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TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES 32 PROJECTS

March 26, 2007

TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES 32 PROJECTS FOR 2007 TRIBECA ALL ACCESS PROGRAM

Tribeca All Access Alumni Projects ‘Planet B Boy’ and ‘Lillie & Leander’
to have World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival
New York, NY(rushprnews) – March 26, 2007 – Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express, along with the Tribeca Film Institute today announced the selected projects for Tribeca All Access (TAA), a program designed to help foster relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities.
Tribeca All Access will present 32 new projects at the five-day event, which runs April 25 – 29 during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, held from April 25 – May 6.
TAA, in its 4th year, will provide the participating directors and screenwriters the opportunity to meet one-on-one with more than 100 potential investors, development executives, producers, and agents in prescheduled meetings. The 32 narrative and documentary directors and screenwriters selected to participate represent members of the African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander communities. This year’s TAA projects span a range of topics, from a romantic comedy starring a neurotic lesbian to a documentary that goes inside the world of a professional league of born-again Christian wrestlers.
“Tribeca All Access is now a recognized incubator for U.S.-based writing and directing talent,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Institute. “We are very proud to present this platform to celebrate a multiplicity of filmmaking voices.”
Two alumni of the 2005 TAA program – Benson Lee and Jeffrey Morgan – will have their works premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Director Benson Lee will present the world premiere of ‘Planet B-Boy,’ a documentary film on world championship break dancing, in Documentary Competition. Jeffrey Morgan will present the world premiere of ‘Lillie & Leander: A Legacy of Violence,’ a feature-length documentary that examines what happens when a woman stumbles upon an explosive family secret that hints at decades of racially charged murders. Morgan’s film will play in this year’s Discovery program.
“Tribeca All Access is about identifying talent and challenging expectations,” said Beth Janson, TAA Program Director for the Tribeca Film Institute. “We are extremely proud of our selections this year and look forward to facilitating many new and exciting relationships.”
This month, Dennis Lee, winner of the 2005 TAA Creative Promise Award is scheduled to go into production on his feature directorial debut ‘Fireflies In The Garden’ with Ryan Reynolds, Emily Watson, Carrie Ann Moss and Julia Roberts.
“Tribeca All Access was a turning point in my career,” said Lee. “It’s a congenial and nurturing program that offers invaluable insight into the film industry. The connections I made through TAA continue to enhance my career.”
2007 Tribeca All Access participants were selected from an open call for submissions, which garnered over 300 entries from across the country. Two filmmakers and one screenwriter will be awarded the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award, which comes with a prize of $10,000 for narrative and documentary and $5,000 for screenwriting. Announcements regarding the winners will be made at the Tribeca All Access Awards Ceremony at the Tribeca Film Center on April 28th.
TAA is made possible by Bloomberg. Additional support provided by NYC Economic Development Corporation, Time Warner Inc., and the New York State Council on the Arts.
The following is a list of all selected Tribeca All Access projects and participants:

NARRATIVE

Amreeka

A Palestinian woman and her son arrive in the suburbs of Chicago to escape a life of oppression, only to face the fallout from America’s war on Iraq.

Writer/Director - Cherien Dabis
Producer - Christina Piovesan

Artificial Dissemination

Two teenagers with the same sperm donor father and a rare form of dyslexia begin a journey, after receiving a mysterious message from someone claiming to have a cure.

Directors - Tze Chun, Sheila Dvorak
Screenwriter - Sheila Dvorak

Beyond the Mat

Two wrestlers put their friendship on the line for the sport they love, setting one of them on a journey to self-discovery that brings him one step closer to manhood.

Director - Van M. Pham
Screenwriter - Erik Martinez
Producer - Kase Chong

The Castle

A couple moves into their new Manhattan apartment only to be haunted by its hidden past, which they soon discover is linked to their future.

Writer/Director - Buboo Kakati

Celamy

A moving tale of friendship between a young girl and her imaginary friend, as told from the point-of-view of the imaginary friend.

Writer/Directors - Joe Turner Lin, Julie Anne Meerschwam

Cougars on Three

One woman battles her own selfishness and her father—the temperamental coach of her pro football team—to win her teammates’ support and a spot on the field.

Screenwriter - Tanisha White

The Flicker’s Dance

Confined to his house because of his illness, a boy refuses to give up his love of the outdoors and unexpectedly changes the lives of those around him.

Writer/Director - Priyanka Kumar
Cast: Joe Mantegna, William Mapother, Ione Skye

Four

As the rest of America celebrates Fourth of July, two couples discover the limits of desire and the possibilities of transcendence. Based on the play by Christopher Shinn.

