Laurence Fishburne's Busy At Tribeca
Laurence Fishburne is going to be a very busy guy at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off today in New York City. Fishburne appears in three films showing at the festival, and will also be participating as a judge for the competitive categories.
Fishburne stars opposite Angela Bassett in the heartwarming feature "Akeelah and The Bee" which screens at the festival on Wednesday, April 26 and opens nationwide on April 28. Fishburne plays Dr. Larabee, a retired professor who coaches an 11-year-old girl whose spelling talent may be her ticket out of a tough Los Angeles neighborhood.
In the thriller "Five Fingers," an idealistic Dutch pianist named Martijn (Ryan Philippe) travels to Morocco to start a program for malnourished children. When he arrives in Morocco, Martijn is taken hostage by a group of terrorists led by Ahmet (Fishburne) and has to figure out how to escape. The film's world premiere is scheduled at the festival on May 1.
Fishburne also is in the cast of "Mission: Impossible III," which will premiere at the festival on Wednesday, May 3. Fishburne plays Tom Cruise's CIA boss in the action film.
In addition to his onscreen presence at the festival, Fishburne will be on the jury for the 2006 Narrative Shorts competition. He'll be joining a panel that includes director Marc Cuban, musician Lou Reed, actress Julia Stiles, talk show host and Oprah pal Gayle King, advertising executive Shelly Lazarus and actress Samantha Morton.
The Tribeca neighborhood, a name that is short for "triangle below Canal street," has brought Fishburne luck in the past. In 1993, the actor won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his appearance on the short-lived television drama "Tribeca." The series' executive producer was Robert De Niro, who founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002 as way to breathe life back into the neighborhood devastated by the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The 2006 Tribeca Film Festival runs through May 7, 2006. For more information, http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/.