Acting legend Robert De Niro has launched his Tribeca film festival in New York.

Tribeca film festival founded by the acting legend Robert De Niro, is now in its fifth year and organizers say that some of this year's films will deal with the events of September 11 2001.

The Tribeca Film Festival starts with the premiere of "United 93," a Universal Pictures dramatization of the hijacked plane which crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against their hijackers.

De Niro told reporters of ITV.com: "If it was not opening the festival, it would seem strange. It's important to see because it's kind of a playback of what happened and you know what's going to happen (but) still it's sort of, you have to see the movie."

Several other films at Tribeca share the same theme, including documentaries "Saint of 9/11" about a fire department chaplain killed at the World Trade Center and "The Heart of Steel," about volunteers who helped after the attacks.

Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 25 through May 7 and got its start in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.

Though it bears the title of a film festival, there is a lot more going on than movie screenings. The festival includes this year: after-parties with stars like John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Salma Hayek and Tom Cruise, private screenings with directors such as Stephen Soderbergh, concerts, panel talks, family gatherings and special presentations for working and aspiring filmmakers.