Writer/Director - Joshua Sanchez
Producer - Gill Holland

Fruit of the Tree

The inspiring true story of Dr. James Cameron, who survived a lynching and turned his anger into a force for forgiveness, remembrance and healing.

Screenwriters - Aaron Greer, Fran Kaplan
Producers – Fran Kaplan, Tony Ferraro, Brad Pruitt

Hannah Henri

A neurotic lesbian committed to playing the field has a change of heart when she meets Hannah Henri, a woman who embodies everything she ever wanted.

Writer/Director - Akiva Penaloza

Hyung’s Overture

The eldest son of a Korean immigrant family gives up his career to manage the family’s convenience store, so that his brother may fulfill his potential as a
world-class violinist.

Screenwriter - Young Il Kim
Producers - Teddy Zee and Jonathan Kim

Last Road Home

When a dying man flees his suburban home to live out his final days in paradise, his estranged son is charged with the task of bringing him home before time runs out.

Screenwriter - Roberto Marinas

Money Matters

A troubled inner city teen struggles to come to terms with her mother’s difficult past while carving out an identity of her own.

Writer/Director - Ryan Richmond
Producer - Sam Pollard

The Papaya Factory

Fourteen-year-old Lucy Alvarez faces an unexpected challenge when a class rival decides to go head-to-head with her Quinceanera party, by throwing an all-out Sweet Sixteen party.

Writer/Director - Anna Margarita Albelo
Producer - Jamin O’Brien

Rain for Kabul

The lives of a celebrated journalist working on a story of detainee prison abuse and an American aid worker in Kabul collide when one of them goes missing.

Screenwriter - Soo Hugh

Relocation

A young gay man navigates cultural conflicts when his family visits the city from the reservation for his college graduation.

Writer/Director - Bennie Klain

The Sisterhood of Night

When a twelve-year-old girl exposes a secret society of junior high school girls a small New Jersey town is plunged into controversy.

Director - Caryn Waechter
Screenwriter - Marilyn Fu

Speedy

The unauthorized biography of a corpse: based on a true story of a dead man who became famous after having been kept in a closet for sixty years.

Writer/Director - Natacha Feola

Supermacho

A geeky drummer struggles to hold his band together after a new job arresting shoplifters awakens his inner machismo.

Writer/Director - Aldo Velasco
Producer - Jasmine Jaisinghani

The Vitruvian Man

When a worldwide blackout causes panic and chaos, a young couple finds themselves deeply entrenched in the heart of the mystery that triggered the situation.

Writer/Director - Rooth Tang
Producer - Emily Wang

Waste

A widowed NYC sanitation worker must negotiate his relationship with his son after he becomes a key figure in a Sanitation strike.

Director - Ben Rehki
Screenwriters - John Campo, Ben Rekhi

DOCUMENTARY

Adopted: The New American Family

An intimate look at the evolving notion of “family” in America, through the stories of two families coping with the complexities of trans-racial adoption.

Director/Producer – Barb Lee
Producers – Molly Fowler, Nancy Parsons

Bronx Burning

A look at the tragic events and misguided policies that led to the destruction of a borough, and the residents who chose to stay and re-claim their neighborhoods.

Director - Edwin Pagan
Producer - Bienvenida Matias

Eventual Salvation

After almost 40 years of civil ward and turmoil, an 80-year-old grandmother returns to Monrovia, Liberia to rebuild her life and community.

Director/Producer - Dee Rees
Producer - Nekisa Cooper

Fanaticos

An up-close-and-personal look at the die-hard fans behind Chivas USA, the Los Angeles-based offshoot of the wildly popular professional Mexican soccer team.

Director/Producer - Mylène Moreno

The Foolishness of God: Desmond Tutu and Forgiveness

An in depth examination of Desmond Tutu’s life and work with a focus on his controversial message of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Director - Karen Hayes
Producer - Darin Kuhlmann

Living in Silence: Toraichi Kono

The untold story of the man who was personal valet and confidant to Charlie Chaplin, before facing charges of espionage on the eve of World War II.

Director - Philip Chung
Producers - Clyde Kusatsu, Timothy Lounibuos, Nancy Yuen

The Making of ‘The Boys in the Band’

An in-depth look at the creation of the ground breaking play and film that dramatized the complex experience of being a gay man in the 1950s, long before the Stonewall riots and gay pride parades.

