Robert De Niro with governor George Pataki (left) and Kevin Bacon (right)

"We felt we needed something to heal our neighbourhood and our city," he said at a press conference on Friday.

The 2004 programme features 150 works, including new films from director Jim Jarmusch and Brazil's Hector Babenco.

There will also be panel discussions with director Martin Scorsese and Lord of the Rings composer Howard Shore.

The festival - which runs from 1 to 9 May - offers features, documentaries, short films and major premieres.

'Renewal and growth'

Highlights include a preview of scenes from Dreamworks' new animated feature Shark Tale, the New York premiere of Jarmusch's observational comedy Coffee and Cigarettes, and Babenco's drama Carandiru, set in the Brazilian prison of the same name.

The festival will also include a second film shot on videotape by some of Carandiru's actual inmates, plus events to celebrate the 10th anniversary of South African democracy.

Robert De Niro launched the first Tribeca Film Festival in 2002

Speaking on a sound stage at the Silvercup Studios East in the New York borough of Queens - the same place where TV sitcom Sex and the City is filmed - De Niro told reporters there was "a real sense of renewal and growth downtown".

His sentiments were echoed by fellow actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, artist Julian Schnabel and New York governor George Pataki.

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in January 2002 by De Niro and Scorsese, among others, to inject new life into lower Manhattan following the events of 11 September, 2001.

The first festival, in May 2002, attracted 150,000 people and generated more than $10m (�6.5m) for the local economy.