All-Star Freakonomics Documentary to Bow at Tribeca

It was always just a matter of "when," not "if," we could expect to see a screen adaptation of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Exposes the Hidden Side of Everything, the celebrated best-seller by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. But how would they do it? New Yorkers will find out next month as the documentary Freakonomics will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (which announced the selection this morning), but let it suffice to say it's the equivalent of Valentine's Day for nonfiction filmmakers. Oh -- and not to be outdone, Amanda Seyfried is dropping by as well.

Or maybe we should call it the Paris J'Taime of docs. Either way, it's got one Oscar winner (Alex Gibney), three Oscar nominees (Morgan Spurlock and Jesus Camp's Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady), one outrageous Oscar snubbee (Why We Fight's Eugene Jarecki) and the man responsible for one of the most entertaining documentaries of the last five years (The King of Kong's Seth Gordon) extrapolating the mysteries of Levitt and Dubner's work for the screen. The festival has officially designated Freakonomics it's closing gala, though it screens on April 30 -- two days before the actual end of the festival.

Another world premiere will join it on an undisclosed date: Letters to Juliet, the Amanda Seyfried/Vanessa Redgrave romantic drama (though not Seyfried and Redgrave togethe -- what is wrong with you?) that takes the pair to Italy in search of "love unlike anything they ever imagined." Take a date.

High-five also to La Vie en Rose director Olivier Dahan as well, who will bring his English-language road-movie debut My Own Love Song to the fest for its international premiere, featuring Forest Whitaker as an "oddball" Renee Zellweger as a paraplegic. There must be some advocacy group out there who can get indignant about this. Send your press releases here.

· Tribeca Film Festival