Thursday, April 26-----While eyeballs may be rolling at the $18 price tag for tickets to the Tribeca Film Festival, the event is offering a number of free screenings for the community, beginning tonight with the popular Tribeca Drive-In Outdoor Screening Series. Three family-friendly films will screen at dusk for the next three nights at the World Financial Center Plaza.  

Tonight, the Tribeca Film Festival and Lionsgate commemorate the 20th Anniversary of  DIRTY DANCING, the classic musical hit, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. A Dirty Dancing contest, movie trivia and karaoke will kick off the festivities at 7:30 p.m.,  with the screening starting at 8:30 p.m. On Friday evening, the Drive-In goes Hawaiian with a special “work-in-progress” screening of SONY Pictures upcoming feature animated film  SURF'S UP. This animated comedy delves behind the scenes of the high-octane world of competitive surfing. The film profiles teenage Rockhopper penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), an up-and-coming surfer, as he enters his first pro competition. The film also includes the vocal contributions of  Jon Heder, James Woods, Mario Cantone, Jeff Bridges and Zooey Deschanel. Complete with a luau including food, fun, flame jugglers and a special guest performance by The Kustard Kings, movie goers will also have the opportunity to compete in a limbo contest and learn to hula dance.  The luau begins at 7:30 p.m. with the screening starting at 8:30 p.m.

B-boy’s from all over the world will be at the final night of the Drive-In for a special dance tribute to James Brown prior to the screening of PLANET B-BOY, a Festival world premiere event. A powerful documentary about the vibrant global resurgence of break-dancing, this explosive documentary goes inside the underground hip-hop dance scenes around the world, as the best crews prepare for the "The Battle of the Year" -- an annual "World Cup" of b-boying. Director Benson Lee combines spectacular dance footage with poignant insight explaining why these dancers make tremendous sacrifices for their art.

The Tribeca Drive-In is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Programs begin at 7:30 p.m., with screenings starting at 8:30pm. For more information, log on to the Festival website: www.tribecafilmfestival.com

Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor