Tribeca Festival Director Cara Cusumano Interview: Doc Talk Podcast

Tribeca Festival, which kicks off Wednesday, will be thumping to music from its opening moments.

The 25th edition of the festival in Lower Manhattan debuts with the world premiere of Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World, the latest documentary from Oscar winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. It closes June 14 with the premiere of another music documentary, Alicia Keys: Girl From Hell’s Kitchen, about the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter.

In between, Tribeca will pulse with documentaries on Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, guitarist Peter Frampton, Israeli singer Noga Erez, rap trio The Lox, drummer Travis Barker, and concert docs with Katy Perry and Mumford & Sons.

On the new edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, Tribeca Festival director Cara Cusumano joins us to preview the festival’s nonfiction lineup. There’s much more than simply music-themed films, of course. Cusumano tells us about How to Feed a Dictator, an intriguing documentary about chefs tasked with tending to the alimentary needs of all-powerful political leaders. Mario, meanwhile, profiles the late governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, with appearances by all of Mario’s children, including his son Andrew, who served two terms as governor of New York himself (and a bit of a third before scandal forced him to resign).

Cusumano explores Miss Representation: Rise Up, a documentary directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California’s “first partner.” She’s married to Gov. Gavin Newsom, an expected Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. Speaking of presidents, Playing POTUS, directed by Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper), explores comedians who have had a field day sending up U.S. presidents, a group that includes Will Ferrell, Chevy Chase, Alec Baldwin, Keegan-Michael Key, Dana Carvey and Maya Rudolph (who played presidential hopeful Kamala Harris on SNL) among others. That film is based on a book by Peter Funt, son of Candid Camera creator Allen Funt.

Cusumano explains why Ferrell, who memorably portrayed President George W. Bush (remember “strategery”?), has some second thoughts now about his satirical take.

We also get into films about late artist Jean-Michael Basquiat and the couple who owned the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 (it’s now a museum).

That’s on the new episode of Doc Talk hosted by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline’s senior documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.

Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.