Hollywood stars launch Big Apple film festival

A host of Hollywood stars joined forces to help launch the fourth annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

The festival opened last night with the premiere of Sydney Pollack’s new political thriller, The Interpreter, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn.

The director and actors were joined on the red carpet by Robert de Niro, who co-founded the event four years ago as a response to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.

United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan mingled with celebrities including Elle MacPherson and Naomi Watts for the screening at Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Theatre.

Many scenes of the film were shot on location at the UN’s New York headquarters and in honour of the evening the UN Foundation donated insecticide-treated bed-nets to prevent the spread of malaria in Africa.

More than 250 features, shorts and documentaries will be screened in the Tribeca area of Manhattan over the next twelve days.

The fledgling festival has rapidly become an integral event on the film festival calendar, attracting big industry business and Hollywood stars.

It was originally launched in 2001 to rejuvenate downtown Manhattan, to entice visitors and restore economic vitality.

The first three festivals attracted almost one million visitors.