by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

I hope that certain film festivals continue the trend of offering films available virtually. Part of me thinks, why wouldn’t they? It can’t cost them very much (not that I would know) to put films on a platform (that’s probably the word) and make them accessible to the general public. I want to see as many films as possible, but I simply cannot get to the Tribeca Film Center and stay in New York City for the duration of the festival. OK, I could, but it would involve a number of credit cards.

Some of the films from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival are pandemic-centric. 7 Days, starring Deadpool’s Karan Soni, is about a young couple whose traditional Indian parents set them up on a date right as a shelter-in-place order is put in place. With/In is a series of video calls with celebrities such as Don Cheadle and Rosie Perez on how they’re handling quarantine life. The film as of yet is composed entirely of video calls and “digital diaries.” There’s plenty of options, too, if you’re not looking to revisit the pandemic just yet.

The Tribeca Film Festival is running in person and virtually from June 9 through June 20. Tickets and more info here.

1. False Positive (dir. John Lee)
Pregnancy is body horror. Birth is body horror. False Positive takes a modern spin on Rosemary’s Baby as a young couple (Ilana Glazer and Justin Theroux) become pregnant through the help of an (evil?) fertility doctor (Pierce Brosnan). She’s seeing things, hearing voices. The men dismiss it as hormones. False Positive was co-written by Glazer (who is currently pregnant) and directed by John Lee, one of the creators of the hilarious and transgressive take on kids programming, Wonder Showzen.

2. Shapeless (dir. Samantha Aldana)
Continuing on the body horror theme comes a horror film about an eating disorder. Ivy (Kelly Murtagh) is a New Orleans lounge singer whose eating disorder takes over her life and turns her into… something. Shapeless was filmed in New Orleans using largely local talent.

3. Ultrasound (dir. Rob Schroeder)
Reveal too much about a film and you risk spoiling it. Reveal too little and you might leave the prospective audience confused. Ultrasound reveals just enough to keep me intrigued: it’s based on this graphic novel and tells a series of stories that are all connected in some way. Ultrasound is director Rob Schroeder’s feature-length debut; previously, he served as producer on horror films Beyond the Gates and Sun Choke. Based on the title, is this going to be the fest’s second pregnancy-related horror film? TBD.

4. The Kids (dir. Eddie Martin)
Filmed in the summer of 1994 in New York City, Kids was that kind of guerilla filmmaking that is sparse these days. It was the first film credit for Rosario Dawson and Chloe Sevigny, who have been acting steadily ever since. But what happened to the other kids from Kids? Documentarian Eddie Martin takes a look at what happens to inner-city youth who are given an early chance at stardom.

5. Roaring 20’s (dir. Elisabeth Vogler)
What is Roaring 20’s? We know that it drifts around Paris, features 24 actors, and was filmed in 6 takes. Filmed in summer 2020 in the thick of the pandemic, Roaring 20’s promises to be an immersive experience, and an opportunity to travel to another place.