Every movie has to have a premiere, and every premiere has to have a red carpet.

When the red carpet is on a Manhattan sidewalk, with plenty of passers-by stopping to gawk, and many of the celebs are arriving in electric cars, things get a little more complicated.

Still, last night's premiere of Revenge of the Electric Car offered its share of glamor, even if the stars were better known in the automotive and electric-car advocacy world.

They included Elon Musk, CEO of electric carmaker Tesla Motors (accompanied by his mother); former GM vice president and all-round "car guy" Bob Lutz; director Chris Paine; Wall Street Journal auto critic Dan Neil; and consulting producer Chelsea Sexton.

The film is director Chris Paine's followup to his 2006 movie, Who Killed the Electric Car? It suffers from the lack of an evil antagonist, but overall, we found it optimistic and accurate.

As yet, the film doesn't have a distributor, but it'll be shown in New York City's Central Park this summer and is almost certain to play art houses this fall.

Until then, enjoy these photos from the red carpet, the post-screening discussion, and the after-party at the Bunker Club in New York's trendy Meatpacking District.

Among the electric cars, by the way, were a 2011 Chevrolet Volt, two 2011 Nissan Leafs, and the Tesla Roadster 2.5 in which Musk drove himself to the premiere.

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