Tribeca Film Festival features celebs with Hudson Valley ties

Thursday March 7, 2013 1:30 PM By Kirthana Ramisetti

The Tribeca Film Festival, founded by Robert De Niro in 2002, showcases new work from some of the brightest talents in dramatic and documentary film. The lineup for this year’s festival, taking place in New York City April 17-28, was announced this week and includes a number of films with ties to the Hudson Valley.

Matt Dillon, who was born in New Rochelle and raised in Mamaroneck, stars in “Sunlight Jr.,” a film about a paraplegic named Richie (Dillon) and his wife, Melissa (Naomi Watts), whose happy marriage is threatened by financial woes.

Former Vassar College student Justin Long stars in (and wrote the screenplay for) the romantic comedy “A Case of You.” Long plays a writer who creates an exaggerated online persona that charms the girl he's fallen for (Evan Rachel Wood), requiring him to keep up the charade.

“A Single Shot” is a tense, atmospheric thriller based on a true story about a man who wants to reunite with his estranged family while evading capture for a crime he committed by accident. The film is directed by David M. Rosenthal, a Sarah Lawrence College graduate, and features Oscar winner Melissa Leo, a former Purchase College student.

“Trust Me,” written and directed by “The Avengers” star Clark Gregg, focuses on a Hollywood agent who signs up a popular child star. The film’s cast features Bedford native Felicity Huffman as well as her husband, William H. Macy.

Stanley Tucci, a Peekskill native and Westchester resident, stars in Neil La Bute’s “Some Velvet Morning,” a drama about the complicated relationship between Fred (Tucci) and the titular Velvet (Alice Eve).

And “The English Teacher,” which stars Julianne Moore as a teacher whose life is upended by a former star pupil, was partly filmed in Westchester County. Scenes were filmed at Ruby's Oyster Bar & Bistro in Rye, the Canfin Gallery and the Sweet Grass Grill in Tarrytown and Palisade Street in Dobbs Ferry.

“Sunlight Jr.” will be screened as part of the World Narrative Competition category of the festival, and the other films will be featured as part of the festival’s Spotlight section. 

Tags: Mamaroneck , Rye , Poughkeepsie , Purchase , Bronxville , Yonkers , Bedford , Peekskill , Tarrytown , Dobbs Ferry , Tribeca Film Festival , Matt Dillon , Melissa Leo , Justin Long , Felicity Huffman , movies