HOLLYWOOD - Despite the creators' modest intentions, the first annual Tribeca Film Festival will open Wednesday having drawn big-name films and stars to lower Manhattan in New York.Robert De Niro and business partner Jane Rosenthal, who started the Tribeca Film Festival, couldn't have imagined that it would grow so big so fast and draw the premieres of big Hollywood movies About a Boy, Insomnia and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood in its inaugural year.
And that's not to mention the coup de grace: On Sunday, the festival will close with a special charity screening of George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones with proceeds benefiting children who are either underprivileged or directly affected by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
The star wattage at the film fest includes jurors Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep and Barry Levinson; director Martin Scorsese showing a few of his favorite New York films; and performers Robin Williams, Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Fallon and the Counting Crows.
The festival aims to stimulate the economy of TriBeCa--named for the Triangle Below Canal area of downtown Manhattan--as well as encourage new filmmakers.