The ninth annual Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by Founding Sponsor American Express, today announced a total attendance of over 410,000 at screenings, panels and free community events, including the Drive-In and Street Fair.Theater attendance for the Festival screenings and events reached over 94,000. Screenings were often at capacity, with more than 95% attendance at 396 screenings and panels throughout the 12-day Festival.

“New York is home to some of the most enthusiastic filmgoers in the world, and it was wonderful seeing them turn out in droves to enjoy not only our unique slate of films and intimate conversations with leading filmmakers and actors, but also our free neighborhood events,” said Nancy Schafer, Executive Director of the Tribeca Film Festival.  “Seeing our audiences embrace the work of our filmmakers, who this year included some of the biggest names in the industry as well as a crop of fresh, new voices, has been such a rewarding experience.”

The Festival, which began on April 21 and ended on May 2, screened 85 features and 47 short films from 38 countries.

Festival organizers and NYPD Community Affairs Officer Rick Lee estimated that a crowd of 300,000 enjoyed a day of family fun and lively entertainment at the popular Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair and Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day on Saturday, May 1.  The free community event took place on Greenwich Street from Chambers Street to Harrison Street and at venues throughout the Tribeca neighborhood, including BMCC Tribeca PAC and Washington Market Park.

The Tribeca Drive-In, co-sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City and hosted by Brookfield, owner of the World Financial Center, drew combined crowds of 10,000 to three evenings of free, outdoor screenings of “El Espiritu de la Salsa” (The Spirit of Salsa), “Big” and “The Birth of Big Air.”  All three evenings featured live interactive entertainment – from live salsa bands and dance lessons to classic carnival games to BMX street tricks and freestyle demonstrations.

TFF also featured nine free conversations that drew more than 2,000 attendees. Additional free screenings and Tribeca Film Institute events drew 5,700 attendees.

We are tremendously grateful to the community – both in New York and in the industry – for their ongoing support of Tribeca,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival. “Great films remain at the heart of Tribeca, and I am especially proud of the stories we shared this year – they elicited laughter, tears, joy and passionate conversation.”

Continued Rosenthal, “We are already looking ahead to Year 10, and what we can do to make the Festival even more memorable in 2011.  This year’s special moments give us a lot to build on – from the determination of the producers of ‘My Brothers,’ who refused to let the Iceland volcano derail their plans to attend the world premiere of their film at Tribeca, to President Kagame’s impassioned words against the Rwandan genocide following the premiere of ‘Earth Made of Glass,’ to  the courageous journey of three teenage boys whose escape from the Warren Jeffs cult captured audiences’ hearts in ‘Sons of Perdition,’ to the thousands of New Yorkers who salsa danced under the stars on our first night of the drive-in.  It is these moments that I believe make the Tribeca Film Festival more than just a place to see great films.”

2010 Tribeca Film Festival Facts and Figures:

• 137 out of 146 directors attended the Festival. Of those 137 directors, 91 feature directors and 46 short directors attended from 38 different countries.
• 767 industrydelegates attended the Festival; 675 were from the U.S. and 92 hailed from other countries.
• “My Brothers” producers Rebecca O’Flanagan and Rob Walpole refused to let the Iceland volcano derail their plans to attend the world premiere of their film at TFF. Their journey to Tribeca included a ferry ride across the Irish Sea, a nearly 400-mile drive in Wales, a second ferry across the English Channel, a second drive of more 900 miles across France and Spain, and three plane rides from Madrid to New York that included stops in Bogota, Colombia and Miami
• Standingovations took place at screenings for “RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage” and “Budrus.”
• A falcon featured in “Feathered Cocaine” attended three of thefilm’s five public screenings.
• The Festival featured more than 1,100 volunteers. Approximately 700 were from the New York area. Volunteers also came from other parts of the United States, as well as 13 countries, including Argentina, Sweden, Japan, France, Canada,Mexico and Germany