9 WMM Filmmakers to Premiere at Tribeca 2024

Updated May 28, 2024
Originally posted April 22, 2024

The Official 2024 Tribeca Film Festival selections have been announced, and 9 films from WMM filmmakers will premiere (8 will have their world premieres!). The Tribeca Film Festival, now in its 23rd year, will take place Wed, June 5, 2024 – Sun, June 16, 2024.
 
Three films made with the support of WMM’s Production Assistance Program, are having their World Premieres:
 
MADE IN ETHIOPIA – World Premiere.
Directed by Xinyan Yu, Max Duncan. Produced by Tamara Dawit, Max Duncan, Xinyan Yu.
Made in Ethiopia examines China’s increasing impact on Africa through the story of charismatic businesswoman Motto, who is tasked with launching the biggest Chinese industrial zone in Ethiopia. 
 
NEW WAVE – World Premiere.
Directed by Elizabeth Ai. Produced by Elizabeth Ai, Rachel Sine.
With depth and emotional resonance, Elizabeth Ai’s lively first feature is both an endearingly nostalgic exploration of the defiant Vietnamese new wave music scene, as well as a vulnerable and personal look at the filmmaker and her community’s revisiting of their unexamined past. 
 
EMERGENT CITY – World Premiere.
Directed by Kelly Anderson, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg. Produced by Kelly Anderson, Brenda Avila-Hanna.
When global developers purchase Industry City — a series of connected industrial buildings within a primarily immigrant, working-class community in Brooklyn — conflicting views draw battle lines between residents, city officials, and master planners as the fate of the city and contemporary urban development hangs in the balance. 
 
New films from WMM program alums include: 
 
SABBATH QUEEN World Premiere.
Directed and produced by Sandi DuBowski.
Sabbath Queen is a remarkable 20-year journey in the life of Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, a 39th-generation Orthodox rabbi — and drag queen. 
 
SHELF LIFE – World Premiere.
Directed by Ian Cheney. Produced by Robyn Metcalfe.
Quirky and contemplative, this delectable documentary takes us on a surprising global odyssey into the world of cheese, drawing unexpected parallels between the aging of cheese and the human experience of growing old. 
 
THE DEBUTANTES World Premiere.
Directed and produced by Contessa Gayles. Produced by Alyse Shorland, Jannat Gargi, Molly O’Brien.
Focusing on the first group of Black debutantes in Canton, Ohio in over a decade, this documentary follows the young women as they unpack the ball’s troubled legacy and chart their path forward, both for tradition and themselves. 
 
SATISFIED – World Premiere.
Directed by Chris Bolan, Melissa Haizlip. Produced by Steven Cantor, Jamie Schutz, Chris Bolan.
An intimate look at the actress Renée Elise Goldsberry; a woman’s struggle to have a family and balance a career, against the backdrop of the hit musical Hamilton. A performance by Renée Elise Goldsberry and special guests will follow the screening.
 
I’M YOUR VENUSWorld Premiere.
Directed by Kimberly Reed. Produced by Jamie Schutz, Steven Cantor, Mike Stafford.
A moving and timely documentary following the unsolved murder of Venus Xtravaganza, star of the legendary Paris Is Burning as Venus’ two families — biological and ballroom — come together to seek answers and celebrate her legacy. 
 
LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH – New York Premiere.
Directed by Dawn Porter.
Dawn Porter offers an in-depth look into the life and career of Luther Vandross as he overcomes personal and professional challenges to become one of the greatest vocalists of all time. 
 
Congratulations to the filmmakers!
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