Tribeca Festival

Tribeca Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2002 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Until 2020, the festival was known as the Tribeca Film Festival.
Each year, the festival hosts over 600 screenings with approximately 150,000 attendees, and awards independent artists in 23 juried competitive categories.
History
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, and Craig Hatkoff, in response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the Tribeca neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.
The inaugural festival launched after 120 days of planning with the help of more than 1,300 volunteers. It was attended by more than 150,000 people and featured several up-and-coming filmmakers. The festival included juried narrative, documentary and short film competitions; a restored classics series; a best of New York series curated by Martin Scorsese; 13 major panel discussions; an all-day family festival; and the premieres of studio films Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, About A Boy, the American remake of Insomnia, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The 2003 festival brought more than 300,000 people. The festival showcased an expanded group of independent features, documentaries and short films from around the world, coupled with studio premieres, panel discussions, music and comedy concerts, a family festival, sports activities, and outdoor movie screenings along the Hudson River. The family festival featured children's movie screenings, storytelling, family panels, workshops, and interactive games culminating in a daylong street fair that drew a crowd estimated at 250,000 people.
At the end of 2003, De Niro purchased the theater at 54 Varick Street which had housed the recently closed Screening Room, an art house that had shown independent films nightly, renaming it the Tribeca Cinema. It became one of the venues of the festival.
In an effort to serve its mission of bringing independent film to the widest possible audience, in 2006, the festival expanded its reach in New York City and internationally. In New York City, Tribeca hosted screenings throughout Manhattan as the festival's 1,000-plus screening schedule outgrew the capacity downtown. Internationally, the Festival brought films to the Rome Film Festival. As part of the celebrations in Rome, Tribeca was awarded the first-ever "Steps and Stars" award, presented on the Spanish Steps. A total of 169 feature films and 99 shorts were selected from 4,100 film submissions, including 1,950 feature submissions—three times the total submissions from the first festival in 2002. The festival featured 90 world premieres, nine international premieres, 31 North American premieres, 6 U.S. premieres, and 28 New York City premieres.
In 2009, Rosenthal, Hatkoff and De Niro were named number 14 on Barron's list of the world's top 25 philanthropists for their role in regenerating TriBeCa's economy after September 11.
In 2011, L.A. Noire became the first video game to be recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival. In 2013, Beyond: Two Souls, featuring Elliot Page and Willem Dafoe, became only the second game to be premiered at the festival.
The 19th Tribeca Film Festival, originally scheduled for April 15–26, 2020, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the weeks and months that followed, Tribeca launched several digital offerings to highlight filmmakers and creators who had hoped to premiere their latest works at the spring gathering. It provided a secure digital platform for 2020 Festival films seeking distribution to be viewed by press and industry and hosted a virtual gathering space for Tribeca N.O.W. Creators Market.
In response to the global pandemic, Tribeca organized We Are One in partnership with YouTube, a free 10-day digital festival that provided entertainment and connection for audiences at home and raised international COVID-19 relief funds. The program was co-curated by 21 of the top international film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, TIFF and Venice and showcased over 100 hours of shorts, features, talks and music to an audience of 1.9 million people in 179 countries.
In July 2020, Tribeca launched one of the first large scale pop-up drive-in series across the country to provide audiences with entertainment in a safe, socially-distanced environment. Screenings took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, Dallas Cowboys AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Orchard Beach in the Bronx neighborhood of New York and Nickerson Beach in Nassau County, New York. The series employed local production staff and partnered with small food businesses who had been impacted by the lockdown.
On August 7, 2020, organizers announced that the 20th anniversary edition of the festival was to be held from June 9 to June 20, 2021, with a dedicated space to celebrate films whose premieres were not able to take place in the festival that was cancelled in 2020. In a first for the festival, Tribeca also hosted community screenings — in both indoor and outdoor venues — in all five New York City boroughs.
The festival added a dedicated video games category beginning with the 2021 event. Games nominated are presented in online presentations during the Festival, similar to film screenings. The festival dropped "Film" from its name.
