Any Day Now, directed by Travis Fine, and BURN, helmed by Tom Putnam and Breena Sanchez, won the Narrative and Documentary Audience Awards, respectively, tonight at the 11th annual Tribeca Film Festival. Each Heineken Audience Award comes with a cash prize of $25,000. This marks the first time two awards–one for narrative and one for documentary–were given to the audience choices for the best films at Tribeca.
“It’s gratifying to see audiences respond so overwhelmingly to these world premiere films,” said Nancy Schafer, executive director of the Tribeca Film Festival. “Both films strike uplifting and hopeful notes, and we look forward to them continuing to garner strong audience reaction long after the Festival is over.”
Throughout the Festival, which kicked off on April 18, audiences have been able to vote for the Heineken Audience Awards by completing nomination ballots upon exiting screenings. Films in the World Narrative Competition, World Documentary Competition, Viewpoints, Spotlight and Cinemania sections were eligible.
Any Day Now begins when aspiring singer Rudy (Alan Cumming) pounds on the door to discover his neighbor’s son Marco, a teenager with Down syndrome, left alone by his drug addicted mother with only the blaring stereo to keep him company. Family Services takes Marco, but days later Rudy sees him on the street and brings him home, where Rudy and his closeted district attorney partner Paul (Garret Dillahunt) become the stable family environment Marco has never had. But when authorities discover Rudy and Paul are gay, the men must battle a biased legal system to adopt the child they have come to love as their own. Set in 1970s Los Angeles and inspired by a true story, Any Day Now is a poignant and occasionally incendiary drama from Tribeca Festival alum Travis Fine (The Space Between) that addresses gay adoption rights issues that are as relevant today as they were nearly 40 years ago. Augmenting the touching performances from Cumming and Dillahunt is Isaac Leyva, who offers a subtle yet impactful performance as a boy who inspires those around him to fight for what is right when no one else will. Cumming, Dillahunt and Leyva received a standing ovation for their performances at the premiere.
BURN, executive produced by Denis Leary, introduces audiences to the men and women charged with saving Detroit, the once-roaring city that many have left for dead. With vast stretches of forsaken buildings left as kindling, the highest arson rate in the country, and a budget crisis of epic proportions, the city turns to new fire commissioner Donald Austin to shake up the system with hard-line decisions and drastic, often controversial measures. Cautiously regarded by the department as a bombastic outsider, the Detroit native sets out to demonstrate his commitment to helping his hometown rise from the ashes. Many of the film’s screenings at Tribeca were attended by members of the Detroit Fire Department and received standing ovations.
“We were told time and time again that there is no audience for a film about firefighters,” said Sanchez.
Added Putnam, “We are so grateful for this honor and we hope it will help raise the profile of the film and let people know what’s going on in Detroit and across this country.”
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More