Tribeca Film Festival 2012

For the last 9 years I have used vacation time to attend the Tribeca Film Festival. NYC and time spent with film and film makers is a great use of time off. This year, other obligations have occupied my free days, so I could not swing week day attendance. Because this would be my 10th year attending, I decided to be happy with one day at the festival. Weekend tickets are the hardest to procure, and I failed to have tickets before I arrived in NY. I decided to take my chances on the Rush Line.

I arrived in Brooklyn on Friday night, as my daughter Liza agreed to accompany me on my Saturday adventure. We had a delicious dinner at Superfine and went to bed early. Saturday morning, the air was crisp, but the rain had stopped and we walked the dogs in DUMBO before taking the train into the east Village. Now the TFF website recommends you arrived 45 minutes before the film to line up for Rush Tickets. 15 minutes before the movie, they count the empty seats and sell the remaining tickets. In my experience, if you are within the first 30 people in line, you have a pretty good chance of getting in. We arrived at 10:50am for a 12:00 screening of 2 Days in NY and we were 22nd & 23rd in line. People who arrived 45 min ahead, looked bewildered at the almost 100 people in line at that point. The staff member organizing the line was continually warning us that the night before, there were 125 people in the Rush Line for 2 Days in Paris and not one person got in. Wow. We had a spot in the sun, the people around us in line were pleasant, we had a plan B and a positive attitude. As noon approached, a few people near the front of the line happily went into the theater, but when we were around #10 they told us there were no more seats, and the film would be in theaters in August.

Plan B went into motion as we made our way across the street for lunch at Smith. After lunch we got back in the subway and went cross-town to check out the Family Street Fair. Strollers, street performers, music, popcorn and cupcakes filled Greenwich St. The hour before we were to get in another line was spent at Church Bar, one of of my faves in the lobby of the Tribeca Grand. Arriving at Tribeca Cinema at 2:40 for a 4 pm film, we were still about 20th in line for Knuckleball! The best part was waiting with a Mets fan. Happily, we got into the film, sat front row for the first time in years. Small theater, small screen, it worked. Excellent documentary. After the film we had a little time to kill, so we went to Nancy Whiskey for a quick beverage before meeting my friend Randi for dinner at Bread Tribeca. Dinner was delicious.

On the cab ride back to Brooklyn, Liza and I declared the day a success, and another year at Tribeca Film Festival was in the books. A wonderful time.