Awards
U.S. Narrative Competition
Best U.S. Narrative Feature
2023 - Cypher directed by Chris Moukarbel
2022 - Good Girl Jane written and directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz
2021 – The Novice, written and directed by Lauren Hadaway
2020 – The Half of It, directed by Alice Wu
2019 – Burning Cane, written and directed by Phillip Youmans
2018 – Diane, written and directed by Kent Jones
2017 – Keep the Change, written and directed by Rachel Israel
2016 – Dean, directed by Demetri Martin
Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film
2021 – Matthew Leone in God's Waiting Room
2020 – Steve Zahn in Cowboys
2019 – Wendell Pierce in Burning Cane
2018 – Jeffrey Wright in O.G
2017 – Alessandro Nivola in One Percent More Humid
2016 – Dominic Rains in Burn Country
Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film
2022 - Rain Spencer in Good Girl Jane
2021 – Isabelle Furman in The Novice
2020 – Assol Abdulina in Materna
2019 – Haley Bennett in Swallow
2018 – Alia Shawkat in Duck Butter
2017 – Nadia Alexander in Blame
2016 – Mackenzie Davis in Always Shine
Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film
2022 - Azuli Anderson for Next Exit
2021 – Todd Martin for The Novice
2020 – Greta Zozula, Chananun Chotrungroj and Kelly Jeffrey for Materna
2019 – Phillip Youmans for Burning Cane
2018 – Wyatt Garfield for Diane
2017 – Chris Teague for Love After Love
2016 – Michael Ragen for Kicks
Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film
2022 - Allswell written by Elizabeth Rodriguez
2021 – Mark, Mary, and Some Other People, written by Hannah Marks
2020 – Cowboys, written by Anna Kerrigan
2019 – Blow the Man Down, written by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy
2018 – Diane, written by Kent Jones
2017 – Abundant Acreage Available, written by Angus MacLachlan
2016 – Women Who Kill, written by Ingrid Jungermann
World Narrative Competition
Best Narrative Feature
2022 - January directed by Viestur Kairish
2021 – Brighton 4th, directed by Levan Koguashvili
2020 – The Hater, directed by Jan Komasa
2019 – Scheme Birds, directed by Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin
2017 – Son of Sofia (O Gios tis Sofias) written and directed by Elina Psykou
2016 – Junction 48, directed by Udi Aloni
2015 – Virgin Mountain, directed by Dagur Kári
2014 – Zero Motivation, directed by Talya Lavie
2013 – The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt
2012 – War Witch, directed by Kim Nguyen
2011 – She Monkeys, directed by Lisa Aschan
2010 – When We Leave, directed by Feo Aladag
2009 – About Elly, directed by Asghar Farhadi
2008 – Let the Right One In, directed by Tomas Alfredson
2007 – My Father My Lord, directed by David Volach
2006 – Iluminados por el fuego, directed by Tristán Bauer
2005 – Stolen Life, directed by Li Shaohong
2004 – Green Hat, directed by Liu Fendou
2003 – Blind Shaft, directed by Li Yang
2002 – Roger Dodger, directed by Dylan Kidd
Best New Narrative Filmmaker
2022 - Michelle Garza Cervera for Huesera
2021 – Nana Mensah for Queen of Glory
2020 – Gaspar Antillo for Nobody Knows I'm Here
2019 – Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin for Scheme Birds
2017 – Rachel Israel, director of Keep the Change
2015 – Zachary Treitz for Men Go to Battle
2014 – Josef Wladyka for Manos Sucias
2013 – Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais for Whitewash
2012 – Lucy Mulloy, Una Noche
2011 – Park Jung-bum for The Journals of Musan
2010 – Kim Chapiron for Dog Pound
2009 – Rune Denstad Langlo for North
2008 – Huseyin Karabey for My Marlon and Brando
2007 – Enrique Begne for Two Embraces
2006 – Marwan Hamed for The Yacoubian Building
2005 – Alicia Scherson for Play
2004 – Liu Fendou for Green Hat
2003 – Valeria Bruni Tedeschi for It's Easier for a Camel...
2002 – Eric Eason for Manito
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film
2021 – Levan Tediashvili in Brighton 4th
2020 – Noé Hernández in Kokoloko
2018 - Rasmus Bruun in Sankt Bernhard Syndikatet
2017 – Guillermo Pfening in Nobody's Watching (Nadie Nos Mira)
2015 – Gunnar Jónsson for Virgin Mountain
2014 – Paul Schneider for Goodbye to All That
2013 – Sitthiphon Disamoe, The Rocket
2012 – Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nuñez Florian, Una Noche
2011 – Ramadhan "Shami" Bizimana in Grey Matter
2010 – Eric Elmosnino in Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)
2009 – Ciarán Hinds in The Eclipse
2008 – Thomas Turgoose and Piotr Jagiello for their roles in Somers Town
2007 – Lofti Ebdelli in Making Of. (Akher film)
2006 – Jürgen Vogel in Der Freie Wille
2005 – Cees Geel in Simon
2004 – Ian Hart in Blind Flight
2003 – Igor Bareš in Výlet and Ohad Knoller in Yossi & Jagger
Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film
2022 - Dorota Pomykala for Woman on a Roof
2021 – Bassant Ahmed & Basmala Elghaiesh in Souad
2020 – Shira Haas in Asia
2019 – Park Ji-hu in House of Hummingbird
2017 – Marie Leuenberger in The Divine Order (Die göttliche Ordnung)
2016 – Radhika Apte in Madly (Section : Clean Shaven)
2015 – Hannah Murray in Bridgend
2014 – Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in Human Capital
2013 – Veerle Baetens in The Broken Circle Breakdown
2012 – Rachel Mwanza in War Witch
2011 – Carice van Houten in Black Butterflies
2010 – Sibel Kekilli in When We Leave
2009 – Zoe Kazan in The Exploding Girl
2008 – Eileen Walsh in Eden
2007 – Marina Hands in Lady Chatterley
2006 – Eva Holubová in Holiday Makers
2005 – Felicity Huffman in Transamerica
2004 – Fernanda Montenegro in O Outro Lado da Rua
2003 – Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in It's Easier for a Camel...
