Weekly Roundup: February 26 - March 4, 2011

Here are snippets from this week's most interesting film-related news, including latest updates from current and past TFI projects:

The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival announced its opening night film, Cameron Crowe's The Union, a documentary about the musical collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell! The screening, which will be the film's world premiere, will be free, outdoors, and followed by a live performance by Elton John.

Kevin Spacey and David Fincher are teaming up for a new hour-long drama entitled House of Cards, based on a British miniseries of the same name. Dana Brunetti (TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund '10 for Midnight Sun) and Student Grand Jury Prize juror Eric Roth are among the executive producers.

This week marks the closing of our Tribeca Youth program Our City, My Story.

The inaugural Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Student Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting winner and his screenplay Bystander were feted in New York City.

2010 Gucci Grantee documentary Welcome To Shelbyville inspired a new interactive website called Shelbyville Multimedia that provides a rich transmedia portrait of the small Tennessee town on which the film focuses.

The True/False Film Festival in Columbia, MO, which has showcased the work of various TFI filmmakers,  kicked off this week.

Gary Winick, director, producer, founder of InDigEnt and a major figure in the indie film world, passed away at age 49.

[Photo: Elton John and Leon Russell from the The Union; photo credit: Joseph Guay]