The 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. Celebrating its 5th year, Tribeca All Access will present 37 new projects, its largest showing ever, at the six-day event taking place April 21 – 26 during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, held from April 23 – May 4.

TAA will provide the participating directors and screenwriters with workshops and the opportunity to present their upcoming works in one-on-one meetings with more than 100 potential investors, development executives, producers and agents. The 37 narrative and documentary directors and screenwriters were selected to participate from an open call for submissions, which garnered over 550 entries from across the country.

This year’s jury for TAA is a notable group of industry professionals – actors, writers, producers, and directors – who will review script excerpts and work samples prior to the Festival. The 2008 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award Narrative jurors are Adam Beach, Joy Bryant, Damon Dash, Kate del Castillo, William Greaves, Jessica Hagedorn, Chris Lee, Anthony Mackie, Jesse L. Martin, and Patricia Riggen; the 2008 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award Documentary jurors are Neda Armian, Marysol Castro, and Sheila Johnson.

2008 Partnerships, Programs

New this year, Tribeca All Access will feature four projects in the narrative category through associations with the UK Film Council, Australian Film Commission and Canadian Film Centre. The collaboration marks the first time Tribeca All Access has expanded its program to include international delegates. UK participants are director John Akomfrah and producer Lincia Daniels, representing Games Men Play. Australian filmmakers joining in this inaugural year of international participation are director Leah Purcell, whose documentary Black Chicks Talking premiered at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival, and producer Bain Stewart, representing Netball. Canadian participants are writer Shannon Masters and producer Jennifer Podemski, representing Sight Unseen, and producer Larisa Andrews and director Claudia Molina, representing Red Velvet Girls.

Also new to this year’s Festival is “Tribeca All Access On Track,” an expansion of the TAA program designed to provide year-round support to TAA alumni. On Track will offer alumni filmmakers access to camera, lighting and sound packages, as well as loan out an on-site editing suite equipped with Final Cut Pro. Alumni may apply twice a year for support in any project in which the alumnus is serving as director or screenwriter; support is not restricted to TAA projects.

TAA Films in 2008 Tribeca Film Festival

Since its founding in May 2004, TAA has supported 117 film projects, of which 14 have been completed, 18 are in production and 43 are in active development. This year, three TAA alumni were selected from 4835 submissions to premiere their films in the Tribeca Film Festival, the largest number of TAA projects ever to premiere at the Festival. The films will play in the Discovery program.

“Heading into its 5th year, Tribeca All Access has exceeded our expectations in terms of the quality of work it has consistently presented year-after-year and the immeasurable opportunities it provides for up-and-coming filmmakers to have a voice,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Institute. “It is extremely gratifying to have alumni come back as presenting filmmakers, and we couldn’t be more proud to have three TAA alumni projects enjoying their world premieres at this year’s Festival.”

• Fire Under the Snow, directed by Makoto Sasa (2006 TAA participant) – World Premiere, Documentary. Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist monk was imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese Communist Army for 33 years. Despite this, he remains unbroken, keeping the flame of his spirit ablaze. Fire Under the Snow tells an inspirational story: survival of the human mind and a soul under unthinkable duress.

• Going on 13, directed by Dawn Valadez and Kristi Guevara-Flanagan (2004 TAA participants) – World Premiere, Documentary. 4 years, 4 girls, a world of changes... Watch as Ariana, Isha, Rosie and Esme let go of childhood and fumble - or sprint - toward an uncertain future. Going On 13 goes into their world as they negotiate the precarious moments between being a little girl and becoming a young woman.

• Marina of the Zabbaleen, directed by Engi Wassef (2006 TAA participant) – World Premiere, Documentary. Zabbaleen opens with a mesmerizing shot of Marina, the film's six year-old protagonist, swinging up into the azure Egyptian sky, and back down to the sandy Muqattam garbage village. Throughout the film we explore this theme of her life, floating somewhere between a poetic dream and a harsh reality. Marina's family sorts garbage in this hidden village where most of Cairo's garbage gets recycled daily, but she has hopes of returning to the farmlands of Upper Egypt. Marina of the Zabbaleen was funded through connections made at TAA.

