Whether eclectic, eerie, or "I-can't-believe-that-just-happened!", the Midnight series offers world premieres that will keep you guessing. From a savage game of paintball to the unraveling of an urban legend to a babysitting job gone horribly wrong, these films push the boundaries of creativity and sometimes defy genre.

Director of Programming David Kwok explains, “Midnight is where you’ll find something scary, thrilling, or bizarre (or perhaps all of the above). All world premieres, our audience will be the first to see the newest from horror favorite Ti West with House of the Devil; to learn about the fascinating extended family of Jesco White in The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia; to watch Gary Coleman prove there are different strokes for different folks in Midgets vs. Mascots; and to laugh at the horror spoof Hysterical Psycho, the directorial debut of Dan Fogler.”
 

Cropsey

Directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio, written by Zeman
(USA)
World Premiere, Documentary
Urban legends—we either dismiss them or accept that they have some grain of truth. Directors Zeman and Brancaccio attempt to uncover one such urban myth as they investigate five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearance in Staten Island during their youth. Will this terrifying journey resolve what has haunted them since childhood?

The House of the Devil

Directed and written by Ti West
(USA)
World Premiere, Narrative
Set in the early ’80s on the night of a lunar eclipse (and all the more shocking for being “based on true unexplained events”), this simmering retro suspense thriller centers on a cash-strapped college girl who answers a babysitting ad only to gradually unravel the horrifying secret behind why she was truly hired. Featuring Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, and Greta Gerwig.

Hysterical Psycho

Directed and written by Dan Fogler
(USA)
World Premiere, Narrative
In this side-splitting horror send-up, a theater troupe takes a trip to a country cabin, but its nearby lake is full of lunar radiation, and one of the troupe members is straight-up crazy. Put them together and you get one psycho thespian! Full of bloody, fun-filled kills, a deaf-mute chick, and some big boobs, Hysterical Psycho is a helluva trip.
 

Midgets vs. Mascots

Directed by Ron Carlson, co-written by Kevin Andounian
(USA)
World Premiere, Narrative
Two teams risk life, limb, and maybe jail time while pushing the boundaries of decency to score the fortune of a deceased little person, a former mascot turned porn mogul. Outrageous outcasts and out-of-control antics abound in this bawdy Jackass-meets-Road Rules mockumentary, featuring the long-awaited big-screen comeback of Gary Coleman.

 

Newsmakers (Goryachie novosti)

Directed by Anders Banke, written by Sam Klebanov and Aleksandr Lungin
(Russia, Sweden)
World Premiere, Narrative
In this fast-paced remake of Johnnie To’s Breaking News, the public confidence of the police force is compromised after they botch catching a gang of robbers and it gets captured on camera. In retaliation, the police chief and PR director decide to create a live reality show with a search-and-destroy operation against the gang they let get away. This crime thriller is loaded with loud gunfights and action that takes the term “media war” to a whole new level. In Russian with English subtitles.

Paintball

Directed by Daniel Benmayor, written by Mario Schoendorff
(Spain)
World Premiere, Narrative
Eight strangers convene in a remote forest for an expensive experts-only paintball retreat. They enter the game at full throttle, but already something’s not right. The rules have changed and more is at stake than they expected. This frenetic thriller is akin to a live-action videogame, but getting to Level 10 doesn't seem to guarantee anything. In English.

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

Directed by Julien Nitzberg
(USA)
World Premiere, Documentary
Shoot-outs, robberies, gas-huffing, drug dealing, pill popping, murders, and tap dancing—what do these all have in common? The White Family. From executive producers Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine comes a shocking and outlandish year-in-the-life doc about Boone County, West Virginia’s most notorious and surly family.

 

Awards

Films predominantly shot in New York and/or produced by a New York-based production company will be up for the following awards: Best New York Narrative and Best New York Documentary. Films in the World Narrative Competition, World Documentary Competition, Encounters, Discovery, Midnight, Spotlight or Showcase sections are eligible for the Heineken Audience Award, the audience choice for best feature film.

The 2009 Tribeca Film Festival is officially announced!

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The 2009 Tribeca Film Festival opener will be Woody Allen's Whatever Works.