It's been about two years since the release of Katie Holmes' last film, The Secret: Dare to Dream, and she's back with a film that's very close to her heart.
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The actress graced the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival for the premiere of Alone Together, her second directorial venture, which she also wrote and starred in.
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Speaking exclusively to HELLO! at the event, she shared what it felt like in the moment to be back to making movies the way it happened before quarantine, especially given that her film centered around the early stages of the pandemic in 2020.
"It's so exciting," said Katie who spent the pandemic with her daughter, Suri, from her marriage to Tom Cruise. "It was such a scary time to go through, especially when New York City was hit so hard, that [it's great] to see people out."
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She added: "The festival is so inspiring to me. I went to some of the shorts that Whoopi Goldberg curated on Sunday, and Kyra Sedgwick's movie was also then.
"To feel everyone continuing to create and be there for each other. That's what New York is about," she concluded.
Katie was supported at the premiere by her boyfriend Bobby Wooten III
The Tribeca Festival also holds a special place in Katie's heart, having been the place where her debut directorial, All We Had, premiered.
Alone Together concerns June, a food critic who journeys upstate during the opening stages of the pandemic to get away from New York City's surge.
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According to the website's official description: "When her boyfriend decides to stay in the city to take care of his parents, June has to settle in for the long haul as she starts to understand that the initial two weeks of pandemic might just drag on a bit!"
The film also stars Derek Luke, as well as Jim Sturgess as her love interest, Charlie. "As the spring unfolds around them," the plot description continues: "Charlie and June make the most of the sudden break in their routines and develop an unexpected intimacy.
Derek Luke and Jim Sturgess star in Alone Together as well
"They muse about life goals, relationships, and veganism while eating takeout under neon signs. The film is a joyful and surprisingly nostalgic love story set against the continuous background drone of all-foo-familiar covid catchphrases on the news."
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