Disparate Films, Disparate Times
The Tribeca Film Festival just ended and while I didn’t have the opportunity to attend this year as I have been fortunate enough to do in years past, it was fun keeping up with it via the internet. Two movies premiered that I thought I would mention here and they are great example of the disparity of choices an independent film festival offers attendees. The first is “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” a documentary about the iconic Joan Rivers. From the website: ” Joan’s story is both an outrageously funny journey and a brutally honest look at the ruthless entertainment industry, the trappings of success and the ultimate vulnerability of the life of a performer.”
The other film, at the opposite end of the spectrum was “The Other City,” produced by Sheila C. Johnson, one of the founders of Black Entertainment Television and a recent speaker here in Columbia, SC courtesy of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. From the website: “Not far from the White House, the Capitol, and the National Mall lies a part of Washington, DC that the tourists never see and the mainstream media virtually ignores. At least three percent of DC is HIV positive, a staggering rate higher than parts of Africa. Behind all the stories of heartbreak, loss, and struggle there are also the incredible, encouraging stories of the people behind grassroots movements to extend education, combat stigmas, and spread hope.”
