There are lots of things we think of when we think of the TriBeCa Film Festival but until now defecting wasn't one of them. But we aren't Cuban actors Analin de la Rua and Javier Nunez, cast members of Una Noche, which premiered at the festival last week. After going missing en route to the festival, the pair emerged in Miami on Friday to reveal that they are seeking political asylum in the States. The actors' journey to the States, at least, has not been nearly as harrowing as the one by raft they depict in the film. more ›

Hmm, after it was reported that the Tribeca Film Festival Brooklyn hipster apocalypse movie First Winter included a scene with hipsters illegally killing deer at an upstate farm, the red carpet for First Winter, scheduled for tonight, was canceled. Coincidence or does the festival not want to give anyone a reason to flourbomb the hipster stars? more ›

On Thursday, April 19, the TriBeCa Film Festival kicks off with a free outdoor screening of the culture-shifting, Steven Spielberg-directed 1975 shark flick, Jaws. They follow that up the next night with the Spielberg-produced, generation-defining 1985 kids adventure The Goonies. The Gothamist offices were very excited when we heard the lineup, but not necessarily for the same reason. Turns out we're pretty split as to which of the two movies is worth fighting for a spot at an outdoor screening. Below, and argument for each, and a spot to place your own vote. more ›

One of the features to be shown during this year's Tribeca Film Festival is First Winter, which is also known as the fest's "hipster apocalypse movie" because it features Brooklyn hipsters stranded in a remote country farmhouse. Now, as the festival draws near, it turns out that the film crew didn't have a license to shoot and kill two deer! And the hipster film crew killed the deer outside of deer hunting season! more ›

One of the best things to come out of Staten Island, the 5th graders of the PS 22 chorus, are getting some more attention with a documentary that will premiere at TriBeca Film Festival this year. The trailer for Once In A Lullaby has just been released (watch it below), and the doc will focus on the public school kids from Staten Island and their teacher Gregg Breinberg, who have been invited to perform at the White House and The Oscars. more ›

The TriBeCa Film Festival starts today, with a kick-off concert from recent SNL host Sir Elton John, paired up with an outdoor screening of the world premiere of Cameron Crowe's documentary The Union... all for free! So you know it's going to be a clusterf*ck. Want to be a part of the madness? Read on... more ›

The TriBeCa Film Festival is back with tickets for the annual Downtown film frenzy going on sale today (you can see our picks here). But how exactly do the films in the festival get into the festival? Good question! To find out, we talked with David Kwok, the Director of Programming for the festival who has been with it since it began. Ever wonder how many people have to watch a movie before it goes into the festival? How they organize their movies? If anyone programming for the TriBeCa Film Festival actually, y'know, lives in TriBeCa? We've got your answers right here. more ›

With less than a month until it starts its tenth go-round, the TriBeCa Film Festival media machine has started to rumble. And though single tickets won't be available to non-AmEX holding, non-Downtown living, New Yorkers until April 18 the lineup for the Festival's popular (and free) Drive-In series have been announced. Putting aside the fact that you can't actually drive in to the World Financial Plaza, where the movies are screened, anyone up for some Fame and Muppets Take Manhattan under the stars? more ›

James Franco, who has hosted SNL twice... so far, screened his documentary about the show yesterday afternoon at the TriBeca Film Festival. The actor started filming the documentary, titled Saturday Night, back in December 2008. He originally intended for it to be a 7-minute short for an NYU film project he was working on, however, he came out with a 90-minute piece, which focuses on one week at the show (a week that John Malkovich played host). more ›

One of the most anticipated events at this year's Tribeca Film Festival is coming from filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), who will be giving audiences a taste of his work-in-progress, untitled documentary about Eliot Spitzer. Gibney was somehow able to convince Spitzer to field questions about the prostitute scandal that was his downfall—or perhaps Spitzer really wants to open up about it? Whatever his motivation, the end result (judging by this clip) looks to be riveting, in an uncomfortable, want-to-look-away-but-can't sort of way. more ›

The ninth annual Tribeca Film Festival unveiled its full lineup today; this year the festival will present 85 feature-length and 47 short film selections from April 21st through May 2, 2010. Alex Gibney, whose Taxi to the Dark Side won the Oscar for best documentary in 2008, will bring My Trip to Al-Qaeda to the festival, as well as his work-in-progress, an untitled film about former Governor Eliot Spitzer. Neil Jordan's Ondine, which stars Colin Farrell as a fisherman who reels in a mermaid, will have its U.S. premiere, as will Michael Winterbottom's The Killer Inside Me, a "pulpy noir" starring Casey Affleck. more ›

Back in July, following many years of debate over its future, some new plans for Pier 57 were unveiled. more ›

There was a futile rush-ticket line stretching halfway down the block outside the Director's Guild Theatre on 57th Street last night for the New York premiere of Spike Lee's Passing Strange, which documents the critically acclaimed rock musical using a concert-doc aesthetic not unlike Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense. Tickets to the extremely sold-out Tribeca Film Festival screening were exclusively offered to American Express Cardmembers, but Passing Strange fans shut out last night will at least be able to see it on TV; in a post-show discussion last night, Lee revealed that the film will be broadcast on PBS's Great Performances series, and he added that a theatrical distribution may be in the works. (There is also a second and final screening tonight as part of TFF.) more ›