Best Cinematography
2022 - We Might As Well Be Dead
2021 – Elisabeth Vogler for Roaring 20's
2020 – Daniella Nowitz for Asia
2017 – Elvira Lind for Bobbi Jene
2015 – Magnus Jønck for Bridgend
2014 – Damian García for Gueros
2013 – Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen for Before Snowfall
2012 – Trevor Forrest and Shlomo Godder for Una Noche
2011 – Lisa Tillinger for Artificial Paradises
Best Screenplay
2022 - The Visitor written by Martín Boulocq
2021 – Brighton 4th, written by Boris Frumin
2020 – Tryst with Destiny, written by Prashant Nair
2017 – Ice Mother (Bába z ledu) written by Bohdan Sláma
2015 – Dagur Kári for Virgin Mountain
2014 – Guillaume Nicloux for The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq
2013 – Carl Joos and Felix Van Groeningen for The Broken Circle Breakdown
2012 – Daniel Burman and Sergio Dubcovsky for La suerte en tus manos
2011 – Jannicke Systad Jacobsen for Turn Me On, Dammit!
Best Narrative Editing
2015 – Oliver Bugge Coutté for Bridgend
2014 – Keith Miller for Five Star
Best Documentary Feature
2022 - The Cave of Adullam directed by Laura Checkoway
2020 – Socks on Fire, directed by Bo McGuire
2017 – Bobbi Jene, directed by Elvira Lind
2015 – Democrats, directed by Camilla Nielsson
2014 – Point and Shoot, directed by Marshall Curry
2013 – The Kill Team, directed by Dan Krauss
2012 – The World Before Her, directed by Nisha Pahuja
2011 – Bombay Beach, directed by Alma Har'el
2010 – Monica & David, directed by Alexandra Codina
2009 – Racing Dreams, directed by Marshall Curry
2008 – Pray the Devil Back to Hell, directed by Gini Reticker
2007 – Taxi to the Dark Side, directed by Alex Gibney
2006 – The War Tapes, directed by Deborah Scranton
2005 – El Perro Negro: Stories from the Spanish Civil War, directed by Péter Forgács
2004 – Kill Your Idols, directed by Scott Crary
2003 – A Normal Life, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Hugo Berkeley
2002 – Chiefs, directed by Daniel Junge
Best New Documentary Filmmaker
2022 - Edward Buckles Jr. for Katrina Babies
2020 – Jessica Earnshaw for Jacinta
2017 – Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra for A Suitable Girl
2016 – David Feige for Untouchable
2015 – Ewan McNicol and Anna Sandilands for Uncertain
2014 – Alan Hicks for Keep On Keepin' On
2013 – Sean Dunne for Oxyana
2011 – Pablo Croce for Like Water
2010 – Clio Barnard for The Arbor
2009 – Ian Olds for Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi
2008 – Carlos Carcass for Old Man Bebo
2007 – Vardan Hovhannisyan for A Story of People in War and Peace
2006 – Pelin Esmer for The Play
2005 – Jeff Zimbalist and Matt Mochary for Favela Rising
2004 – Paulo Sacramento for The Prisoner of the Iron Bars: Self-Portraits
Best Cinematography in a Documentary
2022 – Boris Levy for The Wild One
Best Documentary Editing
2020 – Amy Foete for Father, Soldier, Son
2017 – Adam Nielson for Bobbi Jene
Best Narrative Short
2020 – No More Wings, directed by Abraham Adeyemi
2017 – Retouch, directed by Kaveh Mazaheri
2015 – Listen, directed by Hamy Ramezan and Rungano Nyoni
2014 – The Phone Call, directed by Mat Kirkby
2013 – The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars, directed by Edoardo Ponti
2010 – Father Christmas Doesn't Come Here, written by Bongi Ndaba, Sibongile Nkosana directed by Bekhi Sibiya
2009 – The North Road, directed by Carlos Chahine
2008 – New Boy, directed by Steph Green
2007 – The Last Dog in Rwanda, directed by Jens Assur
2006 – The Shovel, directed by Nick Childs
2005 – Cashback, directed by Sean Ellis
2004 – Shock Act, directed by Seth Grossman
2002 – Bamboleho, directed by Luis Prieto
Best Documentary Short
2022 – Heart Valley, directed by Christian Cargill
2021 – Coded, directed by Ryan White
2020 – My Father The Mover, directed by Julia Jansch
2017 – The Good Fight, directed by Ben Holman
