Tribeca Adds Some Starpower To Festival

The Tribeca Film Festival today unveiled the remainder of the films that will play at the April 21-May 2 fest. Last week, Tribeca set a competition lineup. The new films, assigned to four out-of-competition programs, ratchet the bold-faces that should help drag the press to downtown Manhattan premieres. They round out a slate that is strong on New York-centric subjects. Tribeca will also set three more gala premieres, to go with Shrek Forever After, though organizers wouldn’t reveal the films.

“We think there is a range of established directing talent and fresh new faces and directors who are going to pop out,” said executive director Nancy Schafer.  

The Encounters section has 14 films that include a Craig Teper documentary on Vidal Sassoon;  Last Play at Shea, a documentary on Long Island’s Billy Joel as he plays the last musical concert at Shea Stadium before the ballpark was razed; a docu on the Canadian rock band Rush; the Liev Schreiber-Helen Hunt drama Every Day; sex & drugs & rock & roll, with Andy Serkis playing British punk pioneer Ian Dury;  the Jean-Paul Salome-directed psychological thriller The Chameleon; an Alex Gibney documentary on a live stage show by journo Lawrence Wright and his struggle to cover Islamic terror objectively; Visionaries, a Chuck Workman-directed docu on avant-garde cinema and the premiere of the Edward Burns-directed Nice Guy Johnny. Latter film will debut Tribeca’s virtual film program that features films, panels and premiere coverage.

The Discovery  section features the world premiere of teen comedy Beware the Gonzo; No Woman No Cry, a documentary directed by fashion icon Christy Turlington Burns about struggles of pregnant women around the world; Arias with a Twist, the Bobby Sheehan-directed look at New York’s downtown art scene; and Into the Cold, Sebastian Copeland’s two month trek to the North Pole .

Cinemania, a section reserved for genre films, includes Zonad, an Irish family comedy helmed by Once director John Carney and Kieran Carney; Honk Kong thriller Dream Home, directed by Pang Ho-Cheung; the J.B. Ghuman-directed teen comedy Spork; and the dangerous-sounding Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives.

The Spotlight Section, featuring films that have distribution and opened other festivals, include Get Low, with Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek; the docu Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work; The Killer Inside Me, the Michael Winterbottom-directed drama whose depiction of violence between Casey Affleck and Jessica Alba created controversy during its Sundance screenings; the Jean-Pierre Jeunet-directed Micmacs; Ondine, the Neil Jordan-directed drama that stars Colin Farrell as a fisherman whose nets snag a mermaid-like beauty; and Please Give, the Nicole Holofcener-directed drama that stars Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt as Manhattanites waiting for a neighbor to die so they can take over her apartment.