Tribeca 2010 Program Announced: James Franco Fights Crime, Vincent Gallo Gets Animated

The Tribeca Film Festival is preparing for its ninth iteration to launch next month in Manhattan, today announcing this year's competition lineups, Showcase selections and special presentations. Among the most notable, find:

· James Franco as a man attempting to rescue the woman he loves from a crime syndicate in William Vincent (formerly known as In Praise of Shadows);

· Vincent Gallo as the lead voice talent in the animated futuristic-Euronoir Metropia, also featuring Juliette Lewis, Udo Kier, Stellan Skarsgård, and Alexander Skarsgård;

· A work-in-progress screening of Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney's new, untitled study of fallen New York Gov. and hooker enthusiast Eliot Spitzer;

· A 45th-anniversary screening of David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, which I guess is New Yorkier than I remember.

And dozens more selections you'll find after the jump, with more to come in the days ahead. Shrek Forever After gets the festival underway April 21.

Buried Land, directed by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes and Steven Eastwood, written by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, Steven Eastwood, and Dzenan Medanovic. (USA, UK, Bosnia and Herzegovina) - World and TFF Virtual Premiere. The small town of Visoko heralds to the world a remarkable discovery: A valley of ancient pyramids predating Egypt exists under the hills of central Bosnia. Tourists flood the war-scarred region, and locals are caught between the real and the imagined (mirroring the film's vacillation between documentary and fiction). With the help of a young man returning to his homeland, an American film crew determines the role of faith in capturing what cannot yet be proven. In English, Bosnian with English subtitles.

Dog Pound, directed by Kim Chapiron, written by Kim Chapiron and Jeremie Delon. (France) - World Premiere. In North America more than 100,000 children are held in detention centers. Sixty percent are destined to become repeat offenders. Director Kim Chapiron (Sheitan, TFF '06) takes a searing look at three incarcerated teenagers fighting for their lives and for hope. An electrifying cast delivers blistering performances packed with intensity and emotional power in this story of unlikely friendships in the midst of a brutal and deficient correctional system.

Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti), directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, written by Ivan Cotroneo and Ferzan Ozpetek. (Italy) - North American Premiere. Ferzan Ozpetek (Facing Windows, A Perfect Day) sets this playful family comedy in the picturesque city of Lecce in the deep south of Italy. Tomasso, a reluctant soon-to-be-partner in his wealthy family's pasta business, has plans to come out--and hopefully get out of his familial obligation. But when his plans are thwarted by his brother, Tomasso gets stuck on the path that he was desperately trying to avoid. In Italian with English subtitles.

Lucky Life, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, written by Lee Isaac Chung and Samuel Gray Anderson. (USA) - World Premiere. When one of them falls ill, a group of friends takes one last trip to the beach, desiring a meaningful farewell. Years later, as one of the couples plans to have a child, the trip lingers as a haunting memory. Lee Isaac Chung's follow-up to his award-winning Munyurangabo is equal parts graceful, warmly acted relationship drama and beautifully shot visual poem.

My Brothers, directed by Paul Fraser, written by William Collins. (Ireland) - World Premiere. When 17-year-old Noel accidentally breaks his dying father's most prized possession--a cheap wristwatch--he and his two cheeky younger brothers "borrow" the boss' bread van for a clandestine quest to replace it. But what begins as a quick road trip soon turns into an emotional odyssey for the boys. A longtime writing collaborator of Shane Meadows (Somers Town, TFF '08 award winner), Paul Fraser makes a stellar feature directing debut with this poignant and bitingly funny family journey.

Open House, directed and written by Andrew Paquin. (USA) - World Premiere. Brian Geraghty gives a haunting performance as prim and taciturn David, forced for years to watch over his sexually predatory partner Lila and her violent urges. David longs for human connection and a less violent existence, and when a would-be victim becomes a chance at redemption, he is torn between his humanity and the only life he's ever known.

Paju, directed and written by Chan-ok Park. (South Korea) - North American Premiere. Joongshik and Eunmo live in Paju: a gray town where the urban landscape is as bleak as the fate of its residents. In writer/director Chan-ok Park's emotionally intense follow-up to award-winning Jealousy Is My Middle Name (TFF '03), the personal travails of two antiheros are delicately unveiled through an anachronistic period of eight years, demonstrating how easily the lines of development and destruction are sometimes blurred. In Korean with English subtitles.

Gainsbourg, Je t'Aime... Moi Non Plus, directed and written by Joann Sfar. (France) - International Premiere. From a young man in Nazi-occupied Paris to the sultry crooner who bedded Brigitte Bardot and married Jane Birkin to the vulnerable poet hidden behind a shroud of provocation--Serge Gainsbourg's is a life large enough for grand treatment on film. One of France's greatest mavericks is brought back to life (uncannily, by Eric Elmosnino) in this imaginative and visually flamboyant film debut from one of France's greatest cartoonists. In French with English subtitles.

Snap, directed and written by Carmel Winters. (Ireland) - World Premiere. With a fresh and intense style, playwright-turned-director Carmel Winters composes a gripping psychological drama about three generations of a family poised to repeat the mistakes of the past. Aisling O'Sullivan (The War Zone) commands the screen as a calloused mother who will do anything to protect her son--even deny her own past. From the producers of TFF award winner Eden and the Academy Award® winner Once.

When We Leave (Die Fremde), directed and written by Feo Aladag. (Germany) - North American Premiere. When young Turkish-German woman Umay can no longer stand her husband's ill-treatment, she flees from Istanbul with her five-year-old son into the arms of her family in Berlin. But love, affection, and loyalty soon become irrelevant as they struggle to reconcile Umay's willful self-determination with the social system that governs their lives. This passion piece on female flight from oppression builds its considerable dramatic intensity to a glowing payoff. In German, Turkish with English subtitles.

The White Meadows (Keshtzar haye sepid), directed and written by Mohammad Rasoulof. (Iran) - North American Premiere. Poetry, mythology, metaphor, and the absurd are expertly woven to tell the fable-like story of Rahmat, who sails from island to island off the coast of Iran to collect tears. Moody and elegant, The White Meadows is acclaimed writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof's (Head Wind, TFF '08) mesmerizing cinematic statement on conformity, social norms, and the collective condition of Iran. In Persian with English subtitles.

William Vincent, directed and written by Jay Anania. (USA) - World Premiere. The versatile James Franco (Milk, Spider-Man) stars in the story of William Vincent, a quiet and peculiar criminal uninterested in the fruits of crime. When he falls for a gangster's (Josh Lucas) favorite call girl (Julianne Nicholson), William is forced to flee New York. But after four years in exile, William secretly returns, intent on rescuing the woman he loves from her dangerous fate.

Find the documentary competition, Showcase section and Special Presentation selections on the next page.

Pages: 1 2