What do you call genre films that audiences love to share together in a packed theater? Films that make audiences SCREAM with laughter, terror, or excitement? We call them pure escapism. And they’re why we’ve created something new…

ESCAPE FROM TRIBECA

Designed with love and rockets to build our audience and increase our outreach by bringing in the rabid fans who have never been to the Tribeca Festival, and presenting to our stalwart attendees the coolest, craziest, most FUN movies they’ve never had the chance to see. We’ve brought the most deliriously entertaining pictures ever made downtown, only to ESCAPE FROM TRIBECA.

THE LINEUP

One of the most influential crowd-pleasers of all time, Enter the Dragon became a global phenomenon along with its beloved star, the legendary Bruce Lee. Now, together, we’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary of its release and mark the 50th anniversary of Lee’s tragic passing at age 32. Join producer Andre Morgan, incredible co-star Angela Mao, and the members of New York’s own Anderson Martial Arts Academy at this screening, presented in association with the Bruce Lee Family Foundation and Fathom Events. This will be an emotional, once-in-a-lifetime evening of ceremony, reminiscence, and brick-breaking excitement.

Packed with incredible martial arts action, this funny/sad documentary tells an almost unbelievable true show business story. After the tragic death of Bruce Lee in 1973, nearly 300 films featuring FAKE Bruce Lees were produced and released worldwide with look-alike actors given names like Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bronson Lee, and Dragon Lee. Slapped with titles as outrageous as Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave!, these films became a sub-genre all their own known as “Bruceploitation.” Join acclaimed documentarian David Gregory and his crew for a fascinating evening of stranger than fiction kick his(ass)tory! “What happens to a kung-fu clone when he’s outlived his usefulness?” Join us and find out!

From France’s Michel Hazanavicius, the Academy Award winning writer-director of The Artist, comes this heartwarming comedy about filming the zombie apocalypse. Nothing is as it seems in this hilarious farce starring Romain Duris and Berenice Bejo. Proceeded by a zombie costume and makeup contest with adult and child categories (come violently ugly, win valuable prizes!!), Final Cut is a loving homage to family, goo, and gore.

Finally, a wild, scary movie with the fun feel of ’80s horror. Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, Suitable Flesh is a shocker that features Barbara Crampton and Heather Graham in her bravest, sexiest performance yet. When a ravenous evil learns it can take over anyone’s body, no one is safe from its deadly, ravishing possession. Presented by its cast and creators, genre favorite Joe Lynch, writer Dennis Paoli and producer Brian Yuzna, Suitable Flesh will premiere in conjunction with the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies.

Several members of the Suitable Flesh team—co-star Barbara Crampton, screenwriter Dennis Paoli, and producer Brian Yuzna—first joined go-for-broke, H.P.-Lovecraft-inspired forces nearly three decades ago for the amazing, and amazingly depraved, horror classic Re-Animator, directed by the late, great Stuart Gordon. With Suitable Flesh being an unabashed love letter to Gordon’s unhinged ’80s horror films, it’s only right that we pay tribute to that connection by screening Re-Animator, and who better than our friends at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, as well as Barbara Crampton herself, to host the event?

One of the Showa era’s biggest Godzilla spectacles, director Ishiro Honda, special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube send kaiju across the earth for innovative action (and destruction) spanning Tokyo, Paris, New York, and Outer Space. Filmed in glorious TohoScope, this crowd-pleasing super-slam features an all-star cast including Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus, Varan, Baradon and King Ghidorah. Cheer the best of Japan’s monsters as they stomp back into NYC! This special 55th anniversary screening is followed by a reception and is co-presented with Japan Society, the premier organization connecting Japanese arts, culture, business, and society with audiences in New York and around the world.

Talks

With films and series like Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Hill House to his credit, producer, writer, and director Mike Flanagan has taken relationship-driven terror to new heights of artistic and commercial success. In a conversation with author Justina Ireland, learn from Flanagan what scares and moves today’s audiences and why these ancient and primal stories are fresher and more relevant than ever.

We all know what a horror story is. But are the tales of terror we call “universal” really just manifestations of male anxiety? As more and more women take control of the narrative, not only playing victims, “final girls” and witches, but by presenting their own, very different perspectives on terror, the genre has become as exciting as it’s ever been. Join brilliant creators; writers, producers, directors, and actors Kate Siegel, Jennifer Reeder, and Stewart Thorndike, in a conversation with Caryn Coleman as they share how they’ve explored their frightening visions and brought them into the world.

Escape From Tribeca

THE LINEUP

Talks