At the International Filmmaker Meet & Greet, the Aussies were in full force. Why so many? Because they party better than the rest of us? Turns out that after the UK and France, Australia has the most features in the festival (4), and all were represented by filmmakers, cast, and friends. Good things are bubbling up down under:

"Bitter & Twisted," a coming of age story by Christopher Weekes, has a most intriguing title.
"Dying Breed," by Jody Dwyer, puts a Tasmanian spin on bloody horror.
"Donkey in Lahore," a documentary by Faramarz K-Rahber, follows an unlikely romance.
"Newcastle," a surfing story by Dan Castle, has an ensemble of cute young actors.

Yesterday I wondered via blog, is the Tribeca Film Festival global or isolationist? Today, in the New York Times, David Carr responds to this conundrum.

"Tribeca, rather than being a big player in the global film marketplace, has become a successful local event, partly because the organizers have avoided film elitism and mastered the high-low New York landscape," he writes.

Hmmm. Film "elitism"??? I'm not going to touch that one.

At a reception earlier this week, several industry insiders were debating Howard Feinstein's initial report on Tribeca for indieWIRE. Did the seasoned journalist/programmer go too far in his criticism? Was calling De Niro, Rosenthal, and Hatkoff, "three overly visible founders, more Patrick McMullenites than cinephiles" rude or right on? What about referring to most of the programming as "pablum"? One colleague called Feinstein tactless, with a lack of regard for the hard work it takes to mount a festival. Others found his candor refreshing.

Feinstein wrote, "We are fortunate to have so many choices in the Big Apple, so why settle for mediocrity? (According to one Tribeca insider, there is a push from above to have more English-language fare--here!) Isn't the idea to raise spectators up, to trust them rather than talking down to them?"

Meanwhile, from the previous week, Stephen Holden's coverage in the New York Times (which Feinstein mentioned obliquely) was full of positivity. Holden wrote, "....the festival is finally settling into its own identity and establishing itself as a major international showcase" and "As American audiences for non-English-language art films dwindle, and the marketing and distribution costs for such films increasingly prohibit their purchase by adventurous releasing companies, Tribeca has become an indispensable bulwark against the isolationist mentality of the moviegoing public."

Huh?

In a new era of relaxed censorship, a groundswell of Egyptian filmmakers are breaking barriers, such as Yousry Nasrallah, director of “The Aquarium” (Genenet al Asmak). I caught up with Nasrallah at the festival on Monday and we chatted about the film and global politics. Most amusing was his anecdote on how difficult it was to "cast" the spotted fish in the aquarium.

Taking place around Cairo’s landmark grotto gardens, with maze-like caverns and hidden fish tanks, “The Aquarium” is a structural and narrative puzzle, echoing its labyrinthine setting. The complex story follows the parallel lives of two lonely singles who circle around life, in disconnection, and live through the suffering of others. Laila (Hend Sabry from “The Yacoubian Building”) hosts a late-night radio program where listeners confess their secrets. Youssef (Amr Waked from “Syriana”) is an anesthesiologist who moonlights in an illegal abortion clinic. Their paths cross after Youssef calls in to Laila’s program with details of his life. Twin specters of corruption and Islamist fundamentalism haunt their sophisticated world of nightclubs and sex. (Originally reported by me for "Downtown Express")

I predict a beeline to the restroom in the LGBT Center on 13th Street to see Keith Haring's erotic images once audiences catch a glimpse in Christina Clausen's film at the Tribeca Film Festival. My friend David tipped me on this while I was writing about the thoroughly enjoyable film.

Keith Haring’s nonstop pop

My own fail-safe M.O. at Tribeca is to concentrate on foreign films (and great parties). My picks this year zero in on North Africa. I recommend "The Aquarium," Yousry Nasrallah's enigmatic feature set around Cairo's landmark grotto (with more hiding places than Hef's) and "Marina of the Zabbaleen" a gorgeous film about garbage by Tribeca All Access filmmaker, Engi Wassef. Also heard good things about "The Secret of the Grain," by French academy award winner, Abdellatif Kechiche.