Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas bring ’Official Competition’ to the Tribeca Film Festival

Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas bring ’Official Competition’ to the Tribeca Film Festival Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas hit the red carpet for the U.S. premiere of their film “Official Competition” in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival on Tuesday (June 14). The duo star alongside Oscar Martinez in the dark comedy that puts vanity and ego on display in a humorous way. Banderas told reporters that the New York based festival has an ease others do not. “This is a very much more relaxing festival than those festivals in Europe that are a little bit tense, intense. This one, you know, it’s more relaxed and that is probably necessary to watch movies, you know, in a nice way without the pressure of other things…” he said. Cruz plays an over the top film director asked to create a film by an impulsive billionaire. Her character is tasked with managing the egos of two famous actors, played by Banderas and Martinez, both on and off set. Cruz said she moulded her character after various people. “Like four or five different people, some from our industry. Some from, you know, people that I’ve met in other situations and people that I don’t know that are from other, other areas of the art world. And I have studied their interviews and their behavior, but maybe I’ve never met them.” The festival will end on June 19 and will screen some 110 feature films from 40 countries.