Mexican-American filmmaker Chelsea Hernandez (co-directed by Heather Courtney), Maestra by Mexican-American filmmaker Maggie Contreras, and Transition by Colombian-American filmmaker Monica Villamizar.
Breaking the News, providing a deep look into bias and inclusion in the ever-shifting media landscape, follows the determined efforts of women and nonbinary journalists launching a news “startup” to foreground voices omitted from mainstream news. Exploring gender expectations with poise and warmth, Maestra follows women from different backgrounds as they compete in the first all-women competition for conducting. And Transition follows Australian filmmaker Jordan Bryon as he undergoes transition while embedded with Taliban forces.
Screening in the Spotlight Documentary section, The Space Race by Afro-Latina director Lisa Cortés and Spanish director Diego Hurtado de Mendoza highlights the experiences of the first Black astronauts through decades of archival footage and interviews, The Space Race is a reflective illumination on the burden of breaking barriers.
And the Turkish film Öte, written and directed by Bolivian filmmaker Edmundo Bejarano will have its world premiere in the Viewpoints section of the festival. The film follows Lela, a Black woman from New York City traveling alone through Turkey. In no rush to reach her destination, she is happily sidetracked by the chance encounters her journey provides.
