White people have stolen music from black people for decades and then some. This is a matter of historical record. No surprise, then, that white musicians stole techno, too. Kristian R. Hill’s documentary “God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines” purportedly runs down techno’s long journey from Detroit to Germany, from the hands of black artists to European ones, from the 1980s to the 2000s and beyond; one of Hill’s main subjects, Juan Atkins, lays the groundwork for making this case very early in the film, citing Pat Boone’s lifting Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” as just one instance among many others of white mediocrity diluting black genius.

Continue reading ‘God Said Give’ Em Drum Machines’ Doesn’t Quite Live Up To Its Historic Premise [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.

Last year, Robert De Niro, co-founder of the Tribeca Festival, stated, “The Tribeca Film Festival was born out of our mission to bring people together in the aftermath of 9/11.” With that mission still leading the charge, the annual festival is returning to New York this week, June 8-19, to bring artists together and allow them a platform to grow their audience and their network. With films from 40 different countries, we believe the festival will do just that again this year. 

The full lineup includes 109 feature films, some of which we’ve seen in previous festivals such as “A Love Song” which was an official selection at Sundance, “Beba” which first premiered at TIFF last fall, and “Cha Cha Real Smooth” which we fell in love with when it took Sundance by storm earlier this year.

Continue reading Tribeca 2022 Festival Preview: 24 Films & TV Series To Watch at The Playlist.