Additional TAA alumni have made notable advancements in the past year alone. The 2007 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth “Vision” Award winner Cherien Dabis is in pre-production on Amreeka after securing private financing through an introduction at the program. Roberto Marinas, another 2007 TAA alumni, was one of four writers chosen out of more than 1,200 submissions for the 2008 Disney Screenwriting Fellowship, the third TAA alumni to be chosen for this prestigious program. First-time screenwriter and 2006 TAA alumni Charisse Waugh optioned her project Catfish to Alicia Keys’ Big Pita, Little Pita Productions, and the 2005 project Eat, For This is My Body was selected to play at New Directors/New Films.

“The many accomplishments of our Tribeca All Access alumni indicate a healthy, successful program that is not only beneficial to the participants, but also to the industry,” said Beth Janson, Program Director, Tribeca Film Institute. “Tribeca All Access has become a reliable resource for industry to find talent.”

2008 Awards

The 2008 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Awards include a new category for best emerging narrative and awards totaling $44,500. Three filmmakers and one screenwriter will be awarded the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award, which comes with a prize of $12,000 for narrative, documentary and emerging narrative and $8,500 for screenwriting. L’Oréal Paris will once again present The L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth “Vision” Award in the amount of $15,000 to a promising female filmmaker participating in the Tribeca All Access program. Announcements regarding the winners will be made at the Tribeca All Access Awards Ceremony on April 25th at Buddakan in New York City.

TAA is made possible by Bloomberg. Additional support is provided by Time Warner Inc., NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The Charles Evans Hughes Foundation, The Academy Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

EDITORS NOTE: A list of all selected 2008 Tribeca All Access projects and participants is below.


About the Tribeca Film Institute:
The Tribeca Film Institute is dedicated to creative innovation in film and media arts. The Institute creates original programs that draw on the unifying power of film to promote creativity, 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.

Tickets for 2008 Festival:
Tickets for the Festival will be $15.00 for evening and weekend screenings and $8.00 for daytime weekday and late night screenings. In addition, the Festival will offer a few select screenings with panel discussions for $25.00.

Select Pass and Package are now on sale and can be purchased online at www.tribecafilmfestival.org or by telephone, toll free, at (866) 941-FEST (3378). Single ticket sales begin for American Express Cardmembers on April 12, 2008, for downtown residents on April 18, 2008 and for the general public on April 19, 2008. Single tickets can be bought at the Main Box Office at 15 Laight Street, online and by telephone. The 2008 Festival will continue ticket discounts for evening and weekend screenings for students, seniors and select downtown Manhattan residents. Additional information and further details on the Festival can be found at www.tribecafilmfestival.org.

About Tribeca Film Festival:
Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2001 following the attacks on the World Trade Center to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music and culture. The Festival’s mission focuses on assisting filmmakers to reach the broadest possible audience, enabling the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promoting New York City as a major filmmaking center.

Since its founding, the Festival has attracted more than two million attendees from the US and abroad and has generated more than $425 million in economic activity for New York City.


About the 2008 Festival Sponsors:
As Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, American Express is committed to supporting the Festival, offering benefits that enhance the festival-going experience, and bringing business and energy to Downtown Manhattan & New York City communities.

The Festival is pleased to announce the return of its Signature Sponsors: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, AMC Entertainment, Apple, Bloomberg, Brookfield Properties, Cadillac, Delta Air Lines, Empire State Development/I Love New York, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Montblanc, NBC4HD, RR Donnelley, The New York Times, Target, Telemundo 47, Vanity Fair, Verizon and Yahoo!.

The Tribeca Film Festival is also honored to welcome the following new Signature Sponsors: IFC, iShares, LG Electronics and Snapple.
For press inquiries regarding the Tribeca Film Festival, please contact Kimberly Kress at 212-843-9394 or Tammie Rosen at 212-941-2003. For additional information on the Festival, please visit the Press Section at www.tribecafilmfestival.org.

Tribeca All Access 2008

NARRATIVE

Bardos, Anslem Richardson (Writer)
Two family men are forced to continuously alternate fates after a tragic car accident – while one family lives, the other's must die – but what happens when one of them is no longer willing to give up his wife and children?

