New York, April 24-25, 2007 – The Tribeca Film Festival pre-opened with Vanity Fair’s usual party, and it’s nice to see the spare-no-expense magazine is budgeting on décor: the State Supreme Courthouse steps were bedecked with the same white votive candles, capped by the same giant letters spelling out the name in red. Festival founder Robert De Niro and wife Grace Hightower ran by the media area so fast, some people didn’t even realize they had come. De Niro's partner, Jane Rosenthal, was amazed that this is the film fest’s fifth incarnation. David Bowie, who is as shy as De Niro, kept joyfully announcing that he and Iman had been married 15 years ago on that very day. He was, literally, beaming.

The Tribeca fest’s official opening was the following day, and host Al Gore turned it into an inconvenient day, with a press conference in the afternoon, followed by the SOS short film program in the evening. Interspersed with the nine short films about the environment were live people saying things – Petra Nemcova, Diego Luna, Martin Scorsese, who was spoofed by Jimmy Fallon wearing fake bushy eyebrows. De Niro and Rosenthal said a few words, and Gore was a bit long winded, politician-style. Jon Bon Jovi closed with a three-song set, including “Here Comes the Sun”.

Adrian Grenier, Christie Brinkley, Jesse Bradford, Christopher Walken, Julia Stiles and Shalom Harlow took in the SOS films, part of Gore’s huge Live Earth concerts scheduled for July.