Adam Curtis' "The Power of Nightmares" provoked audiences here in Tribeca, as the filmmaker screened the original 3 part BBC series that screened in Britain last fall. A new, re-cut theatrical version will debut at the Cannes Film Festival next month. In a Village Voice piece ahead of the festival, filmmaker Curtis offered some insights on the film:

The Power of Nightmares—which receives its first New York screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival this week—does not say that the Islamist terrorist threat is an illusion. The West does face a deadly threat from groups and individuals inspired by dangerous ideas—the horrific attacks on America and the bombings in Madrid and Bali make this only too clear. But the film also argues that the true nature of this threat has been completely misunderstood by governments, security services, and the international media. It has been distorted and exaggerated to create a vision of a unique threat unlike anything we have faced that justifies extreme countermeasures. This fantasy, which has trapped our leaders and our media, prevents us from comprehending and dealing with the dangers we face. The film tells not only how it was created but also why, and in whose interest.

At the heart of the story, which begins 50 years ago, are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists born out of the failure of post-war liberal optimism, and both had very similar explanations for why that failure had occurred. Both groups did change the world—but not in the way either intended.