Set over the course of one weekend in the posh restaurants, hotels and bars of Manhattan, The Girlfriend Experience explores the inner life of a young, high-price call girl as she tries to balance her fraught career path with her seemingly typical long-term relationship with a personal trainer. The action, so to speak, takes place in October 2008—with the financial industry in free-fall, Chelsea, the escort in question, spends less time between the sheets than she does listening to various affluent white guys completely freak out about the economy. more ›

Last night the famous technology pioneer, best-selling author, and controversial prophet Ray Kurzweil participated in a lively discussion with Robert Krulwich (cohost of WNYC's Radiolab) after a screening of the documentary Transcendent Man at the Tribeca Film Festival. The thought-provoking film is both a fascinating character study of Kurzweil, who is obviously a genius, and an entertaining look at the heated debate over where biotechnology and artificial intelligence is taking us. more ›

In 2005 filmmaker Marshall Curry was nominated for an Academy Award for his documentary Street Fight. He recalls his moment of television glory on the big night being when he was "almost hit in the head with a stuffed penguin as the March of the Penguins guys squeezed by on their way to the stage." Now he's back for another round with his new documentary Racing Dreams, currently screening at Tribeca Film Festival. Delving into the world of 11 to 13 year old World Karting Association auto racers (the prequel to NASCAR), the subject matter couldn't be further from downtown New York. Recently the Brooklynite told us about the film, the Oscars, and having his hands on some works-in-progress by The National. more ›

It's been seven years since the Tribeca Film Festival emerged from the devastation of 9/11, and during that time it's grown from celebrity-cultivated urban renewal project into one of the most anticipated cultural events of the year—not just in the neighborhood it was created to help, but throughout New York City and beyond. The big name items this year include the festival opener, the world premiere of Woody Allen's Whatever Works; the premiere of Steven Soderbergh's new film, Girlfriend Experience (starring gifted porn star Sasha Grey!); and the New York premiere of Spike Lee's Passing Strange. more ›

Alexandra Patsavas may be known by some for bringing The Flaming Lips to the Peach Pit After Dark in the 90210 zip code (video). Since then she's been soundtracking shows like The O.C., Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl -- but her talents extend beyond the small screen. She also just launched her own label, Chop Shop Records; and this year she brings Breaking the Band back to the Tribeca Film Festival. The concert takes place at Webster Hall tonight, and features bands like Bad Veins and The Hold Steady. more ›

It's a long way from MASH to Ocean's 13, but Brooklyn's own Elliott Gould is still in the game, doing everything from the voice of God in the animated Ten Commandments to a forthcoming movie called The Deal, in which he shares the screen with William H. Macy and LL Cool J. The six-time host of Saturday Night Live was back in town over the weekend for the premiere of The Caller at the Tribeca Film Festival. more ›

The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival begins April 23rd and runs through May 4th, with over 200 feature length narrative films, documentaries and shorts from around the world. This year also features discussions with filmmakers, music events, a family film series, an ESPN Sports Film Festival and other special presentations. Check out last week's preview of some of the narrative feature films in the festival, or brave the entire program of films.) more ›

The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival begins April 23rd and runs through May 4th, with over 200 feature length narrative films, documentaries and shorts from around the world. This year also features discussions with filmmakers, music events, a family film series, an ESPN Sports Film Festival and other special presentations. (Peruse the entire selection of films.) more ›

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It was supposed to be an afternoon on the football field during a match-up between the Wadleigh Harlem Hellfighters and McKee/Staten Island Tech Seagulls. Unfortunately, it turned into a terrible day, as the Harlem team found the message "Y'all n-----s suck MSIT" written in black marker on their sideline bench. more ›

Last night at Irving Plaza, Andrew "William Ocean" Litz became the 2007 US Air Guitar Champion. Ocean, who lives in New York City, used his home-field advantage to...his advantage. He had several of his supporters in the crowd to aid his performances - throwing water in the air (like an ocean, we suppose) and supporting him as he crowdsurfed. Ocean's moves were enough to move him from 2nd place entering the finals/compulsory round. He defeated 14 other air guitarists that qualified in regional US Air Guitar events, including 2006 US Champion Craig ‘Hott Lixx Hulahan’ Billmeier and Fatima "Rockness Fucking Monster" Hoang, who was in first entering the finals. more ›

), who've been filming Christo and Jean-Claude's work since in the '70s. They were there with their cameras in '79 when the artists first pitched their idea to the city of installing hundreds of orange gates throughout the park for two weeks in winter. To hear the nay sayers shooting the idea down originally and then to see footage of the rapturous crowds in 2005, is to understand just a little bit better Christo and Jean-Claude's tremendous artistic vision. Ultimately they insist they do their work for themselves alone, but to be reminded how public art enriches our city dwelling experience is really inspiring. We see the gates drawn on photographs, fabricated, constructed, unfurled and then enjoyed against the backdrop of a lush snow storm. Gates from up above, from far away and then from close up--this movie is a gates-gasm. While some of the extensive footage of the orange sails flapping in the winter winds does drag in spots, it's still some very lovely camera work. Maysles and his co-director Antonio Ferrara have done a wonderful job of documenting that particular moment in New York for posterity. more ›