The fictional feature debut from Murderball director Dana Adam Shapiro, a second documentary from Alex Gibney, new work from Edward Burns and a radically different side to Once director John Carney are among the second wave of films to be announced by Tribeca top brass.

Festival organisers unveiled the Encounters, Discovery, Cinemania and Spotlight sections, as well as the eight titles that will screen under the auspices of the new Tribeca Film Festival Virtual. The festival will run from April 21 to May 2 and as previously announced launches with the world premiere of Shrek Forever After.

“We are proud of how the entire programme reflects the scope of film-making that is happening in the world today,” director of programming David Kwok said, adding later: “It’s great to give our audience the festival experience with these films before they get released.”

Encounters comprises 14 films that highlight works by a wide range of established talent and feature recognisable subjects. There are world premieres for Alex Gibney’s documentary My Trip To Al-Qaeda; Jean-Paul Salome’s psychological thriller The Chameleon (Le Cameleon) starring Ellen Barkin, Famke Janssen; Richard Levine’s drama Every Day with Liev Schreiber, Helen Hunt and Eddie Izzard; Paul Crowder’s documentary Last Play At Shea; and Keith Bearden’s road movie Meet Monica Velour (pictured) starring Brian Dennehy, Kim Cattrall and Dustin Ingram.

Also receiving their world premieres are: Dana Adam Shapiro’s Monogamy with Chris Messina and Rashida Jones; Edward Burns’ Nice Guy Johnny; Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn’s documentary Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage about the Canadian rock legends; Travis Fine’s post-9/11 drama The Space Between Us starring Melissa Leo; Craig Teper’s documentary Vidal Sassoon The Movie; and Visionaries, Chuck Workman’s documentary about avant-garde cinema.

Receiving their North American premieres are: Brian Hill’s environmental activism documentary Climate Of Change; Mat Whitecross’ Ian Dury biopic sex&drugs&rock&roll with Andy Serkis; and the first director’s cut screening of Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Bulletman.

World premieres in the Discovery section presenting 17 films by new talent appealing to a range of tastes are Bryan Goluboff’s Beware The Gonzo starring Zoe Kravitz, Campbell Scott, and Amy Sedaris; Ashley Horner’s drama brilliantlove; Jeff Reichert’s electioneering documentary Gerrymandering; Sebastian Copeland’s North Pole expedition documentary Into The Cold; Ahmed Ahmed’s stand up comedy documentary Just Like Us; Josh Sternfeld’s murder-mystery Meskada starring Nick Stahl; Christy Turlington Burns’ documentary No Woman, No Cry, about women who die from preventable pregnancy and childbirth complications; Susan Koch’s exploration of HIV and HIV solutions in Washington DC in The Other City; Robert Kirbyson’s family tale Snowmen starring Bobby Coleman, Josh Flitter and Ray Liotta; and Dustin Thompson’s The Travelogues.

There are international premieres for Josh Appignanesi’s comedy The Infidel from a screenplay by British comedian David Baddiel; Bjorn Richie Lob’s river surfing documentary Keep Surfing; and Thomas Ikimi’s UK-Nigerian psychological drama Legacy. Receiving their North American premieres are the romantic comedy Elvis & Madona by Marcelo Laffitte; Omar Rodriguez Lopez’ trippy coming-of-age tale The Sentimental Engine Slayer; and Bobby Sheehan’s art scene documentary Arias With A Twist: The Docufantasy. Jacob Tierney’s comedy The Trotsky gets its US premiere.

Genre section Cinemania features world premieres of J B Ghuman Jr’s Sporkand Israel Luna’s Ticked Off Trannies With Knives. There are international premieres for John Carney and Kieran Carney’s alien comedy Zonad; Le Thanh Son’s Vietnamese martial arts film Clash, and North American premieres of Pang Ho-Cheung’s Dream Home and Lee Yong-ju’s Possessed.

Spotlight features Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me, J Blakeson’s The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Nicole Holofcener’s Please Give, Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg’s Joan Rivers – A Piece Of Work, Aaron Schneider’s Get Low, Ruba Nadda’s Cairo Time, and Fatih Akin’s Soul Kitchen.

Films in the Encounters, Discovery, Cinemania and Spotlight sections are eligible for the Heineken Audience Award.

The following are the films featured in Tribeca Film Festival Virtual: Nice Guy Johnny, Elvis & Madona, Spork, Buried Land, Into the Cold, Possessed, Freetime Machos and The Sentimental Engine Slayer. All titles are eligible for the $25,000 cash prize for TFF Virtual Best Feature Film Award.

Tribeca will announce the short film programme on March 18.

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