Tribeca Film Festival goes green with opening night shorts
Last Updated: Thursday, April 5, 2007 | 5:52 PM ET
CBC Arts
New York's Tribeca Film Festival will devote its opening night lineup to an environmental theme, with a gala to be hosted by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.
The Tribeca festival, which has a mandate to tackle difficult issues, decided that rather than opening with a high-profile feature on April 25, it would start with a series of seven short films about global warming.
Al Gore, shown in February, will host the opening night gala of Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
(Canadian Press)
They've been made by Save Our Selves (SOS), a campaign founded by Gore and Live 8 concert producer Kevin Wall that enlists directors to make compelling short films about climate change.
"The SOS Short Films Program harnesses some of the world's most creative minds to educate, inform and inspire people across the globe to solve the climate crises," Gore said in a statement Thursday.
SOS has enlisted 60 filmmakers, including feature filmmakers, documentary makers and amateurs, to make films and will choose seven for the festival, which runs to May 5.
Among the prominent directors asked to participate were Jonathan Glazer of Sexy Beast; Kevin MacDonald of Last King of Scotland; Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady of Jesus Camp and Aardman Animation, the producers of Wallace and Gromit.
Gore will host the opening night gala, which will include musical performances by Live Earth music acts. Live Earth is the series of concerts Gore has planned to take place around the world on July 7 to draw attention to global warming.
Gore's film on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar for best documentary this year.
"The global climate crisis is the paramount challenge facing humanity, and the goal of the SOS campaign and Live Earth concerts is to trigger a groundswell of people worldwide who will make solving the climate crisis a priority and make meaningful changes in their lives," Wall said in a statement.
The closing film, on May 5, will be The Gates, which documents Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artwork that raised 7,500 fabric-panelled gates in New York's Central Park in 2005.
It was earlier announced that Super-Man 3 will make its U.S. premiere at the festival.
Curtis Hanson's Lucky You, a romance starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore, will have its world premiere.
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal to help rejuvenate Lower Manhattan following the al-Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
FILM REVIEW: Men in Black 3 by Eli Glasner May. 25, 2012 11:40 AM Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back in the action sequel Men in Black 3, a third instalment of a series now 15 years old. Though new addition Josh Brolin manages some amazing mimicry as a younger version of Jones, the story doesn't measure up to the weird and wonderful charms of the original, says film reviewer Eli Glasner.
Top News Headlines
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- B.C. Premier Christy Clark says she is not happy with the RCMP decision to transfer a disgraced Alberta Mountie to the West Coast. more »
- Henrique's OT goal sends Devils into Stanley Cup final
- The New Jersey Devils will vie for a potential fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history after defeating the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern final, courtesy of rookie Adam Henrique's goal early in overtime. more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
Latest Arts & Entertainment News Headlines
- Modern and traditional art scores at Joyner auction
- Both traditional and modern works fared well at Joyner Waddington's spring art auction in Toronto, with buyers snapping up lots by Group of Seven members as well as more contemporary artists. more »
- Prophetic Cosmopolis premieres at Cannes
- David Cronenberg says he didn't anticipate the Occupy Wall Street movement as he prepared to shoot Cosmopolis, his new film which made its world premiere Friday at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France. more »
- Jennifer Egan's newest story debuts on Twitter
- The latest short story from Pulitzer-winning writer Jennifer Egan is emerging 140 characters at a time via Twitter. more »
- Miller Brittain sketches restored by museum
- Canadian artist and social satirist Miller Brittain's larger than life chalk drawings may once again hang in Saint John. more »
Q Blog
Toni Morrison on her two selves May. 25, 2012 5:57 PM Jian speaks with the celebrated African American author and academic about her two conflicting selves, and her new novel, Home.
CBC Books
Talking about war May. 25, 2012 4:57 PM The public conversation around war has always been complex and thorny. How does Canada's military approach differ from that of other countries? Are we a society of peacekeepers or warriors? These are some of the questions that Noah Richler explores in his new book What We Talk About When We Talk About War.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- What a Greek euro exit could mean for Canada
- Third B.C. salmon farm quarantined
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- Brave cat makes epic leap of faith
