Robert DeNiro Is "Spiritual Magnet" of Tribeca Film Fest, Says Co-Founder

Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff said fellow founder Robert DeNiro has unique pull when it comes to the 10-year-old film fest.

"Bob is the spiritual magnet of this project," Hatkoff said Friday at the 92 Street Y in Tribeca. "When Bob is in New York and not shooting a movie, he is at a lot of the events. He likes going and he goes quietly and often won't tell anyone he's coming. He just shows up and supports it."

Hatkoff, wife Jane Rosenthal, and DeNiro created the festival to help revitalize Lower Manhattan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The idea was conceived when Hatkoff and his wife were having dinner in Little Italy shortly after the attacks, he said.

"We originally projected it would be something small, maybe a couple dozen films," Hatkoff said. "We never imagined to have the 160 films like we did or the 150,000 people show up."

With the integration of "Tribeca Film on Demand" this year, Hatkoff says he is happy they had the opportunity to have the films seen by more people. But nothing can replace the experience of watching films in the theater, he said.

"Nothing will ever replace being in the room when the lights go down," Hatkoff said. "Watching the films at home can be inferior as long as it gets the job [of reaching more people] done."

The 2011 festival will run April 20 through May 1.

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.

Green Day Front Man: "American Idiot" Was Inspired by 9/11

Billie Joe Armstrong (third from the left) on stage for "Idiot University" on Friday.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong said the mega-hit "American Idiot" -- which led to the creation of a Broadway musical of the same name -- was inspired by the terror attacks of Sept. 11.

"I remember seeing those planes smashing into the World Trade Center live. Right there," Armstrong said during his appearance on the Broadway stage Friday night with "American Idiot" director Michael Mayer for a talkback session dubbed "Idiot University."

"I don't think we ever really, as a society, we had never seen anything that implicit. It was just chaos. I was so confused. I felt paralyzed. So the song 'American Idiot' was the first thing that came to mind."

Select audience members of five performances last week had the opportunity to attend the talkbacks after the show, which also included four cast members and a few members of the creative team. 

Armstrong, whose "American Idiot" album focused on American society in the early part of the decade, said watching the band's music performed on stage is a different experience from listening to the record in a traditional setting.

"With me, Mike (Dirnt) and Tre (Cool), we are the three pieces, and it's like we're fighting," Armstrong said. "And that's been the main argument with the band is us fighting to hear ourselves. [In] the show (on Broadway) the music is pulled back and the vocals up front, it adds a whole new dimension to it - a whole new dynamic."

He said many of his songs sound better when coming from different voices -- especially female vocalists.

He added, "A lot of them sound better than I do. ... They're just beautiful singers all around. They could sing the freakin' dictionary. It's amazing."

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.

Mourners Gather for Eighth Anniversary of 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

Officers carry flags to honor firefighters lost on 9/11.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER

MANHATTAN -- Eight years later, mourners still flock to the site where the twin towers once stood. Most come to remember the lives lost, but some come holding banners announcing conspiracy theories about what happened that day.

"Justice for the victims of 9/11," one man repeatedly shouted, while holding a sign with the same phrase.

Mourners passed by these protestors, who were watched carefully by officers and held back by barricades.

Family members placed flowers in the memorial reflecting pool at Zucotti Park as relatives and volunteers read names of the more than 2,700 people who lost their lives on 9/11. Those who weren't directly connected to someone lost in the towers still came to the site, some placing flowers or other mementos on the steps of St. Paul's Chapel.

"I come from England every two years, but this year I planned my trip around September 11," Brett Hartland, 26, of Birmingham, England said. "I brought these white roses to show my respect to the innocent victims of terrorism."

Kathy Robert, 49, of Dallas, Texas, was living in New York City when the attacks happened and can vividly recall how she felt that morning.

"I was driving into town and was listening to the reports on the radio," Robert said. "I knew I wouldn't get into the city with all the kayos. I knew this event would change everything."

Hartland said he experienced the ramifications of the attacks, even from across the Atlantic Ocean.

"The terrorist attacks didn't just affect Americans. It affected the world. That day changed all of our lives forever."

Strangers embraced and shared stories about their memories of the morning of 9/11. Many had their hands clasped together in prayer and even those headed to their Wall Street offices slowed down as they walked by, despite the somber weather.

"It doesn't matter how much time goes by, this event will always bring people together," Robert said. "Eight years later, the pain is still there. It will still be felt eighty years from now."

A woman, whose son was in the North Tower, said nothing keeps her from coming to the memorial service every year.

"This is a resting place for my son. We never found him, but I can feel him here."

This mother, who wouldn't identify herself, held tightly to the framed photo of her son.

"Today is a day about those who lost their lives in an honorable way and are no longer here with us," she said. "They gave us so much and we are here to respect and remember them, not make a name for ourselves."

Despite the negativity coming from the protesters just down the block from where she stood, she said she has no bitterness about what happened to her son.

"My son died happy," she said. "He wasn't doing something bad, like selling drugs or getting shot by a gang. He was working in a job he loved. He was lucky."