TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL AND TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF 2010 TRIBECA ALL ACCESS CREATIVE PROMISE AWARDS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY [April 23, 2010]– The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express, the founding sponsor of the Festival, along with the Tribeca Film Institute tonight announced the winners of the seventh annual Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Awards at the Union Square Ballroom.  The Tribeca All Access program, created to cultivate relationships between filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities and film industry executives, is made possible by Bloomberg with major support from Time Warner and additional support provided by SAP, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

This evening at the Tribeca Film Institute Awards Ceremony at The Union Square Ballroom in Manhattan, the following winners were announced:

• Narrative section prize – Ghazi Albuliwi (Director, Screenwriter) and Bandar Albuliwi (Director, Producer) for Peace After Marriage in which a lonely, young Palestinian-American man, addicted to porn and desperate for companionship, agrees to marry an Israeli woman in need of a Green Card, forcing them to re-examine their respective cultural and familial traditions.

• Emerging Narrative section prize –Lucy Mulloy (Director, Screenwriter) for Una Noche in which Raul from Havana, Cuba is up against heat, sweat, desperation and ninety miles of treacherous ocean before he reaches his dream - Miami.

• Screenwriting section prize – T.J. Morehouse (Producer, Screenwriter), James Murray (Screenwriter) and Gro Engelstoft (Screenwriter) for Plastic Indian in which John Calf Roper drifts restlessly between dead end jobs, honky-tonks and hard drinking and Tom Badger lives suspended between Cherokee traditions and the modern world. Intertwined by fate, both men seek a meaningful existence.

• Documentary section prize – Miguel Martinez (Director, Editor) and Jamie Sisley (Director, Co-Producer, Editor) for Farewell, Ferris Wheel which focuses on the small Mexican town of Tlapacoyan.  Tlapacoyan is responsible for one third of America’s carnival labor, a fact may make this favorite past time extinct.

The winners were selected from 24 eligible projects and based on the strength of their vision and filmmaking promise.  The 2010 TAA Creative Promise Awards, presented by Time Warner comes with a total prize of $35,000: $9,500 for narrative, documentary and emerging narrative and $6,500 for screenwriting, as well as an original piece of art from a contemporary artist.  All of the filmmakers participating in the program have scripts or documentary proposals for which they are seeking funding and/or representation. 

“Throughout the past seven years, we have been fortunate to have talented filmmakers with strong story ideas be a part of Tribeca All Access. This year is no exception,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Institute. “We’re incredibly proud of this year’s winners and hope this recognition will help further their career and hope to one day screen their finished projects here at our Festival.”

“Even though there are only four winners this evening, all 24 projects show incredible promise. I’m excited to see where the past week of networking and guidance will take our filmmakers and I look forward to their continued success,” said Tamir Muhammad, Director of Tribeca All Access.

Twenty-four filmmakers from across the country were selected from a pool of more than 453 submissions to participate in TAA this year. For the third year, four international participants were also included through the program’s partnerships with the UK Film Council and Canadian Film Centre. A jury of respected industry professionals selected the four winners and three honorable mentions.

The 2010 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award Narrative jurors include Anthony Anderson, Hill Harper and Kelly Rutherford. Emerging narrative jurors include John Cho, Sarita Choudhury and Kadeem Hardison. Michael Kang, Anika Noni Rose and Victoria Rowell are Screenplay jurors and Linda Good Bryant, Rebecca Cammisa and Soledad O’Brien are Documentary jurors.

During this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, women and minority directors and screenwriters from across North America and the UK had the opportunity participate in workshops and present their upcoming projects in one-on-one meetings with more than 100 potential investors, development executives, producers and agents.  During the six-day event, Tribeca All Access arranged more than 347 meetings total for program participants.  Since its inception in May 2004, TAA has supported the careers of more than 184 filmmakers and has facilitated 3,217 one-on-one meetings between its program participants and key industry professionals. These filmmakers have gone on to enjoy successful careers, both within TFF and beyond.

TAA is made possible by Bloomberg with major support from Time Warner and additional support provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

About the Tribeca Film Institute:

The Tribeca Film Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serving audiences and artists year-round. While TFI’s mission remains grounded in the heart of its New York City founding, its reach and influence in the film community has expanded to capture international acclaim and participation.  Since its inception in 2001, TFI has become an industry-recognized institution.  Administering a dozen major programs annually, TFI reaches 10,000 people through its year-round programming in New York City as well as its featured initiatives at the Tribeca Film Festival.

For more information and a list of all TFI programs visit http://www.tribecafilminstitute.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 the lower Manhattan district through an annual celebration of film, music and culture.

The Festival’s mission is to help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enable the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center.   Tribeca Film Festival is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors.

The Tribeca Festival has screened over 1100 films from over 80 countries since its first festival in 2002. Since its founding, it has attracted an international audience of more than 2.3 million attendees and has generated an estimated $600 million in economic activity for New York City.

About the 2010 Festival Sponsors:

As Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, American Express is committed to supporting the Festival and the art of film making, bringing business and energy to New York City and offering Cardmembers and festival-goers the opportunity to enjoy the best of storytelling through film.

The Festival is pleased to announce the return of its Signature Sponsors: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Apple, Bloomberg, Brookfield, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Delta Air Lines, Heineken USA, NBC 4 New York, NCM Media Networks, New York Nonstop, The New York Times, RR Donnelley, and Vanity Fair.  The Tribeca Film Festival is also honored to welcome the following new Signature Sponsor: Stolichnaya Vodka.

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Rubenstein Communications
Gina Salese, (212) 843-9334, gsalese@rubenstein.com 
Jodi Sevin Patkin, (212) 843-8393, jsevin@rubenstein.com

Tammie Rosen
Tribeca Enterprises
(212) 941-2003
trosen@tribecaenterprises.com