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The Tribeca Film Festival begins with a dedication to Boston
Founded in 2002 as a response to the devastating September 11 terrorist attacks and to bring back life to the devastated Lower Manhattan area, the 12th Tribeca Film Festival began yesterday with a documentary about indie band ‘The National’, and with a dedication to Boston following the recent bombings in the city. At the opening night screening of the documentary ‘Mistaken for Strangers’, New York favourite Richard Belzer commented on the humanity and bravery shown by the people of Boston and concluded his remarks by dedicating the festival to the city. The rock-documentary was made by Tom Berninger, the younger brother of the band’s frontman, Matt Berninger, and it focuses on the relationship between the two brothers when Tom worked as a roadie for the band before he was fired. The film received a warm reception by those attending and guests were also treated to an intimate performance by the band. Several Irish films will also be shown at the festival, including ‘What Richard Did’, ‘Dark Touch’, and Neil Jordan’s upcoming ‘Byzantium’.
A new Star Wars film be released every year starting in 2015
Disney took to the stage for its presentation at this year’s CinemaCon (the popular convention for theatre owners) in Las Vegas and announced that they are planning on releasing a Star Wars film into theatres every summer started with 2015’s ‘Star Wars Episode VII’. They are also planning sequels to ‘Episode VII’ to follow every other year, with spin-off movies set in the Star Wars universe coming out in the years in between. Director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek: Into Darkness) is currently preparing for ‘Episode VII’ and it is likely that original cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher will reprise their roles in the upcoming instalment. Screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class) are currently working on the script for ‘Episode VII’. The Walt Disney Company purchased LucasFilm in October 2012 and announced shortly afterwards they were planning a 2015 release date for a new Star Wars film.
Cannes Film Festival Line-up to be announced today
President Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Fremaux are in Paris to unveil the line-up for the 66th Cannes Film Festival. At the press conference at the Champs Elysees, the organisers will later spend some time unveiling the program for this year’s competition. Coming after months of speculation, the line-up is sure to contain this year’s most anticipated films. It was announced earlier this year that Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ will open the festival, while the South Africa-set thriller, ‘Zulu’, starring Orlando Bloom and Forest Whitaker, will close the festival. Steven Spielberg will preside over the jury, while Jane Campion will head the short film competition jury. Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (Festen, The Hunt) will head the jury for the ‘Un Certain Regard’ sidebar of the festival, which will be opened by Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Bling Ring’. The festival will run May 15th-May 26th.
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