Tribeca Film Festival

The Tribeca Film Festival is celebrating their fifth year.  It has truly grown.  There are movies all over the city from Tribeca, East Village, Midtown and Upper Westside.  Movies during the day and night.  Next year I might consider just buying a pass and seeing how many films I can see and how much popcorn I can eat.

Today I went to see Fat Girls. Total indie film.  Laugh out loud lines.  Think Napoleon Dynamite meets John Waters. 

I love the first few lines of the film.  The main character, is lying in bed with a guy (you don’t know who until the end of the flick).  He is speaking out loud in his brain which is cleverly done through out the entire film.  Sequences stop and Roger, the main character, gives his thoughts on the moment.  Rodney says "you don’t have to be fat to be a fat girl, it’s almost a state of mind."  I could relate. 

The director, who is 20 years old, plays the main character.  It might be a story about his life but I wasn’t able to stay and hear what he had to say after the film.  Although I did stop and tell him what a terrific movie he made. 

The film is set in nowhere Texas.  He is a senior in high school trying to figure himself out.  He is gay and wants to move to NYC to be on Broadway.  The other characters are all quirky.  His best friend Sabrina who is quite overweight but very dry.  Her boyfriend who is a Cuban immigrant adopted by an African American family living in the dust bowls of Texas.  A gay British guy who is good looking and sophisticated.  A gay teacher, Mr. Cox, who had to come back to take care of his mother.  Roger’s parents who are also dark.  His mother refers to all food with religious descriptions.  "Want some Jesus jambalaya or a Holy hamburger". 

All and all a cast of characters and more.  Funny.  Clever.  Good lines.  If it ever does make it on the big screen, past the film festivals, go see it.