SUSPENSE THRILLER 'THE INTERPRETER' TO OPEN 2005 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

SUSPENSE THRILLER 'THE INTERPRETER' TO OPEN 2005 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn Star in Latest From Filmmaker Sydney Pollack

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A special premiere of Universal Pictures'/Working Title Films' thriller "The Interpreter" -- the latest from Academy Award(R)-winning director Sydney Pollack and Oscar(R) winners Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn -- is slated to open the fourth annual Tribeca Film Festival, with a screening at Manhattan's Ziegfeld Theater on April 19. The screening will be held in association with the United Nations, whose officials allowed unprecedented access to Pollack, his cast and crew, marking "The Interpreter" as the first motion picture to ever film inside the headquarters of the world-famous organization.

First held in 2002, the Tribeca Film Festival presented by American Express was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff to celebrate New York City as a major filmmaking center and to contribute to the long-term recovery of lower Manhattan. The mission of the Tribeca Film Festival is to enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film by redefining the film festival experience.

"We're proud to open our festival with Sydney Pollack's new film 'The Interpreter,'" said Robert De Niro, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival. "It is especially significant to us since it was filmed here in New York at the United Nations."

"We're thrilled to be working with Sydney Pollack and Universal Pictures and honored to premiere 'The Interpreter' at the fourth annual Tribeca Film Festival," said Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal.

From Academy Award(R) winner Sydney Pollack, the director behind some of the most compelling and provocative thrillers of the last two decades ("Three Days of The Condor," "Absence of Malice," "The Firm"), comes a fresh take on contemporary suspense: an intricate, knife's-edge drama that unfolds against our 21st Century world of international terror and inside the United Nations' hidden corridors of power. Academy Award(R) winners Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn star in "The Interpreter," the story of two opposite people who unexpectedly collide within a maze of mounting paranoia, personal secrets and explosive global events.

Shot on location in Manhattan and Southern Africa, "The Interpreter" is the first motion picture in history to receive inside access to the United Nations' headquarters (which is officially international territory) in New York.

The escalating events begin when African-born U.N. translator Silvia Broome (Kidman) alleges that she has overheard a death threat against an African head of state, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than Silvia can understand. With the words "The Teacher will never leave this room alive," in an instant, Silvia's life is turned upside down as she becomes a hunted target of the killers. Placed under the protection of federal agent Tobin Keller (Penn), Silvia's world only grows more nightmarish. As Keller digs deeper into his eyewitness' past and her secretive world of global connections, the more suspicious he becomes that she herself might be involved in the conspiracy. With every step of the way, he finds more reasons to mistrust her.

Universal Pictures Presents A Working Title Production In Association with Misher Films and Mirage Enterprises of A Sydney Pollack Film: Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn in "The Interpreter," starring Catherine Keener. The casting is by Juliet Taylor & Ellen Lewis. The music is by James Newton Howard. The co-producers are Liza Chasin and Debra Hayward. The costume designer is Sarah Edwards. The editor is William Steinkamp, A.C.E.; the production designer, Jon Hutman; and the director of photography, Darius Khondji, A.S.C., A.F.C. The executive producers are Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella and G. Mac Brown. The film is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Kevin Misher. The story is by Martin Stellman & Brian Ward; the screenplay is by Charles Randolph and Scott Frank and Steven Zaillian. "The Interpreter" is directed by Sydney Pollack. (C)2004 Universal Studios. www.theinterpretermovie.com

Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates the No. 1 television network, the fastest-growing Spanish-language network, a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.

Source: Universal Pictures

CONTACT: Alissa Grayson of Universal Pictures, +1-818-777-4739; or Ashley Schiff, +1-212-843-8069, aschiff@rubenstein.com, for Tribeca Film Festival

Web site: http://www.theinterpretermovie.com/ http://www.universalstudios.com/

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