The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival kicks off this week with the world premiere of Love, Gilda at the Beacon Theatre.  The festival runs April 18-29, 2018.

There’s a lot that I’m looking forward to covering but most importantly, Disobedience is the film that hits home the most as an Orthodox Jewish transgender woman.  In the follow up to the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman, Sebastián Lelio directs Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, and Alessandro Nivola.

As with anyone that comes from the Chicago improv scene, Love, Gilda is very high on my priority list.  Tribeca selected the Lisa D’Apolito-directed documentary as the Opening Night selection.  Among those featured include Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudoloph, Martin Short, and Cecily Strong.

Sticking with documentaries, I discovered Freaks and Geeks in 2007.  Creator Paul Feig will be on hand for the world premiere of Freaks and Geeks: A Documentary.  Brent Hodge directs the retrospective of the short-lived TV series.   While the NBC series would only have a season, the cast has gone on to have talented and successful careers both in front and behind the camera.

Feig also has a role in Paul Lieberstein’s directorial debut, Song of Back and Neck.  The writer-director is best known for his work on The Office as Toby.  Lieberstein leads a cast that includes Rosemarie DeWitt, Clark Duke, Brian d’Arcy James, Robert Pine, and the aforementioned Paul Feig.

Miguel Arteta follows up Beatriz at Dinner with Duck Butter.  The director co-write the script with actress Alia Shawkat.  Shawkat stars alongside Laia Costa, Hong Chau, and Kate Berlant.

Marianna Palka brings her newest feature Egg to Tribeca.  The film stars Christina Hendricks, Anna Camp, Alysia Reiner, David Alan Basche, and Gbenga Akinnagbe.

Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle‘s Karen Gillan brings her directorial debut, The Party’s Just Beginning, to Tribeca for its international premiere.  Gillan leads a cast that includes Lee Pace, Matthew Beard, Paul Higgins, Siobhan Redmond, Jamie Quinn, and Rachel Jackson.

Eva Vives’ All About Nina features Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a stand-up comedian.  The rest of the cast includes Common, Chace Crawford, Clea DuVall, Kate del Castillo, and Beau Bridges.

Disney fans will be looking forward to Howard.  The film profiles the late songwriter Howard Ashman.  In addition to archival footage of Ashman, the film includes interviews with Alan Menken, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bill Lauch, Sarah Gillespie, and Peter Schneider.

Nia DeCosta’s first feature film, Little Woods, stars Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Luke Kirby, James Badge Dale, and Lance Reddick.

Alex Pettyfer makes his directorial debut with Back Roads.  The actor-director leads a cast that also includes Jennifer Morrison, Nicola Peltz, June Carryl, Robert Patrick, and Juliette Lewis.

Writer-director Meredith Danluck makes her feature debut with State Like Sleep.  The drama stars Katherine Waterston, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Michiel Huisman, and Mary Kay Place.

Jason Reitman is joined by Tamara Jenkins for a talk following the NY premiere of his new film, Tully.

Written and directed by Sam Boyd, In A Relationship is a dramedy that explores the lives of two pairs of twenty-somethings in Los Angeles.  The film stars Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Dree Hemingway, Patrick Gibson, Jay Ellis, and Melora Walters.

Girls alumnus Jemima Kirke stars in two films at Tribeca.  The first is All These Small Moments from director Melissa Miller Costanzo.  The cast includes Molly Ringwald, Brian d’Arcy James, Brendan Meyer, Sam McCarthy, Harley Quinn Smith, and Jemima Kirke.

The second film sees her team up with younger sister Lola Kirke in Untogether.  Directed by Emma Forrest, the film stars Jamie Dornan, Jemima Kirke, Lola Kirke, Ben Mendelsohn, Billy Crystal, Alice Eve, Jennifer Grey, and Scott Caan.

A midnight selection, 7 Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through the Gateway Chosen By the Holy Storsh, is directed by Vivieno Caldinelli.  The film stars Kate Micucci, Sam Huntington, Dan Harmon, Taika Waititi, and Mark McKinney.