The 10th Tribeca Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night in New York City with world premier screening of director Cameron Crowe's new Elton John documentary.

"The Union" is an unprecedented and personal look at the creative life of Elton John and the remarkable collaborative album with Leon Russell. It captures the entire writing and recording process of the heralded album John recorded with his early-career idol, Russell.

"Cameron Crowe gives audiences unprecedented access into Elton John and Leon Russell's artistic process in an emotional and realistic way," said co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival Jane Rosenthal.

Running from April 20 to May 1, the Tribeca Film Festival, born as a way to revive downtown Manhattan after the September 11 attacks, is leading new ways for audiences to watch independent films.

A total of 153 films from more than 30 countries will be screened during the festival. Among them, 12 feature films and 12 documentaries will join the World Narrative Feature Competition and the World Documentary Feature Competition respectively.

The noteworthy indie films include "Jesus Henry Christ", featuring Hollywood stars Toni Collette and Michael Sheen, murder mystery "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" by Hong Kong director Tsui Hark, and China's renowned director Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly".

The festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, has attracted more than 3 million attendees and has generated an estimated 600 million U.S. dollars in economic activity for New York City since its first edition in 2002.