L.A. Noire to be featured at Tribeca Film Fest

Rockstar Games has been edging towards a Hollywood model for quite some time now, but the film community is finally taking notice.

The Tribeca Film Festival will present a one-hour gameplay session of "L.A. Noire" at this year's event, followed by a question and answer session. Scheduled to take place April 25, this is the first time the festival has recognized a video game.

“We’re thrilled that 'L.A. Noire' is being recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival in this way,” said Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser. “It’s a real honor, and another step forward for interactive entertainment.”

Geoff Gilmore chief creative officer of Tribeca Enterprises (and a former director of the Sundance Film Festival) will oversee the Q&A, which will focus on the making of the game, the technology behind it, and story and action in this medium.

Like many Rockstar games before it, "L.A. Noire" pushes new boundaries in the interactive space. Rather than stretching gameplay methods this time, though, the revolutions are in the incredibly lifelike characters that populate the world.

That's more than window dressing. It's essential to the game, as you play a detective working to solve a series of mysteries. To successfully do that, you'll need to read the body language of people you're questioning. The facial animation scans, done by Culver City-based Depth Analysis, make that possible.