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The documentary film ‘Shakespeare High’ premieres at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. The movie follows a diverse group of SoCal teens as they prepare for and compete in the 90th Drama Teachers Association of Southern California Shakespeare Festival.

Director Alex Rotaru’s portrait of promising and dedicated students and their teachers features interviews with DTASC alumni including Richard Dreyfuss, Val Kilmer, Mare Winningham, and executive producer Kevin Spacey. A galvanizing film that reminds us of the positive impact of performance education on impressionable youth, Shakespeare High offers a powerful message in support of the arts at a time when budget cuts facing many schools put the future of these curricula in peril.

What is the film ‘New York Says Thank You’ all about?” New York Says Thank You is an epic story following the journey of New Yorkers whose lives were touched by September 11 as they travel the country helping communities rebuild after disasters. Along the way, they face their emotions and ultimately triumph over tragedy through an idea that evolved from a five-year-old New York City boy.

Interview with director Scott Rettberg and producer Megan Sleeper.

We recently met up with the 3 directors of ‘The Swell Season’ – Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins, Carlo Mirabella-Davis.

The world fell in love with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova when their songwriting collaboration in the film Once culminated in a jubilant Oscar® win. But behind the scenes, where Glen and Mar’s on-screen romance became reality, a grueling two-year world tour threatens to fracture their fated bond. Gorgeously filmed in black and white, this music-filled documentary is an intimate look at the exhilaration and turmoil created by both love and fame.

Interview with Directors: Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins, Carlo Mirabella-Davis

Coming on the heels of the announcement that popular singer-turned-politician Michel Martelly will be Haiti’s next president, the documentary ‘When the Drum is Beating’ could not be more timely. The documentary premieres at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

The 20-member band Septentrional has been making music for 62 years as Haiti’s most celebrated big band. This inspirational documentary charts the history of Haiti from its triumphant independence from French colonialism to 2010’s devastating earthquake—all set to the vibrant music of Haitian-Caribbean jazz fusion band Septentrional and punctuated with its members’ personal memories. Featuring a wealth of live rehearsal and performance footage, When the Drum Is Beating is a poignant and high-energy story of resilience.

The documentary film ‘The Carrier’ premiered last night at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. In the film, young mother Mutinta is a Zambian subsistence farmer in a polygamous marriage who has just learned she is HIV positive. Newly pregnant, Mutinta does everything she can to protect her unborn baby while navigating complicated family dynamics and village politics. Newcomer Maggie Betts sculpts a sensitive observational portrait of one woman’s struggle leading up to her newborn’s birth.

On the eve of its North American premiere in the Cinemania section at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, IFC Midnight acquired the U.S. distribution rights from sales and production outfit XYZ Films for director Dick Maas’ evil Santa film SAINT. Maas wrote the screenplay for the picture and produced with Tom de Mol. Starring Huub Stapel, Egbert-Jan Weeber, Caro Lenssen, Bert Luppes and Escha Tanihatu, the Dutch film will premiere tonight at 9:00pm at the AMC Loews Village 7.

The first film on the Tribeca Film Festival schedule today is the documentary ‘The Loving Story.’ Nancy Buirski’s moving, evocative documentary recounts the unknown love story of Mildred and Richard Loving, the couple behind the 1967 Supreme Court ruling overturning anti-miscegenation laws in the United States. Drawing from a wealth of stunning archival footage, The Loving Story recreates a seminal moment in history in uncommon style, anchoring a timely message of marriage equality in a personal, human love story.

And it’s on. The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival kicked off last night with the free outdoor screening of Cameron Crowe’s new documentary “The Union,” about the musical collaboration between Elton John and singer/songwriter Leon Russell.