In the past, the Tribeca film festival, the event founded in the wake of September 11 by Robert De Niro and his producing partner Jane Rosenthal, had a less than sterling reputation among industry professionals and viewers. There was a feeling that many of its world premieres were selected from whatever was left over after bigger, more established festivals had cherry-picked the best titles available. But now in its 13th year, Tribeca is quietly gaining in stature and respect for the much improved quality of its programming (thanks in part to the hire in 2012 of Frédéric Boyer, former head of Cannes's Directors' Fortnight, as artistic director). The word from New York City is that this looks like it might be the fest's best year yet. Here are some of the most hotly anticipated titles:

A Brony Tale (director: Brent Hodge)

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Documentaries have always been Tribeca's strong suit, and this one about My Little Pony fans sounds nigh-on irresistible. Actor Ashleigh Ball, whose squeaky pipes voiced Applejack and Rainbow Dash on the cartoon series, acts as a nervous guide to the world of "Bronies" (the mostly straight-male fans' name for themselves), and their love of all things pastel, equine and manufactured by Hasbro.

Art and Craft (directors: Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman, Mark Becker)

There's considerable buzz already about this documentary profiling enigmatic art forger Mark Landis, whose mimicries of Matisse and Picasso fooled the art industry for 30 years. It transpires Landis, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was never driven by money, but by more complex motivations. The result is a layered study of mental illness, talent and the museum-industrial complex.

Dior and I (director: Frédéric Tcheng)

Docs about fashion are becoming almost as prolific as ones about rock stars, but this one about Raf Simons' first haute couture collection for Dior sounds especially promising. For a start, its director also shot the excellent Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, while advance word promises an extended look at the atelier craftspeople whose skill is so integral to the final product, especially at Dior.

The Canal (director: Ivan Kavanagh)

Tapping into the uncanny creepiness of early cinema, this Irish-made horror pic stars Rupert Evans and Antonia Campbell-Hughes as a film archivist and his wife who find out that their Dublin home was the scene of a terrible crime at the turn of the last century. Director Kavanagh used an authentic 1915 film camera borrowed from a collector to shoot the ersatz antique footage.

Every Secret Thing (director: Amy Berg)

Last year Tribeca created the Nora Ephron prize to reward female writers or directors whose work is showing at the festival, and on paper this woman-centred drama already looks like a major contender. Written by Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said) and directed by respected documentarian Amy Berg, this tells the James Bulger-like story of two young women (Dakota Fanning, Danielle Macdonald) who are released from jail after a long sentence for killing an infant when they were children themselves.

Gabriel (director: Lou Howe)

Many of the pre-fest previews have already singled out this feature by debutant writer-director Lou Howe as a must-see title. Rory Culkin is said to be outstanding as a damaged teenager in the tradition of Holden Caulfield, obsessed with reuniting with an old girlfriend.

Güeros (director: Alonso Ruiz Palacios)

Shot on black-and-white stock, this debut from Alonso Ruiz Palacios tracks three young men in search of a legendary folk-rock musician said to have influenced Bob Dylan. Mexico City, that teeming, richly varied metropolis, co-stars as itself. Plot echoes of Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives may be entirely coincidental.

In Your Eyes (director: Brin Hill)

Tickets are apparently selling fast for this latest film by Brin Hill (Won't Back Down), directing a romantic sci-fi-inflected drama written by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Avengers franchise). Upcoming actors Zoe Kazan and Nikki Reed co-star with Michael Stahl-David in a tale of psychically connected souls who find each other across a continent.

Keep on Keepin' on (director: Alan Hicks)

Among the many music-themed documentaries on show this year, this portrait of legendary jazz trumpeter Clark Terry mentoring blind pianist Justin Kauflin looks to be the one to watch out for further fests. The first screening will be followed by a performance featuring Kauflin himself alongside Herbie Hancock, Bill Cosby and Dianne Reeves, produced by Quincy Jones.

Regarding Susan Sontag (director: Nancy D Kates)

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Given she died 10 years ago, it's astonishing there haven't been more documentaries made until now about this highly influential public intellectual, the author of the seminal essay "Notes on 'Camp'" and books On Photography and Illness as Metaphor. Nancy Kates surveys Sontag's biography in depth, interviewing friends, family and lovers while excerpts from her writings are read by Patricia Clarkson in voiceover.

Summer of Blood (director: Onur Tukel)

Described enticingly by Vulture as "like what might happen if Woody Allen and Lena Dunham found themselves collaborating on a Roger Corman movie," this black-comedy horror spoof stars director Onur Tukel as a hipster turned vampire. Alex Karpovsky from Girls co-stars, so what's not to like?