Try these at Tribeca

Tribeca Film Festival 2015 features films from 31 countries and a host of free community events Photo: Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival

The 14th edition of Tribeca Film Festival in New York will run from in New York from April 15 to 26. Along with its programme of films from 31 countries - some of which we've highlighted below - the festival continues its strong levels of community engagement. These include its Drive-In series at the Waterfront Plaza at Brookfield Place, which this year features a 30th anniversary screening of comedy mystery Clue (April 16), the 60th anniversary of Disney classic Lady And The Tramp (April 17) and the premiere of Ford Mustang documentary A Faster Horse (April 18). All screenings start 8.15pm, doors open at 6pm, tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. There will also be a free family screening of Back To The Future on April 25 at BMCC/Tribeca Performing Arts Center at 6pm. Doors open 5.30pm, tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.

There is also a chance for everyone to see a movie for free on April 24, when the festival has its Film For All Friday. Anyone can apply for two free tickets to a film of their choice at the outlets listed here.

Aferim! and Toto And His Sisters

Aferim! Photo: Silviu Ghetie

If you plan to catch one of these films, then it is well worth making the effort to see the other one, as though one is a modern Romanian documentary and the other a narrative road trip back in time through the country's 1830s landscape, they both touch on themes of disenfranchisement and racism faced by the Roma in the country. Radu Jude's Aferim! explores the origins of discrimination through black humour as a policeman and his son attempt to recapture a "gypsy slave", while Alexander Nanau's moving but robust documentary examines life on the breadline for a young family of children living with addicts. While one shows that roots of problems have grown thick in the past, the other offers green shoots of hope - through the younger generation - for the country's future. Both are screening on Film For All Friday.

Times and tickets for Aferim! available here.
Times and tickets for Toto And His Sisters available here.

Prescription Thugs

Prescription Thugs

Documentarian Chris Bell set his sights on performance-enhancing drugs in his 2008 film Bigger, Faster, Stronger*. In his latest film - which will world premiere at Tribeca - he shifts his attention to the damaging, and he claims deadly, affects of prescription drug use and abuse. There have been several films touching on this subject - and the related issue of the strength of Big Pharma - in recent years, including Oxyana and Fire In The Blood. Bell couples his fact-chasing with a very personal perspective that asks searching questions about a US culture that has come to embrace addiction on the grounds that the drugs in question are "safe".

Times and tickets for Prescription Thugs available here.

Sworn Virgin

Luan Jaha and Alba Rohrwacher in Sworn Virgin Photo: Courtesy of Berlinale

Exploration of sexuality from the unique perspective of a woman who has been living as a man according to Albanian custom, Laura Bispuri's moving film - which has its north American premiere at Tribeca - is marked out by a strong sense of Albanian ethnography and a beautifully measured performance from Alba Rohrwacher in the lead. The director avoids easy categorisation to explore the many facets of femininity through a strong story of a woman's discovery of herself.

Times and tickets for Sworn Virgin available here.

LoveTrue: Exclusive Scenes and Talk with Alma Har'el and Shia LaBeouf

LoveTrue Photo: Alma Har'el

Alma Har'el's experimental and moving documentary Bombay Beach was one of the hits of the 2011 Tribeca line-up, so this sneak peak at her next film LoveTrue promises to be well worth a look. When Cinereach gave it a grant it described it as: "A look into the opposing realities of the 'True Love' fantasy and an inquiry into whether our view of love changes as we grow older. Through sessions of psychodrama and "mprovisation three couples explore their hopes, memories and love lives." Har'el is an engaging and open director, as her chat with us about Bombay Beach shows, and this talk,which also features the film's producer Shia LaBeouf, aims to explore the challenges of making a film that doesn't slot easily into a genre.

Tickets for the event are available here.

Anne-Katrin Titze writes...

In Transit

In Transit Photo: Nelson Walker

The late, great Albert Maysles' film in collaboration with Nelson Walker, Lynn True, David Usui, and Ben Wu had its pre-festival press screening pushed back because the film is still in post-production. Screening in the World Documentary Competition.

Expected to attend: The Maysles family (Gillian Walker, Rebekah Maysles, Sarah Maysles, Philip Maysles), Steve Buscemi, Kate and Andy Spade, Melvin Van Peebles, Jerry Torre, Andrew Jarecki and directors Lynn True, Ben Wu, Nelson Walker and David Usui.

"The Empire Builder is America’s busiest long-distance train route, running from Chicago to Seattle. Throughout these corridors sit runaways, adventurers, and loners – myriad passengers waiting to see what their journey holds. A touching and honest observation, co-directed by the iconic documentarian Albert Maysles, In Transit breathes life into the long commute, and contemplates the unknowns that lie at our final destination."

Tickets and times for In Transit here.

Havana Motor Club

Havana Motor Club Photo: Michael Coles

Havana Motor Club written and directed by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, who co-directed Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel with Dior and I director Frédéric Tcheng and Lisa Immordino Vreeland. Screening in the World Documentary Competition.

Expected to attend: Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt.

"Reforms have offered opportunity in Cuba but the children of the Revolution are unsure of the best route forward. For a half-dozen drag racers, this means last-minute changes to their beloved American muscle cars, as they prepare for the first sanctioned race in Cuba since 1960. Punctuated by a lively Cuban soundtrack, Havana Motor Club offers a fascinating glimpse at the resilience and ingenuity of the competitive spirit."

Times and tickets for Havana Motor Club available here.

The Emperor’s New Clothes

The Emperor's New Clothes

The international premiere of Michael Winterbottom and Russell Brand's The Emperor’s New Clothes in the Spotlight section.

Expected to attend: Michael Winterbottom and Russell Brand.

"Michael Winterbottom and comedian/provocateur Russell Brand join forces in this polemical expose about inequality and the financial crisis. From London to New York the film combines documentary style, archive footage and comedy to explore how the crisis has gravely affected the 99% and only benefited the 1%."

Times and tickets for The Emperor's New Clothes available here.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

Peggy Guggenheim - Art Addict Photo: Courtesy of Peggy Guggenheim Collection Archives, Venice

Lisa Immordino Vreeland's film, written by Bernadine Colish, John Northrup and Vreeland will have its world premiere in the Spotlight section.

Expected to attend: Lisa Immordino Vreeland.

"Bouncing between Europe and the US as often as she would between lovers, Peggy Guggenheim’s life story was as swirling as the design of her uncle’s museum, and reads more like fiction than any reality imaginable. Art Addict is a picture into Guggenheim’s world: abstract, colorful, and as salacious as the artwork she revered."

Times and Tickets for Peggy Guggenheim - Art Addict available here.

Monty Python: The Meaning of Live

Monty Python - The Meaning Of Live Photo: Dave J Hogan

The Special Screening and international premiere of Roger Graef and James Rogan's Monty Python: The Meaning of Live will have in attendance - Terry Jones, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Michael Palin.

"While perhaps best known for its eminently quotable films, Monty Python has performed its signature, surreal humor in live shows since the group’s earliest days. Dive into the history of Monty Python’s on stage and the genesis of some of its most well-known pieces as they prepare for their last-ever live shows at The O2, London in July 2014. Monty Python - the Meaning of Live is a hilarious and illuminating survey of what is takes to bring Monty Python to the stage."

Tickets for the event are available here.

We'll be bringing you news and reviews throughout the festival, read the coverage so far here.