Standouts from the Tribeca Film Festival

updated 6:51 p.m. ET May 3, 2007

NEW YORK - Over the past week and a half, hundreds of filmmakers and actors have descended upon downtown New York City for the sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival.

Among those who left memorable impressions were an “Entourage” star turned director, a child actor all grown up, a ubiquitous character acting veteran, and a Mexican heartthrob turned documentarian. As the festival came to a close, each discussed their films and careers with The Associated Press.

Anna Paquin
Born in Canada, raised in New Zealand and currently living in New York, Anna Paquin may have a rootless, international life. But in “Blue State,” she plays a very American character who’s fleeing the country after the re-election of President Bush in 2004.

She co-stars with Breckin Meyer, with the two characters setting out on a road trip to Winnipeg, Canada. Meyer’s blogger, John, fulfills a promise to leave the U.S. if Bush is re-elected, and Paquin’s Chloe comes along for the ride.

The 24-year-old Paquin, however, says she’s not especially political.

“I’m not American, I don’t get to vote, so my feelings strong or otherwise are pretty irrelevant,” she says. “I’ve actually never voted because I don’t live anywhere where I’m allowed to.”

“Blue State” is a family affair. Her brother Andrew produced the film, which is directed by Marshall Lewy, a friend of both Paquins since he attended Columbia University with Andrew.

Paquin and her brother, who run a production company together, had wanted to make a movie for some time, and when “Blue State” presented itself, Paquin says it would have been a little silly if he didn’t approach her.

“It’s a young 20-something lead, it’s not like my brother is going to be like, ‘I have a really great idea for an actress for this and it’s not my sister,”’ jokes Paquin.

In a movie full of passionately political characters, Paquin is the voice of reason. Though Chloe and John begin as strangers to each other, she gradually beguiles John — much as Paquin has been doing for movie audiences since her Oscar winning performance in 1993’s “Piano.”

She was just 11 years old when she won her best-supporting-actress award, but Paquin has since built an impressive filmography that twists and turns unpredictably. She has acted in acclaimed indies like “25th Hour,” “The Squid and the Whale” and “Hurlyburly,” but most know her as Rogue from the “X-Men” franchise.

Paquin has acted in numerous plays, including Kenneth Lonergan’s “This is Our Youth,” and recently wrapped a starring role in Lonergan’s “Margaret,” his second film after “You Can Count on Me.” Upcoming projects on HBO — the film “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” (premiering May 27) and the Alan Ball drama series “True Blood” — will also likely awaken many to Paquin’s burgeoning talents.

“Be it theater, gigantic summer blockbuster or indie, it really isn’t about the medium,” she explains. “It’s about whether it’s a project that interests me.”

Kevin Connolly

Bebeto Matthews / AP Kevin Connolly makes his directorial debut with ‘Gardener of Eden.’

The North America premiere of “Spider-Man 3” at Tribeca may have drawn the most attention, but the more interesting superhero movie was Connolly’s “The Gardener of Eden.”

Connolly, who plays Eric Murphy on HBO’s “Entourage,” premiered his directorial debut at Tribeca, where it was well received and found attention from distributors. That’s in part because two of Connolly’s friends played key roles in making the movie: Leonardo DiCaprio co-produced and Lukas Haas (“Last Days,” “Brick”) stars.

“It was just like three great friends going to work together,” says Connolly.

Haas plays a wayward young man living at home in New Jersey after being kicked out of college. He unknowingly beats up a serial rapist, and is subsequently hailed a hero. This sets him on a demented but righteous path of becoming the town’s defender. His archenemy is a drug dealer played with slimy perfection by Giovanni Ribisi.

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But “The Gardener of Eden” is more likely to remind you of “Taxi Driver” than “Spider-Man.” It’s a parody of the black and white world of comic-book films; “Eden” instead aims for realism by portraying the grayness of morality and criminality.

“The strange nature of the material was something that attracted me to it,” says Connolly. “It really played by a sort of different formula.”

It’s an impressive directorial debut for the 33-year-old Connolly, who has long harbored interest in getting behind the camera. He honed his skills by directing several episodes of the TV series “Unhappily Ever After” in the late-’90s and by making the 2003 short film “Whatever We Do,” which included Robert Downey Jr. and Tim Roth.

“I knew that the end goal while I was making those films was to get on the set of a feature,” says Connolly.

Finding time was a challenge, he says, noting that shooting the third season of “Entourage” meant shutting down the editing of “The Gardener of Eden” for eight months.

“Acting is in my blood, so I’ll always act,” says Connolly. “It’s something that I’d like to integrate in between my acting jobs.”

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