Tribeca Film Festival 2009 Mini-Preview: Documentaries

Director Leslie Cockburn and former Nation columnist Andrew Cockburn have put together a documentary about the collapse of the financial industry called American Casino. While "eliciting candid revelations from defectors from Bear Stearns and Standard & Poor's and other high-level players in the subprime mortgage gamble, American Casino also gives a voice to the minority Americans on 'Main Street'—a high school teacher, a therapist, a minister—who were the unwitting chips in this high-stakes game of chance." Following the May 2nd screening, the Cockburns will be joined by NYU Stern School of Business Economics Professor and Chairman of RGE Monitor Nouriel Roubini, and Bloomberg News correspondent Mark Pittman to talk about the origins of the mortgage crisis and its continuing ramifications.

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Last week Executive Director Nancy Schafer talked us through some of the fun events happening during the festival, which include free stuff like the drive-in movies and the family street fair, the post-screening Q&A's with directors such as Spike Lee and Steven Soderbergh, and a "work in progress" premiere screening of the documentary, Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful.

Tickets went on sale Tuesday for American Express Cardmembers, who get first dibs on tickets through Saturday because Am Ex is a major festival sponsor. On Sunday, single tickets go on sale to downtown residents (below Canal) at the Tribeca Cinemas ticket outlet only, and on Monday they go on sale to the general public. All ticket details are here. Click on the film stills above for details on some of the intriguing documentary features at this year's festival.