The top-heavy, scattered Tribeca Film Festival starts tomorrow. Previewing film festivals in the US and their African offerings is an exhausting exercise. Either there is nothing to show or get excited about, or they repeat the usual tropes and themes.

There are three Africa-related films on the schedule (correct me if my research was shoddy): a short “Father Christmas doesn’t come here,” a documentary about Rwanda’s genocide, and a film that seems to be about the midlife crisis of an American in Cairo.

A side interest of mine is sports media, and this is the fourth year Tribeca has partnered with ESPN to screen sports films.

If you’re wondering, there’s one sports film with a soccer theme: a film about the connection between the murders of the Colombian drug dealer, Pablo Escobar, and the football player, Andres Escobar, who was murdered 10 days after he scored an own goal for Colombia against the US in the 1994 World Cup. I know. It had to have something to do with the US, and these films are already airing on television as part of ESPN’s 30th anniversary.