Hollywood A-listers Hugh Grant, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey and Whoopi Goldberg joined Tribeca Film Festival founder Robert De Niro at the independent film fest’s inaugural celebrations Wednesday on the steps of New York’s city hall. The stateside debut of Hugh’s latest endeavour About A Boy kicked off five days of movie screenings, which will close on Sunday with a charity premiere of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones.
Statesmen Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela were also on hand for the Big Apple festival, which includes more than 100 flicks, including the latest from Jodie Foster, Sandra Bullock and Al Pacino. Discussion sessions during the festival will feature Tinseltown legends such as Susan Sarandon and director Martin Scorsese, and a mammoth street celebration, expected to draw thousands, is also planned.
“Our goal was to celebrate the power of filmmaking and more importantly our neighbourhood, which was devastated on September 11. The past months have been a time of great mourning in New York,” Robert said, before calling for a moment of silence. Tribeca – also the moniker of De Niro’s production company and NY restaurant – is the name of the area where he lives, standing for “triangle below Canal Street”.
The screening of Attack Of The Clones this weekend is a fundraiser for children affected by the terrorist attacks.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
