Tribeca Festival had an overarching theme of honoring projects related to sports and music for its 25th anniversary. There were also a lot of first-time filmmakers present this year at the festival, which was perfectly reflected in the ensemble presence of almost entirely female directors and filmmakers present at the Shorts: Competitive Edge World Premiere.
According to Ben Thompson, the VP of Shorts Programming at Tribeca Festival, out of nearly 9,000 submissions, 87 short films and music videos were selected, and 6 of those key shorts made the cut for this programming block. Here are the films and their loglines, alongside thoughts and key takeaways from the projects and the director’s comments on opening night.
The Psychological Grid: Inside the “Competitive Edge” Slate
The “Competitive Edge” programming block shifts the focus away from scoreboard victories to explore the raw internal pressures, personal traumas, and complex psychological struggles of elite athletes. Through a powerful wave of visionary female and first-time directors, these six films dissect what happens when intense ambition collides with a performer’s fragile inner world.
Kaya (ᜃᜌ) – Identity Through Filipino Martial Arts
Logline: “An outsider in her own culture, half-Filipina Nia secretly trains with queer outcast Malic to join a prestigious Filipino Martial Arts team and prove herself “Filipino enough.”
“Kaya” is a short action film in which first-time director Isabel Lamers wrote, co-produced, and also starred as the lead actress. The film explores a half-Filipina kickboxer, Nia, and her struggles for cultural acceptance amongst her own family and peers while auditioning for a prestigious Filipino Martial Arts team.
Lamers’ unique use of traditional Filipino Martial Arts in the choreography to serve as on-screen exposition for the central character Nia successfully satisfies the storytelling motifs of acceptance and struggle for identity during its 11-minute runtime.
At the post-premiere Director Q&A at the Shorts Theater at Spring Studios, Lamers spoke about the transition from being on-screen talent to working behind the camera.
Freestyle – The Race Against Puberty on Ice
Logline: “In one charged morning practice, a kleptomaniac figure skater risks it all when her compulsions bleed onto the ice.”
“Freestyle” is a short sports thriller written, directed, and co-produced by Jordan Britt. Revolving around a trio of figure skaters, the narrative quickly devolves from one of camaraderie and support amongst athletes into a character study on how to eliminate your opponents and cause discord in the enemies’ camp that would make the late general and strategist Sun Tzu (The Art of War) proud.
When asked about her inspiration for the film, Britt remarked that she came from a competitive figure skating background, and that “Growing up in an aesthetic sport, there’s a lot of pressure on your body,” continuing to state that puberty almost acts as a race against time for a figure skater’s competitive career.
“I think for me in this sport, there was always this correlation between this intense ambition and drive, and having to achieve these things before time ran out…I think it’s really interesting when you place that timer and that intensity on three teenage girls.”
Fault – Breaking the Silence in Elite Tennis
Logline: “An elite tennis star’s reunion with her estranged sister explodes into a battle over buried trauma, threatening her career and her sanity on the eve of the U.S. Open.”
“Fault” was an admittedly heavy, politically charged thriller and mystery short written, directed, and co-produced by Misha Calvert. The film centered on the mystery of whose “fault” it was regarding the estranged relationship between two female tennis players.
Through the rejection of hyper-surveillance by the looming “coach” figure that turned one sister into an elite tennis star and the other into a victim pursuing legal action, “Fault” mirrors the current reality of athletes suffering in silence due to abuse and mistreatment by those who were meant to nurture and allow their talent to grow.
When asked what inspired this project, Calvert shared that one of the lead actresses, Coco Jourdana, approached Calvert with her story. Moved by what was privately shared, Calvert remarked that “This [film] has to be made, and I don’t think we talk enough about it. It’s like, ‘what do we have to do to get the media and politicians to take it seriously?’ and it’s not just women, of course, that get abused, and not just by their coaches,” before finishing with “let’s make some change in the world” to a round of applause.
I Think About Killing You – The Dark Side of Elite Ambition
Logline: “Crew team captain Dani is plagued by invasive fantasies of killing her abusive coach. When the coach pushes the team too far, Dani must choose whether or not to act on her fantasies of violence.”