Billy Bones: A Cautionary Tale for Adults, Deborah Chow (Writer/Director)
Left behind at school by her divorced parents, Isabel walks into the path of a stranger who whisks her away to a world where frightening reality and fantasy clash.

The Conqueror, Alka Raghuram (Writer/Director)
When an old feud between two villages brings tragedy to his family, a young boy must decide whether to avenge his loss or try to break the painful cycle of violence.

Creve Couer, MO, Marilyn Agrelo (Director); Stephanie Sanditz (Writer); Mia Riverton (Producer); Blye Faust (Producer)
Sixteen-year-old Alex Lawry struggles to find beauty and romance in small town Missouri, while contending with her dysfunctional family, a clique of mean girls, and a local bad-boy rocker.

Darkland, Phillip Van (Writer/Director)
A thriller set in Vietnam War-era Laos, in which a young US AID worker gets swept up in a dangerous love affair with the head of a government dam building operation, who is secretly funding attacks on the villagers she works to save in order to complete his dam.

Day Dream, Rodney Evans (Writer/Director)
Take a dazzling trip to New Orleans, the home of Buddy Bolden, the forefather of modern jazz, and Billy Strayhorn, the openly gay composer of numerous Duke Ellington tunes.

$Free.99, Pete Chatmon (Writer/Director), Candice Sanchez McClaren (Co-Writer)
In a complicated bank heist, twelve hostages quickly realize that their captor is more than he appears.

Full, Nanobah Becker (Writer/Director)
Brandon, a 20-something queer Navajo living it up in New York City, is offered a chance to reconcile with his estranged brother back home.

Games Men Play (UK), John Akomfrah (Writer/Director); Lincia Daniels (Producer)
An ambitious basketball coach discovers he has a talented but wayward son and puts his life on the line to stop the youngster from killing or being killed.

Heavy Metal Indians, Nathan Young (Writer); Kade Twist (Writer)
When the path of a young and rebellious American Indian crosses with a group of strung-out misfits the coincidental collision leads to an unexpected act of violence that changes each of their lives forever.

The Infinite Life of Stuart Hornsley, L. Dana Jackson (Writer/Director); Moira Griffin (Producer)
On a mission to travel back in time to win the girl that got away, Stuart Hornsley finally completes his time machine in a race to succeed at love before his life goes totally awry in the present.

Meadowlandz, Moon Molson (Writer/Director)
With his drunken stepfather passed out in the back of his car, Markees comes face to face with the opportunity to make him disappear from his life once and for all.

Motordrome, Antonio Sosa (Writer)
The year is 1912. Two brothers leave their small South Carolina town and head north to make their dreams of racing motorcycles professionally come true.

Mudpuppy, Garret Williams (Writer/Director)
A brown comedy about a lonely man who finds love in the toilet.

Netball (Australia), Leah Purcell (Writer/Director); Bain Stewart (Producer)
In a small Queensland country town, five Aboriginal and two White female netball players are on a mission as the Maneaters from Nogrum. This is their story.

Raisins not Virgins, Sharbari Ahmed (Writer); Susan Cartsonis (Producer)
Amidst Jihads, Holy Wars, and the Manhattan skyline, a Muslim woman tries to find her faith.

Red Velvet Girls (Canada), Claudia Molina (Writer/Director); Larisa Andrews (Producer)
18-year-old Julia is under great pressure as the last pureblood Andalusian female vampire. But when her desires conflict with the ancient traditions enforced by her mother, she must battle to love and live on her own terms.

The Rhythm of Chaos, Sarah Knight (Director); Sarah Skibinski (Writer)
An alcoholic social worker merrily wreaks havoc upon the lives of a dysfunctional suburbanite couple when she decides to seek retribution for her sister's death.

Sight Unseen (Canada), Shannon Masters (Writer); Jennifer Podemski (Producer)
A Cree teenager has a spontaneous vision that unlocks a family secret, transforming her from a lost child to a visionary young woman who brings healing to the family.

The Suffering, Aleem Hossain (Writer)
Two LAPD detectives searching for a missing informant are attacked by the mysterious residents of a remote town.

Untitled Standing Bear Project, Valerie Red Horse (Director/Producer); Bart Daly (Writer/Producer); Terry McMahon (Writer); Ross Raventos (Writer)
When a Ponca chief is denied a trial on the grounds that he is not a human being, an unlikely group of characters rallies to seek justice.

