The skies are clear in June as the Tribeca Festival brings together independent filmmakers from around the world with a wide program of features and shorts, music, games, television, audio storytelling, and a big new addition this year: De Niro Con, a tribute to the prolific actor and co-founder of Tribeca.
The festival was postponed from April to June in part because of the weather, but that’s not a given – last year’s edition began in a city blanketed in acrid smoke from the Canadian wildfires, with Mayor Eric Adams presenting De Niro with the key to the city at a press conference and Tribeca opening De Niro Con. The final four days of the festival will feature fan events and film screenings with a star-studded cast of Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Billy Crystal, Ben Stiller, David O. Russell, Christopher Walken and more.
In further retrospectives and reunions, Steven Spielberg will show and discuss his 1974 feature film debut. The Sugarland Expressand David Chase with the cast of The Sopranos on the 25th.th Anniversary.
The opening of the festival tonight is a documentary Diane von Furstenberg: The woman in power This is followed by ten days of 108 feature films from over 50 countries, many of them international. The 86 world premieres include Sacramento, Griffin in summer, An error, The superficial story of a writer who decided to write about a serial killer, Wasp, Jazzy And Lake George. Brats, LIZA: A really great, absolutely true storyAnd Group therapy are new documentaries. You can find the festival program here.
The winners will be announced on June 13th and the program runs until June 16th.
Organizers received more than 13,000 submissions, a record for the festival known for supporting new indie directors.
The programmers, led by Cara Cusumano, “have worked tirelessly to find these independent voices, these diverse voices and films from around the world,” says Jane Rosenthal, CEO of Tribeca Enterprises, the festival’s parent company.
Tribeca has always been an unusual festival, catering to both audiences and the industry with a wide range of independent features, documentaries and shorts. But there is no market, and films that don’t go into distribution can struggle to find one. Distribution is very difficult overall right now, “but the festival is doing what it can,” Rosenthal tells Deadline.
“Our communications team works really hard with the filmmakers, their reps, their PR people, their sales agents to make sure their films get screened. Sometimes they get screened before the festival to make sure they’re accessible at all times. We’re not the biggest sales festival, there aren’t as many as Sundance, and there used to be even more because the business has changed. So sometimes we get a film that doesn’t get picked up until several months later. You know, the business has changed. But we try to make everything as easy as possible because we want to support them.”
Festivals are playing an increasingly important role in getting projects noticed, and filmmakers are thrilled to get a slot. But some representatives worry that with June’s Tribeca festival coming so soon after the Cannes tsunami, small projects that need the most attention may have a harder time breaking through.
Personally, most people agree that June in New York City is great.
“I was there a few days ago and the weather was exceptionally beautiful. I think [June] “It’s the right time for the festival,” says producer Stephen Braun, who is taking part with two films this year. Sacramento by Michael Anganaro, his film debut, starring Kristen Stewart and Michael Cera and one of the most sensational titles of the festival. McVeigh by Mike Ott, Alfie Allen plays the perpetrator of the deadliest act of US domestic terrorism.
The festival, which was born in Lower Manhattan after 9/11, has an activist heart. That’s reflected in its programming and, especially this year, an election year, in co-founder Robert De Niro, who is a vigorous supporter of Joe Biden. On the morning of the Tribeca press conference, he traded barbs with Donald Trump supporters at a Biden campaign rally outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, where the former president was on trial (and eventually convicted) of falsifying financial statements to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Films dealing with hate and destructive geopolitics include America is burning, Hack hate, Antidote And The call of the cranes.
Tribeca’s TV appearances include Jake Gyllenhaal’s From presumption of the innocent and premieres of the new season of My brilliant friend And The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
Music is and was an important part of the festival. This year’s documentaries include They all came to Montreux with Prince, Sting, Carlos Santana, Aretha Franklin and Keith Richards; Satisfiedabout Renée Elise Goldsberry; Linda Perry: Let it die here with Linda Perry, Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile and Christina Aguilera. Goldsberry and Perry will perform.
Rosenthal said audience interest in the festival’s growing gaming showcase has been steadily growing. “We’ve always been a public festival. Where does our audience go?” Yes, they go to the movies, she said. But over the course of the festival’s 23 years, moviegoing behavior has changed. Game developers, like film directors, can spend years working on projects, she notes. The festival also has a VR element.
“We try to bring together creatives from all different platforms… That’s our curiosity as individuals and as a festival.”
Diane von Furstenberg: Woman In Charge, opens the Tribeca Festival tonight.