“I Think About Killing You” is a short sports psychological thriller and drama written and directed by Ran Ran Wang. The film was produced in part by Echobend and Rideback RISE, an accelerator for mid-career storytellers who aspire to create cultural impact and propel narrative change through their work.
Dani (Tiana Le) is the captain of her Division One Collegiate rowing team. Through brief, private conversations with the coach (Bridget Regan) and interactions with teammates, the narrative portrays a mixture of guilt and competitive jealousy as the source that fuels Dani’s invasive fantasies of murdering her coach. When pushed to the absolute brink of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, audiences are left wondering if Dani let her fantasies venture forth from her mind and into a harsh reality…
During the post-premiere Q&A, Wang shared that while she was not a rower, she was a competitive judo athlete during her teenage years. “It wasn’t until I quit the sport [and] looked back on it when I was older, and realized just how deeply my desire and ambition to be great allowed people to push me and take advantage of me in that pursuit.”
Wang reiterated that she has both good and “terrible” memories from her time in Judo, and that most people can relate to the drive of wanting to excel and be great at a sport, while also potentially experiencing the unwanted consequences of being pushed too hard to achieve a desired goal.
La Lucha de Lucía – Breaking Tradition in the Lucha Libre Ring
Logline: “After another defeat in the ring, a teenage wrestler must challenge her family’s traditions and fight to prove herself in the world of Lucha Libre.”
“La Lucha de Lucía” is a female-led action sports drama and short written, directed, and co-produced by Maria Sofia Hernandez. It follows a teenage fighter that comes from a long line of “Rudos” (the “bad guys” who break rules) who, reluctant to hurt others in the ring, seeks to switch sides and embrace the theatrical aerial attacks and the adoration of the Lucha Libre crowd as a “Technica” (the “good guys” who abide by the rules and command the crowd’s attention).
After an encounter with another “Ruda” in the ring, who takes things too far during a taboo match, the teen luchadora successfully transitions to the other side with the respect of the audience and the support of her family. The relationship between father and daughter was a strong, grounding presence in the film, and according to director Hernandez, the two actors also share the same familial bond in real life!
Hernandez stated, “Our actress is actually a wrestler, she was sixteen when we shot it [the film], she’s eighteen now…so it really was almost a family affair, and having somebody on set that was experienced as an actor and a first-time actress and wrestler, I think really let her do her thing to feel connected to the character but also feel comfortable.”
Ultimatum – Systemic Identity Errors in Classical Ballet
Logline: “At the Royal Ballet School’s brutal auditions, two Black girls compete for a place in a world that wasn’t made for them — but find each other along the way.”
“Ultimatum” is a short film that chronicles the experience of two Black girls during their audition for the Royal Ballet School in Sweden. The short was written and directed by brother and sister creative duo Jean-Luc Mwepu and Desirée Mwepu. The film stars Desirée as one of the lead actresses, with editing and cinematography done by Jean-Luc.
Despite navigating various trials and “mishaps” by the judges, the two girls successfully endure the rigorous ballet auditions, only for their identities to keep getting mixed up due to their shared complexion.
When one girl receives an acceptance letter while the other is left in tears, the two realize that the letter was given to one girl, while addressed to the other – causing the two to confront the instructors about the mistake, and cast doubt on their individual evaluations observed during the entire audition process…
During the post-premiere Q&A, Desirée Mwepu mentioned that the film was loosely based on her experiences as a ballerina, while Jean-Luc Mwepu noted that despite putting out an open casting call across Europe, “It was extremely hard to find Black ballerinas…”
Final Takeaways: More Than a Monologue
Tribeca Festival’s “Competitive Edge” Shorts block showcased a powerful slate of female-led films, and female (and male) writers and filmmakers who delivered narratives that examined the psyche, emotional catharsis, and physical form of athletes across a wide breadth of sports.
Although ‘short’ in nature, the films highlighted the struggle of competitive athletes without making the characters into one-dimensional monologues for the issues that dominate the sports world, but rather memorable and sympathetic characters in a world that often cares more about their outer performances than their inner, emotional turmoil.
Did you have a chance to watch any of these short films at Tribeca Festival?
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☆ In Asian Spaces ☆ Ephesians 6:12 ☆
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