We Can, Paola Mendoza (Writer/Director); Gloria LaMorte (Writer/Director);
An immigrant mother and her two children struggle to survive in the United States and chase after their American dream after their husband and father abandons them.

White on Rice, Shawn Ku (Writer/Director); Christina Piovesan (Producer)
When his adopted mom dies, 14-year-old Ricky has to move in with his grandmother in a small whitewashed town in Oregon and start his life over.

DOCUMENTARY

25 To Life, Mike Brown (Director/Producer); Emily Chang (Associate Producer)
William Brawner, who has lived in secret with HIV for over two decades since a young child, seeks redemption from his promiscuous past and embarks on a new phase of life with his wife, who is HIV-negative.

Beijing Taxi, Miao Wang (Director/Producer)
Buckle your seatbelt and take a ride with three taxi drivers from Beijing, whose lives are changing at a dizzying pace along with 15 million other hosts of the 2008 Olympics.

Evolution of a Criminal, Darius Monroe (Director)
A filmmaker turns the camera on himself to find out how a sixteen-year-old honors student with a loving family turns into a bank robber, and then back to an upright citizen.

Family: The First Circle, Heather Rae (Director/Producer); Randy Redroad (Co-Producer/Editor); Russell Friedenberg (Writer)
How does the current foster care system deal with children falling at the intersection of drugs and recovery through Western and Native American traditions?

Give Up Tomorrow, Martin Syjuco (Director/Producer); Michael Collins (Co-Director/Producer); Ramona Diaz (Executive Producer)
When a teenager from a political family in the Philippines is accused of a double murder, the country’s entire judicial system is put to the test after years of alleged corruption.

Inside The Creole Mafia, Royce Osborn (Director); Roger Guenveur Smith (Producer); Steven Adams (Producer); Bob L. Johnson (Producer); Terry Scott (Producer)
Writer/Performers Roger Guenveur Smith and Mark Broyard take us through the streets of post-Katrina New Orleans as they re-enact the scenes from their play Inside the Creole Mafia in the city that inspired it.

Invisible Beauty, Bethann Hardison (Co-Director/Producer); Jeff Zimbalist (Co-Director); Selina Lewis Davidson (Producer)
An intimate look at the current fashion catwalk where black women are becoming invisible, despite the accomplishments of several black supermodels in previous decades.

Off and Running, Nicole Opper (Director); Macky Alston (Executive Producer); Sandra Itkoff (Executive Producer); Sharese Bullock (Producer)
Avery, a 17-year-old African American track star and adopted daughter of two white Jewish lesbian moms in Brooklyn, embarks on a quest to meet her birth mother in Texas.

Oscar's Comeback, Lisa Collins (Co-Director/Producer); Mark Schwartzburt (Co-Director/Writer/Producer)
Through a unique, “mom-and-pop” style festival, a small predominantly white town in South Dakota celebrates its most famous native son, Oscar Micheaux, a pioneering African American filmmaker of the early 1900’s.

The Row, Camila Martins (Director/Producer); Alexis Beauford (Producer)
Beyond the picturesque beaches of Malibu and spotless shopping havens of Beverly Hills, we meet the men and women of a forgotten neighborhood, Skid Row.

She Wants To Be A Matador, Gemma Cubero del Barrio (Co-Director/Producer), Celeste Carrasco: (Co-Director/Producer/D.P.)
As a woman, being a matador not only means facing an angry bull charging at you at full speed, but also fighting the prejudice and preconception of gender roles.

Untitled Dafen Project, Francisco Bello (Co-Director/Producer); Tim Sternberg (Co-Director/Producer)
Decades after the making of Western style art was declared illegal in China, the suburb of Dafen finds itself a leading producer of reproduced paintings through individual and corporate commissions.

The Prime Minister, the Shah, the Ayatollah and I, Caveh Zahedi (Director)
A personal essay film about growing up Iranian-American at a time when the U.S. and Iran went from being allies to enemies.

Women On Waves, Karin Williams (Director)
Come and ride the waves with a group of women, who are carrying on the true spirit of surfing as a cultural and spiritual tradition dating back for centuries.