The  Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by American Express, today announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Cinemania sections, as well as Special Screenings and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival lineup. The 10th edition of the Festival will take place from April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan.

The fun, playful slate of this year’s Cinemania program represents a well-rounded spectrum of contemporary genre filmmaking, including science fiction, horror, exploitation, and fantasy. Each of these films challenges the expectations and definitions of their respective genres—from Beyond the Black Rainbow’s immersive, futuristically retro sci-fi experience, to an adorable and sexy Japanese “pink” musical in Underwater Love. Always a Cinemania staple, this year’s selection of horror films are also united in a common impulse to tackle genre conventions from inspired new angles, including a clever and revitalizing take on the teens-lost-in-the-woods premise in Rabies, a Dutch Christmas-themed slasher in Saint, and two fresh spins on the very contemporary “found footage” horror movement, between spooky ghost story Grave Encounters and Norwegian monster flick sensation Troll Hunters.  Expect the unexpected with these smart and thrilling crowd-pleasers.CLICK ANY TITLE BELOW FOR IMAGES, POSTERS and TRAILERS (if available)

·         BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW, directed and written by Panos Cosmatos. (Canada, Italy) – International Premiere. Panos Cosmatos brings his bold, Kubrickian vision to the screen in stunning detail in this sci-fi fable of a young woman imprisoned in an experimental laboratory facility and the mysterious scientist who is her captor. At once creatively futuristic and hypnotically retro, Beyond the Black Rainbow will absorb viewers in its unique dystopian futurescape.
 
·         THE BLEEDING HOUSE, directed and written by Philip Gelatt. (USA) – World Premiere. Meet the Smiths—a family full of secrets who keep to themselves on a back road outside a small Midwestern town. In this visceral, tightly wound horror/thriller, their lives are shaken when a sweet-talking Texan arrives on their doorstep on a mission for retribution. Will he succeed in his goal to bleed them of their sins, or will the family’s haunted past prove to be even more deadly than he bargained for? A Tribeca Film release.
 
·         GRAVE ENCOUNTERS, directed and written by The Vicious Brothers. (USA) – World Premiere. The crew of ghost-hunting reality TV show Grave Encounters decides to shoot an episode inside an abandoned psychiatric hospital with a dark past. All in the name of good television, they voluntarily lock themselves inside the building for the night to begin a paranormal investigation, capturing everything on camera. They quickly realize that the building is more than just haunted—it is alive, and has no intention of ever letting them go. A Tribeca Film release.
 
·         RABIES (Kalevet), directed and written by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado. (Israel) – North American Premiere. A psychotic serial killer on the loose in the woods crosses paths with a group of unsuspecting teenagers. Soon people are dying one by one… but the bad guy isn’t who you think. Turning genre conventions on their head with a smart script and plenty of unexpected scares, Rabies is a surprising debut worthy of its mantle as Israel’s first-ever slasher horror film. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
 
·         SAINT (Sint), directed and written by Dick Maas. (Netherlands) – North American Premiere. An original and delightfully gruesome slasher film, Saint reimagines jolly old Saint Nick as a murderous bishop fulfilling a grisly prophecy under the December 5 full moon. Full of creative yuletide horror, Saint is a fun chiller that follows local teen Frank as he sets out on a bloody, high-energy battle to save Amsterdam from the wrathful “Sinterklaas” and his minions. In Dutch with English subtitles.
 
·         THE TROLL HUNTERS (Trolljegeren), directed and written by André Øvredal. (Norway) – New York Premiere. In the wintry Norwegian countryside, a series of supposed bear poaching incidents leads a group of plucky film students to the mysterious hunter Hans: the one man charged with keeping the country’s entire troll population in check. This genre treat seamlessly blends stunning visual effects with its found footage aesthetic to deliver truly fantastic images of giant trolls wreaking havoc, all with darkly funny adherence to the original folklore. In Norwegian with English subtitles. A Magnet Releasing release.
  
Starting today, the Film guide will be live on www.tribecafilm.com and detail all programs and films announced; additional programs will be added upon announcement. The screening schedule will be live on Monday March 21, 2011.