Film News: 2019 Tribeca Film Festival Opens with ‘The Apollo’ on Apr. 24 at Apollo Theater

NEW YORK CITY – The 18th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival will open with a love letter to a New York City Harlem neighborhood icon. The legendary Apollo Theater will screen the Opening Night film, “The Apollo,” on April 24th, 2019. This documentary chronicles the unique history and contemporary legacy of this New York City landmark, and kicks off the two week festival, Wednesday, April 24th through Sunday, May 5th.

The Apollo features interviews with artists like Patti LaBelle, Pharrell Williams, Smokey Robinson, and Jamie Foxx. The film is produced by Lisa Cortés (Precious), White Horses Pictures’ Nigel Sinclair (George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Undefeated), Jeanne Elfant Festa (Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, Pavarotti), Cassidy Hartmann (The Beatles: Eight Days A Week, Pavarotti) and Pharrell Williams.

Opening Night Film for the 18th Tribeca Film Festival is ‘The Apollo’
Photo credit: TribecaFilm.com

“We’re excited to finally be going uptown to play the Apollo,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of the Tribeca Film Festival. “‘The Apollo’ gives audiences an inside look at the major role this institution has played for the past 85 years. It’s seen the emergence of everything from jazz to R&B to soul and gospel — all quintessential American music genres — and this is the time to remind people of our nation’s rich history. ”

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Craig Hatkoff and actor Robert De Niro as a reactive strike back at the September 11th attack in 2001 on New York City and the nearby Tribeca neighborhood. The 2019 Festival features screenings and awards for U.S. Narrative Films, World Narrative Films, Short Film Competition, Best Documentary, the Spotlight Competition and Best New Narrative and Documentary Filmmakers, among it’s presentations. It also has TV, Virtual Reality and Gaming presentations, and includes films from 30 countries, 81 World Premieres, eight North American Premieres, one U.S. Premieres and ten New York City Premieres.

[21]	By PATRICK McDONALD [22] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [21]