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Festival coverage

Tribeca Festival

2009

Larry David in Whatever Works
Larry David in Whatever Works

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff after the attacks on the World Trade Center "to help economically and culturally revitalise Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture."

Now in its eighth year, it has expanded to include additional venues across Manhattan. It will show 85 feature and 46 short films.

This year's festival opened with Woody Allen's Whatever Works.

Other years (19)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Blank City
    Review preview for Blank City

    Ultimately, this is your basic talking heads documentary, interspersed with footage that redefines cinematic cool.

    Scott Macdonald · 4.5 out of 5
    Documentary on the DIY independent film movement that emerged in tandem with punk rock and No Wave in late Seventies downtown New York.
  • Moon
    Review preview for Moon

    Moon represents a return to a more sedate and thoughtful science fiction of the Seventies and Eighties.

    Tony Sullivan · 4.5 out of 5
    An astronaut starts to lose the plot at the end of a mission to the moon - but is there something else going on? Plus read our exclusive interview with
  • The Eclipse
    Review preview for The Eclipse

    The terrific performances are eclipsed by the unsettled tone.

    Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
    A writer is haunted by the living.
  • Accidents Happen
    Review preview for Accidents Happen

    What emotional life there is in this set up - and with so much is going on, there isn't much - is crushed by dreadful narration.

    Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
    The struggles of a dysfunctional family in the years following a tragic accident.
  • The House Of The Devil
    Review preview for The House Of The Devil

    As a genre filmmaker through and through, West is unlikely to be winning an Oscar any time soon – but when it comes to the extraordinary manipulation of tension and atmosphere, he is an unsung master of cinema.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    Retro suspense thriller centers on a cash-strapped college girl who answers a babysitting ad only to gradually unravel the horrifying secret behind why she was truly hired.
  • Con Artist
    Review preview for Con Artist

    This excellent documentary is almost as subversive as its subject.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Profile of Eighties New York art scene enfant terrible, Mark Kostabi.
  • Departures
    Review preview for Departures

    Director Yojiro Takita isn't afraid to give you an emotional punch as well as a punchline.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
    A cellist comes to terms with love and loss after he switches professions to deal with the dead.
  • Love The Beast
    Review preview for Love The Beast

    Non-car people will find themselves forced into the position of disengaged anthropologist, observing all the vehicular bump and grind without gaining any real insight or emotional connection from the experience.

    Anton Bitel · 2 out of 5
    Eric Bana's debut documentary traces his love affair with his Ford XB Falcon Coupe.
  • The Exploding Girl
    Review preview for The Exploding Girl

    A minor mumblecore treat.

    Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
    Two long-time confidants negotiate feelings and friendships during their college break.
  • The Girlfriend Experience
    Review preview for The Girlfriend Experience

    There’s nothing particularly radical about what Soderbergh is doing here.

    Keith Hennessey Brown · 3.5 out of 5
    Pornography is made subject to philosophy in this speculative art film.

A–Z of Tribeca Festival 2009 reviews

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