Al Gore To Open Tribeca Festival
Al Gore will host the opening night gala of the Tribeca Film Festival, which will begin with a series of short films on global warming.
The festival, which will run from April 25 through May 5, is taking the rare step of opening not with a high-profile feature film but seven short films presented by the Save Our Selves (SOS) campaign.
"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," former Vice President Gore said Thursday in a statement. "Premiering the SOS films at Tribeca will ensure that these pieces will be viewed all over the world for years to come."
Gore's film on climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth," won the Oscar for best documentary earlier this year.Photo Essay: A "Green" Al Gore
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Some of the same SOS films shown at Tribeca will be featured at the Live Earth concerts around the world on July 7, 2007, either on stage screens during band transitions or by broadcast partners who will screen them in advance of, as well as on the day of, the Live Earth concerts.
Tribeca's opening night gala, sponsored by General Motors with additional support coming from National Geographic, will include musical performances by Live Earth music acts.
It was also announced that "The Gates" will close the festival on May 5. Produced by HBO, "The Gates" documents Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artwork that raised 7,500 fabric-paneled gates in New York's Central Park in 2005.
Antonio Ferrera and Albert Maysles' film chronicles the artists' 26-year commitment to transform the winter darkness of the park into a garden of light and color.
The 12-day festival will also feature the world premiere of "Lucky You," directed by Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential," "Wonder Boys") on May 1. The romance stars Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall. Set in the high-stakes world of Las Vegas, the film explores the relationship between a singer and a poker player living the shadow of his father, a poker legend. It opens in theaters May 4.
It was earlier announced that "Super-Man 3" will make its U.S. premiere at the festival April 30.
This is the sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival, which was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal to help rejuvenate Lower Manhattan following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.