Tribeca Film Festival 2018, April 18 – 28 “Jellyfish” and “United Skates” (Wendy Moscow)

The Tribeca Film Festival is in full swing, and with the incredible variety of films and other media to choose from – narratives, documentaries, and “immersive” presentations (virtual reality), it’s hard to know where to begin.

The films “Jellyfish” and “United Skates,” though very different (the first is a narrative from the U.K., the latter a documentary made in the U.S.), are surprisingly linked by their ability to address contemporary issues of alienation, oppression and empowerment honestly and unflinchingly.

The achingly moving “Jellyfish” opens with shots of the once thriving, now decrepit, seaside town where the protagonist, teenager Sarah Taylor, lives with her mentally ill mom and two younger siblings. With her fierce intelligence and a scathing sense of humor born of her frustration with the world’s unfairness, Sarah copes as best she can in her role as de facto parent to her sister and brother and caregiver to her mom. Extraordinary newcomer Liv Hill plays the part with a simmering intensity that eventually explodes in a gasp-worthy, revelatory catharsis that is pitch-perfect.

Director James Gardner effectively uses the town, with its fading signs, aging infrastructure and seedy amusement park (which provides a momentary, if illusory, respite) as a metaphor for poverty and entrapment. The gaming arcade where Sarah works, which should be ringing with the cries of youthful exuberance, is, instead, a haven for sexually frustrated old men. Spaces of joy and safety become locuses of fear and danger. There is no place for Sarah to be a child.

Even though the empathetic high school teacher as savior has become a cliché in films such as this, Cyril Nri is wonderful as Mr. Hale, the drama teacher whose emotional “backstage” and “frontstage” turns on a dime. He sees Sarah’s potential and devises an unlikely creative outlet for her rage and ferocious wit – stand-up comedy.

Dark and gritty, this is a coming-of age story in which the girl transitioning to womanhood is, sadly, already wise beyond her years.

Both heartbreaking and exhilarating, “United Skates” profiles the African-American roller-rink community in several places across the country, including Los Angeles, North Carolina, and Chicago.

A subculture mostly hidden from mainstream awareness, the skating community provides its members with an an escape from the hardships of being black in America, an outlet for dazzling creativity, and the joy of being part of a open-armed extended family. One skater says she can “feel the love” when she walks in the door of her home rink on “adult night,” coded language devised by rink owners for the skate session when African-Americans are welcome to be there. Other euphemisms include “Soul Night,” “R&B night,” and, yes, “Martin Luther King Night.”

Some of the predominantly white rink owners have invented discriminatory rules to keep black people off the floor during general (read:white) skate sessions. In one infuriating scene, a rink employee turns one family away for having wheels that are “too small,” even after they point out that a white man already on the floor has similarly small wheels.

It’s those smaller wheels that enable these dancers on skates to perform the beautiful, breathtaking, often synchronous acrobatic routines that larger wheels would inhibit. The skating is beautifully shot by directors/cinematographers Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown, and cinematographer Matthew Brown, in a way that fully conveys the freedom, joy and camaraderie felt by the participants. Low angles, tracking shots and rhythmic editing (by Katharine Garrison) enable the audience to vicariously fly along with the skaters.

I was astonished to learn that Queen Latifah, C.I.A. (of whom Ice Cube was a member), and other hip-hop stars began their careers at roller rink “adult nights” when there was no other venue for rap music. One enthusiastic rink owner, a humorously self-described “crazy white man,” proudly displayed his posters from that era for the camera.

But, sadly, roller rinks have been closing at an alarming rate, due to economic factors beyond the owners’ control. Rezoning, the advent of the “big box” store, and the last decade’s recession have forced rinks to shutter their doors. A poignant montage toward the end of the film shows shot after shot of skeletal structures with fading signs that had previously been thriving arenas filled with joy and pride.

“United Skates” is an invaluable look at a culture that may be waning, but determined to survive.