Originally established in the wake of 9/11 by actor Robert DeNiro and partners as a means or revitalizing lower Manhatten, the Tribeca Film Festival, the third major film festival of the calendar year (following Sundance and SXSW), will next month once more showcase a selection of intriguing new films from exciting young filmmakers from all over the world.

Billed as an east coast alternative to the hip indie festivals of Austin, and Park City, Tribeca scaled down its operations by almost twenty-five percent last year, slashing it’s festival slate as the independent film industry felt the squeeze of the economic crisis. With a strong international flavor as its trademark, Tribeca has also demonstrated a willingness to accommodate big studio, big-budget fare, this year announcing that it would host the world premiere of Dreamwork’s summer tentpole Shrek Ever After as it’s opening night feature presentation. In addition to the lovable ogre, here are five more things that piqued Uinterview’s interest on this year’s line-up.

The Killer Inside Me (Film)
Following a string of impressive performances in the likes of his brother’s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, and the criminally underrated Assassination of Jesse James, Casey Affleck anchors this uncompromising neo noir from acclaimed British director Michael Winterbottom’s. Based on Jim Johnston’s bleak `50’s page-turner Affleck takes the role of Lou Ford, a violent and calculating sociopath masquerading as a Texas Sheriff,�whose bizarre coping mechanism rests on his gift for the lazy gab. After falling into a casually sadomasochistic relationship with a local prostitute (Jessica Alba), which reawakens Lou’s buried dark desires, together they hatch an ambitious plan to blackmail a local construction magnate who Lou blames for the death of his elder brother.
When: Tuesday, April 27th, 7:00pm
Thursday, April 29th, 9:45pm
Friday, April 30, 10:30pm

Memento (Film and Conversation)
One of the defining films of the last decade, co-writer/director Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending cocktail of guilt and paranoia gets a well-deserved retrospective look to mark it’s 10th anniversary. Heralding a new kind of storytelling with it’s intricate, backwards narrative, Memento follows the twisty-turning ramble of a man afflicted with Anterograde Amnesia (masterfully played by Guy Pearce) frantically trying to make sense of his own reality while hunting his wife’s killer. In addition to the film itself, Tribeca presents a conversation with co-writer Johnathan Nolan, stars Guy Pearce and Joe Pantoliano, and MIT professor of behavioral neuroscience, Dr. Suzanna Corkin.
When: Sunday, April 24th, 3:00pm

Micmacs (Film)
After switching gears drastically with his last overblown romantic drama – the aptly titled ‘A Very Long Engagement’ – cult French filmmaker Jean Pierre Jeunet returns to his favored fetish of makeshift misfits, cobbling together another ragtag band of underdogs and outsiders�who together form a family. Employing his trademark fusion of industrial horror and gleeful grotesquery, the Amelie director goes dark, harking back to the days of his much-lauded debut, Delicatessen, with this playful poke to the eye of the Military-Industrial-Complex. A whimsical story of revenge, Mimacs chronicles the revenge antics of a brain-damaged video store clerk who, along with a motley crew of junkyard tinkerers, scheme in fanciful fashion to do away with a pair of Parisian arms dealers. In French with subtitles.
When: Thursday, April 29th, 6:00pm
Friday, April 30th, 10:00pm
Saturday, May 1st, 2:30pm

Saturday Night (Documentary Film and Conversation)
A staple television favorite for decade and a launching pad for stars such as of Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Tina Fey, the inner workings of Saturday Night Live remains something of an enigma, with audiences chiefly informed through funhouse mirror reflections the likes of the now defunct Studio 60 and the Emmy magnet that is 30 Rock. But what does it actually take to pull off this weekly television event? Marking his feature directorial debut, actor-turned-director James Franco takes us inside the hallowed halls for a unique behind-the-scenes look at the process, capturing the development of an entire episode of the iconic show from conception to completion. After the film join James Franco, series creator Lorne Michaels, and various SNL cast members, past and present, for discussion.
When: Sunday, May 2nd, 3:00pm

The Other City (Documentary Film and Panel Discussion)
With our country’s future being endlessly debated by elected officials mere miles away, Washington DC’s AIDS crisis is swiftly spiraling out of control, with an estimated 3% of the population testing positive for HIV, a rate higher than some parts of Africa. Showcasing the dark underbelly of our nation’s capitol, Tribeca alum and activist filmmaker Susan Koch chronicles the poverty and the hardship of DC’s forgotten underclass, but finds hope in the form of a grassroots movement, centered around such inspiring projects as Josephs House Shelter, dedicated to providing education and awareness to this perpetually ignored problem. Following the film join director Susan Kock and a panel of journalists and health experts to discuss both the film and the issues at hand.
When: Monday, April 26th, 4:30pm
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