Top Tribeca awards go to ‘Monkeys’ and ‘Beach’1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe 2011 Tribeca Film Festival heads into its final weekend with Swedish narrative pic “She Monkeys” and doc “Bombay Beach” crowned the winners of top competish prizes.
Along with a few pre-premiere acquisition announcements — including IFC Midnight’s pickup of “Saint” and Magnolia’s deals for docs “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” and “Limelight” — a couple of films have yielded pickups negotiated in the wake of successful Tribeca screenings. On Thursday Magnolia snapped up Sam Shepard oater “Blackthorn,” while earlier in the week the Weinstein Co. snagged docu “The Bully Project” after a round of late-night negotiations.
Although the fest has a reputation as less of a marketplace than Sundance or Cannes (which begins soon after the close of Tribeca), some in the industry believe its status is beginning to change, with buyers beginning to pay closer attention to the slate amid a favorable climate for indie pickups.
“Almost every major buying rep from L.A., the U.K. and Australia is here, along with most of the major foreign reps, and they’re all looking for stuff,” said Magnolia exec Tom Quinn. “I can’t say that’s always been true in past years.”