Director/Producer - Crayton Robey
Executive Producer - John Hadity

Monica & David

Two adults with Down Syndrome embark on a new life as a married couple amidst much love and some trepidation from their friends and family.

Director/Producer - Ali Codina
Producer – Paola Gutierrez-Ortiz

Parachute Kids

A personal perspective on this controversial immigration practice where Taiwanese teenagers are sent to American to pursue a coveted education.

Producer/Director - S. Leo Chang

Samba

For a group of young dancers and drummers, preparing for the carnaval is the only escape from the violence and crime that dominate the gritty streets of the favelas.

Director - Jessica Sanders
Executive Producer – Lawrence Bender

Ultimate Christian Wrestling

A group of disenchanted former pro-wrestlers nefind a w way to combine their passion with ministry.

Directors/Producers - Jae-Ho Chang, Tara Autovino

About the Tribeca Film Institute
The Tribeca Film Institute creates innovative programs that draw on the unifying power of film to promote understanding, tolerance and global awareness. Our commitment is to educate, entertain and inspire filmmakers and audiences alike, while strengthening the artistic and economic fabric of New York City and its Lower Manhattan community.
For more information visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org.
Venues and Tickets
AMC Theatres® is the official theatre partner for the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and will help the Festival expand its reach with two new screening venues: AMC Loews Kips Bay 15 and AMC Loews 72nd Street 1. Clearview Chelsea West is another key venue addition for 2007. In addition to these three new venues, festival screenings will take place at the following venues: AMC Loews 34th Street 14, AMC Loews Village 7, Regal Cinemas Battery Park Cinemas 11, Tribeca Cinemas, BMCC Tribeca PAC, Pace University Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Drive-in at the North Cove, Tribeca Film Center and The Grand Theater @ Tribeca Grand.
Please visit www.tribecafilmfestival.org or call 866.941.FEST (3378) to purchase Festival Passes, Packages and individual tickets. Single tickets can be purchased online, by phone, or at the Tribeca Film Festival box office, located at 15 Laight Street (between Varick and Avenue of the Americas, one block south of Canal Street) and additional satellite locations. Single tickets will be available to downtown residents (with proof of residency) at only the Tribeca Festival Box Office beginning on Friday, April 13th. Single tickets will be available for purchase to the general public online, by phone, and at the Box Office beginning on Saturday, April 14-Sunday, May 6.
About the Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff after the attacks on the World Trade Center to help economically and culturally revitalize Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture. The Festival’s mission is to assist filmmakers to reach the broadest possible audience, enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film, and to promote New York City as a major filmmaking center.
In its first five years, the festival attracted over one and a half million attendees from the US and abroad and created more than $325 million in economic activity for New York City.
The sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival will run from April 25th to May 6th, 2007. The Festival is anchored in Tribeca with additional venues throughout Manhattan, and includes film screenings, special events, concerts, a family street fair, and Tribeca Talks panel discussions. For more information on this year’s festival, as well as for highlights on the festival and filmmakers as it takes place, please visit www.tribecafilmfestival.org.
About the 2007 Festival Sponsors
As Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, American Express is committed to expanding the Festival, bringing it to new audiences in compelling ways while offering Cardmembers and the general public special benefits that enhance the festival-going experience. As part of a long-term partnership with the Festival, American Express delivers on its Cardmembers’ passion for film, celebrates filmmakers, fosters community and brings energy and business to Lower Manhattan.
The Festival is pleased to announce the return of its Signature Sponsors: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, AMC Theatres, Apple, Aquafina, Bloomberg, Brookfield Properties, Budweiser Select, Delta Air Lines, Empire State Development/I Love New York, General Motors, Jameson Irish Whiskey, NBC4HD, RR Donnelley, The New York Times, Telemundo 47, Tribeca Grand Hotel and Vanity Fair.
The Tribeca Film Festival is also honored to welcome the following new Signature Sponsors: AARP, Axium, Montblanc, and Target.
For press inquiries regarding the Tribeca Film Festival, please contact Nicole Quenqua Adler at (212) 843-8288 and Tammie Rosen (212) 941-2003. Film stills for the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival are available at www.image.net. If you are not an image.net media user yet, please register using the following referral code: 2604.

Rubenstein Communications
Gretchen Wagner, (212) 843-8076, gwagner@rubenstein.com

Tribeca Enterprises:
Tammie Rosen (212) 941-2003, trosen@tribecaenterprises.com

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Rush PR News - press release services, www.rushprnews.com

Anne Howard writer and publicist at www.annehowardpublicist.com

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