While most eyes are on Austin, Texas this week for SXSW, many people on the East Coast eagerly await a closer show as this year’s Tribeca Film Festival kicks off on April 21st. The festival is mainly for indie pictures, rather than the larger, blockbuster films, but is also a great place for up-and-coming directors and writers to showcase their work.

With the festival coming up in just over a month, they are already rolling out this year’s schedule and have announced the first 34 films out of a total of 85 feature length and 47 shorts screening at this year’s fest. Among the titles were those submitted to the World Narrative and Documentary competition, as well as the Showcase and Special Events.

Some of the titles look to be quite intriguing, and could include some of the bigger names of the next decade. Be sure to check out the first 34 films to be announced after the jump, and keep it here, as we bring you extensive coverage of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

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Its expensive to see movies here in New York City, or pretty much anywhere these days. I did an about face a couple weeks ago when the price of admission to see Up in 3D was sixteen dollars.  I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand the reason behind 3D, and I don’t see why I need to be charged another 4 dollars to see a movie in 3D.

I come from a small town in upstate New York where going to the movies has been, for years, six dollars.  Since living in Manhattan, I’ve had to initiate something called “The 12 Dollar Rule,” as in is the movie actually worth 12 dollars? Sure, for movies like Star Trek, The Dark Knight and others, its worth that kind of money.  However, there is a solution! During the summer there are all kinds of outdoor screenings of classic movies for free around New York City.  Below is a brief overview of some of those screenings, courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting.

2009 HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival
Date: Every Monday until August 17
Time: Lawn opens at 5pm. Films begin at dusk (8pm-9pm)
Movies Shown: The Sting, Breaking Away, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dog Day Afternoon, How Green Was My Valley, Harold and Maude, The Defiant Ones, Kramer vs. Kramer, The Magnificent Seven, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Location: Bryant Park is situated behind the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan, between 40th and 42nd Streets & Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Every Monday night from June 15 until August 17, the 2009 HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival presents classic films like The Magnificent Seven and Kramer vs. Kramer. The lawn opens at 5pm for blankets and picnicking; films begin at dusk. For a complete schedule, click here.

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