2015 – Body Team 12, directed by David Darg
2014 – One Year Lease, directed by Brian Bolster
2013 – Coach, directed by Bess Kargman
2010 – White Lines and the Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug, directed by Travis Senger
2009 – Home, directed by Mathew Faust
2008 – Mandatory Service, directed by Jessica Habie
2007 – A Son's Sacrifice, directed by Yoni Brook
2006 – Native New Yorker, directed by Steve Bilich
2005 – The Life of Kevin Carter, directed by Dan Krauss
2004 – Sister Rose's Passion, directed by Oren Jacoby
2003 – Milton Rogovin: The Forgotten Ones, directed by Harvey Wang
2002 – All Water Has a Perfect Memory, directed by Natalia Almada
Student Visionary Award
2021 – Six Nights, directed by Robert Brogden
2020 – Cru-Raw, directed by David Oesch
2017 – Fry Day, directed by Laura Moss
2015 – Catwalk, directed by Ninja Thyberg
2014 – Nesma's Bird, directed by Najwan Ali and Medoo Ali
2013 – Life Doesn't Frighten Me, directed by Stephen Dunn
2010 – some boys don't leave, directed by Maggie Kiley
2009 – Small Change, directed by Anna McGrath
2008 – Elephant Garden, directed by Sasie Sealy
2007 – Good Luck Nedim, directed by Marko Santic and Someone Else's War, directed by Lee Wang
2006 – Dead End Job, directed by Samantha Davidson Green
2005 – Dance Mania Fantastic, directed by Sasie Sealy
2004 – 'Independent Lens' (American Made), directed by Sharat Raju
Nora Ephron Prize
2020 – Ruthy Pribar for Asia
2019 – Rania Attieh for Initials S.G.
2018 – Nia DaCosta, for Little Woods
2017 – Petra Volpe, writer/director of The Divine Order
2016 – Rachel Tunnard for Adult Life Skills
2015 – Laura Bispuri for Sworn Virgin
2014 – Talya Lavie for Zero Motivation
2013 – Meera Menon for Farah Goes Bang
Best Animated Short
2017 – Odd is an Egg (Odd er et egg) directed by Kristin Ulseth
Storyscapes Award
2017 — TREEHUGGER : WAWONA created by Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin and Robin McNicholas
Audience Awards
Narrative Award
2023 - The Perfect Find, directed by Numa Perrier
2021 – Catch the Fair One, written and directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka
2019 – Plus One, written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer
2018 – To Dust, directed by Shawn Snyder
2017 – The Divine Order, directed by Petra Volpe
2016 – Here Alone, directed by Rod Blackhurst
2015 – King Jack, directed by Felix Thompson
Documentary Award
2021 – Blind Ambition, directed by Warwick Ross and Robert Coe
2019 – Gay Chorus Deep South, directed by David Charles Rodrigues
2018 – United Skates, directed by Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown
2017 – Hondros, directed by Greg Campbell
2016 – The Return, directed by Kelly Duane and Katie Galloway
Audio Storytelling Awards
In 2022, Tribecca added an audio storytelling awards category.
Fiction Audio Storytelling Award
2023 – The Very Worst Thing That Could Possibly Happen by Alex Kemp
2022 – The Hollowed Out by Brit and Nick Kewin
Narrative Nonfiction Audio Storytelling Award
2023 – Free From Desire by Aline Laurent-Mayard
2022 – Mother Country Radicals by Zayd Ayers Dohrn
Independent Fiction Audio Storytelling Award
2023 – Aisha by Cory Choy and Feyiṣayo Aluko
Independent Nonfiction Audio Storytelling Award
2023 – Shalom, Amore by David Modigliani
Tribeca Games Award
The Tribeca Games Award honors an unreleased video game, recognizing "its potential for excellence in art and storytelling through design, artistic mastery and highly immersive worlds."
2023 - Goodbye Volcano High
2022 - Thirsty Suitors
2021 – Norco (inaugural award)
See also
Tribeca Film Institute
References
External links
Film festivals in New York City
Film festivals established in 2002
2002 establishments in New York City
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema
Impact of the September 11 attacks on cinema
Film Festival
Robert De Niro