Tropfest@Tribeca presented by Target is a success! Sixteen short films screened under the stars on Sunday, September 23rd, at the World Financial Center Plaza in New York to a crowd of thousands.

The evening kicked off at 5 p.m. with live music featuring the Massachusetts band Haunt, Australian rockers Second Dan and NYC’s very own DJ Shorty. The films began at sundown with world premiere screenings of 16 short films from four countries, each under 7 minutes long. The audience also saw the premiere of the winning film for the Nokia NSeries “Slice of Life” contest, which invited the public to submit 30-second cell videos, shot on mobile phones and depicting a moment in the day.

A jury comprised of actor Josh Lucas (Poseidon), Australian-born actress Rose Byrne (Damages, Troy), actor/director Griffin Dunne (The Accidental Husband, Fierce People, After Hours), Academy Award®-nominated director Bennett Miller (Capote), actress/director Mary Harron (American Psycho), director Tom McCarthy (Station Agent), and last year’s winner Matthew Bonifacio viewed the films alongside the audience and selected the winners for The Target Filmmaker Award, Second Prize, Third Prize, Best Actress, and Best Actor. The audience also took part in selections as they voted for their favorite film to receive the Audience Award at the end of the premieres.

John Polson handed out the Target Filmmaker Award to Belinda King from Marrickville, Australia, for The Picnic. The award includes an unrestricted cash prize of $10,000 from Target and a trip for two to Australia provided by Australia.com and Qantas Airlines.

The following additional awards given out included a Target GiftCard, Apple Final Cut Studio 2, and two passes to the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

Second Prize: awarded by Josh Lucas to Daniel Knight from Sydney, Australia for Snookered
Third Prize: awarded by Mary Harron and Bennett Miller to Jonathan Emmerling from New York City for The Switch.
Best Actress: awarded by Griffin Dunne to Loani Arman from The Picnic
Best Actor: awarded by Rose Byrne to James Wright III from Black Tears
Audience Award: given by Tom McCarthy to Stephen Francosia Jr. for Super Slice

2007 Tropfest@Tribeca Finalists