The Tribeca Film Festival today announced that "Freakonomics" will serve as the closing gala of the Festival on April 30.  The Festival will also host a gala premiere of "Letters to Juliet" on April 25 and a special presentation of "My Own Love Song."  The 9th annual Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) will run from April 21 to May 2, 2010.

From the innovative documentary filmmakers behind "Super Size Me," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "Jesus Camp," "Why We Fight" and "The King of Kong," comes "Freakonomics," a dynamic adaptation of the smash bestselling book, "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Exposes the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. The groundbreaking book spent more than 2 years on the New York Times Bestseller list and is now one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. Directed by Academy Award® winner Alex Gibney, Academy Award® nominee Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award® nominees Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, Eugene Jarecki and Seth Gordon, "Freakonomics" will have its world premiere at TFF as the closing gala of the Festival and is produced by Chad Troutwine  ("Paris Je T'aime") and Green Film Company's Chris Romano and Dan O'Meara ("By the People: the Election of Barack Obama") with financial services by Cold Fusion Media.

"Letters to Juliet," a Summit Entertainment ("The Hurt Locker," "Twilight Saga") release, will have its world premiere at the Festival.  Directed by Gary Winick, it is a charming romance starring Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia!") and Vanessa Redgrave.  Seyfried plays a young American who travels to Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet, where she joins a group of volunteers who respond to strangers' letters to Juliet seeking love advice.  After answering one letter dated 1957, she inspires its author (Redgrave) to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love, setting off a chain of events that will bring them both a love unlike anything they ever imagined.
 

"My Own Love Song" - the first English language film from Olivier Dahan, director of the two-time Academy Award® winning film "La Vie En Rose" - will have its international premiere as a special presentation at the Festival.  Written and directed by Dahan, the film is an unassuming story about an ex-singer that blossoms into a whimsical road movie.  Jane and Joey (Academy Award® winners Renée Zellweger and Forest Whitaker) couldn't be more different. She¹s a take-charge kind of woman who never needs help from anyone, despite being paralyzed from the legs down, and he's a lovable oddball. When Joey convinces Jane to embark on a cross-country road trip, they stumble into one hilarious disaster after another in a heartwarming tale of redemption. With supporting performances by Madeline Zima, Nick Nolte and Elias Koteas, "My Own Love Song" also features original music by Bob Dylan.

"This trio of films embodies the spirit of diversity that has defined Tribeca through the years," said Nancy Schafer, Executive Director of TFF.  "Audiences will be charmed by ‘Letters to Juliet,' moved by Jane's emotional journey to redemption in ‘My Own Love Song' and glued to their seats during the riveting ‘Freakonomics,' which marks the return of some of today's best documentary filmmakers to Tribeca. We are truly honored that they've once again chosen our Festival as a platform to share their work."

Visit http://www.tribecafilm.com/ for more information about these films, and the entire TFF line-up.