If you’re looking for a picture of a sunset, you might start by searching the online photo galleries of Flickr.

This is exactly what artist Penelope Umbrico did for her installment at the New York Photography Festival, going on in Brooklyn this weekend.

The festival, set in DUMBO, is the first of its kind. It has the ambitious goal of revealing the “future of contemporary photography” in four exhibits.

When I spoke with the artists and curators of these shows, I found myself interested in the ubiquity of photographs today. Take Umbrico. She covered a wall with snapshots of sunsets she found on Flickr. She views that Web site as a barometer of how we, as a culture, think visually.

Her 2,000 pictures of sunsets are among the many new works up on the walls of the festival this weekend.

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We went in to view the film as well and sat next to Faye Dunnaway - Hollywood in New York.

“I loved seeing Man on Wire. Phillipe Petit is a totally improbable, endearing character whose dream of walking a wire between the two tallest towers in New York began even before the towers were built! That he kept and plotted and finally realized the dream, years later, is a great story in itself. The touching interviews, and stock footage and re-creations that get us there are beautifully used, in the manner of a ‘heist’ film; but in this one the object is not a precious diamond, but a few dangerous minutes of sheer bliss for a man possessed.

The more interesting thing is that the film actually adds something to the culture, adds something to our memory bank. Those buildings, which we’ll forever associate with unspeakable tragedy, now rise again into a kind of mythical, magical realm.”

Here’s an interview with Marsh and Petit, when the film screened at Sundance:

“LIONESS is a documentary about a group of women soldiers who end up on the frontlines in Iraq, in spite of official U.S. policy baring them from combat. Directed by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers, the film draws on archival footage, journal excerpts, and interviews with the soldiers and their military superiors.

The directors say they’re not trying to make a political statement. But the film inevitably raises questions: what role should women play in a 21st century military? Should the law on the books be amended to reflect what’s happening on the ground? And are women getting sufficient training to complete their new missions successfully?

The film’s pacing can drag, particularly when telling the soldiers’ back-stories. But overall, LIONESS raises issues worth contemplating and presents portraits of real women in service as opposed to the past media caricatures, a la the hapless Jessica Lynch or the ghoulish like Lynndie England.”

We’ve been watching the Tribeca Film Festival since it got underway last week. But New York’s movie buffs turned out in droves last night for another film event: the Dhallywood Music & Film Awards. Dhallywood’s where the booming Bangladeshi film industry makes its Bollywood-style movie musicals. Almost 2,000 folks showed up at the Manhattan Center in midtown for the ceremony. Lara Pellegrinelli was on hand at the event — you can hear her here.

Here’s a video by one of Dhallywood’s biggest stars, Sabina Yasmin:

The film’s executive producers are trumpeter and band leader Wynton Marsalis and filmmaker Stanley Nelson. Here’s the trailer.