‘The Avengers’ to close Tribeca Film Festival
More than 80 feature films and dozens of shorts will be screened at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. — AFP-Relaxnews picLOS ANGELES, March 31 — The superheroes of Marvel Comics' The Avengers will return to Manhattan for the closing of the 11th annual Tribeca Film Festival, April 18-29, organisers announced this week.
The epic action-adventure blockbuster will offer the downtown New York event a splashy ending to its usual balanced mix of independent and high-profile films. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, opens around the world on April 25-27 before it reaches the US May 4.
The all-star feature assembles Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), brought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to do battle with the evil Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and save the world.
More than 80 feature films and dozens of shorts will be screened at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, which includes an impressive line-up of international films in the World Narrative and Documentary Competition categories.
In addition to film screenings, Tribeca hosts a street fair, concerts, outdoor screenings, seminars, a sports day, and archival films – this year includes WarGames and Jaws.
A special tribute panel to celebrate 100th Anniversary of Universal Pictures presents Meryl Streep, Judd Apatow and Robert De Niro, who co-founded The Tribeca Film Festival, which in just 10 years has eclipsed the established New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center.
This year's festival opens with the Apatow-produced romantic comedy Five Year Engagement, starring Emily Blunt (The Adjustment Bureau) and Jason Segel (The Muppets), who reteams with director/writer Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
Even with well-known actors such as James Franco and Michelle Williams, the programme's fare remains edgy. Some highlights include:
2 Days in New York by writer/director/co-star Julie Delpy follows up 2 Days in Paris with her newest boyfriend, played by Chris Rock.
Francophrenia (or: Don't Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is) is directed by James Franco and Ian Olds, following the actor's stint on the daytime soap General Hospital, with behind-the-scenes footage turned into an experimental psychological thriller.
Also, Take This Waltz costars Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen as a happily married couple from writer/director Sarah Polley, Hysteria stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and is about the birth of the vibrator, Struck by Lightning stars Glee's Chris Colfer, and Michael Winterbottom's Trishna adapts Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles with Freida Pinto.
A series of on-stage conversations, Tribeca Talks, will feature several Oscar winners, including Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon, Jim Sheridan and his daughter Naomi Sheridan, accompanied by films.
For the other nominees see http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival. Award winners for the juried World Narration and Documentary films will be presented August 28.
Tribeca Film Festival tickets will be available in April as will e-tickets to the Tribeca Virtual Festival which will screen films as VOD for attending the show at a distance. — AFP-Relaxnews
