NINA SIMONE AND SALDANA...AND ELVIS & NIXON
**Or Rather, Enactment Or Impersonation? A Commentary. And on the line from LA to share his thoughts about the film Nina, is the composer of the score, Ruy Folguera. Describing the challenge of creating a musical context for such a larger than life iconic figure, essentially diving into the production 'without a parachute' ; how crafting compositions with Roberta Flack and Chaka Khan paved the way for him into this artistic endeavor; how his own trauma coming of age under the military junta dictatorship in Argentina connected him politically and creatively with Nina in this film; and memories of working with the late Anthony Quinn on the movie A Walk In The Clouds back in 1995, while sharing tango stories.
**What do Reagan, Thatcher, Tony Blair and Obama have in common? According to Shadow World, plenty. And having to do with covert roles as brokers for the arms trade in perpetrating endless war. A look at the investigative documentary and a discussion with the filmmakers Johan Grimonprez and Andrew Feinstein. Touching on connections to the Panama Papers, the 35,000 lobbyists in DC; the Pentagon as metaphorical self-licking ice cream cone; and the Gucci Shoe Guys complicit with the US corporate coup d'etat in slow motion. A feature at the Tribeca Film Festival.
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**Louis Theroux Talks My Scientology Movie: The BBC satirical journalist ventures into the murky depths of the intimidating religious corporate empire. Casting himself as the protagonist on a co-journey with a former leader turned whistleblower defector, Marty Rathbun. While uncovering why the Feds gave a pass to the church despite their many civil rights violations charges, and what it might have to do with 'consensual self-abasement' ; what's up with the possible connection of Scientology to ISIS and even McDonalds - as a corporate franchise serving up spiritual burgers instead; and will or will not Theroux's next weird project be a probe into the newest addition to his extended family - the marriage of his cousin and likewise filmmaker Justin Theroux to Hollywood actress, Jennifer Aniston. A Tribeca Feature.
**Dead Ringer: Size apparently may not matter, when it comes to the outstanding short films at Tribeca. A presentation of this poetic and musical imagined uprising of the last remaining pay phones on the streets of New York City - raging against their own demise as cell phones proliferate and displace them in our present time. Directed by Michael Tucker, Alex Kliment and Dana O'Keefe.
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