Established in 2002, this is a Spring festival in Lower Manhattan. News, general information, event guide and online ticket sales
www.tribecafilm.com/festival
Check out the exclusive
ticketing tips! Whether it's online, on the phone, or at the box
office, you'll have tickets for the hottest screenings. Get your
wallets ready: single tickets start selling on April 14.
Read More
Want the latest in
Festival news, ticket availability, celebrity sightings, and more?
Click here to learn how to get Tribeca on-the-go, whether it's via your
RSS feed, Twitter, Facebook, cell phone, or this week's issue of Time Out New York!
Read the Post
Your Monday briefing of '09 Festival films making waves on the Internet. In this round: The Exploding Girl, The Burning Season, Seven Minutes in Heaven, The Girlfriend Experience,The Eclipse, and Outrage. Plus: New York Magazine's favorite Festival films!
Read the Post
The Tribecca started with a simple goal: to bring a little life back to
the streets of Tribecca a fashionable part of Manhattan, New York. That
seemed easier said than done in late 2001, when co-founders Robert De
Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff agreed to put their
long-percolating Tribecca Film Festival idea into action. Not only had
the tragedy of September 11 cast a shadow over the payment, but the
resulting relocation of businesses and their employees formt he area,
as well as residents who's lost their homes int he neighborhood, meant dark days for local merchants. Restaurants and shops were closing their doors daily.
"At the time, the world didn't need another film festival, but Tribeca
did - we needed to get people downtown," says Rosenthal, who cites the
showcasing of films as an almost secondary desires in those early days.
"It was about bringing the community back outside, back together."
"Businesses were suffereing, the neiborhood was suffering. What we were thinking about was, we must help."
John Hayes, American Express Chief Marketing Officer
In the heart of that community
was American Express and its employees, some 4,000 of whom had been
forced to leave their downtown offices after the attacks and were now working in auxiliary spaces around the tri-state area.
" Busineses were suffering, the neighborhood was suffering. What we
were thinking about was. we must held," recalls John Hayes, Amex's
Chief Marketing Officer. The compnay had already announced that it
would move its headquarters back to lower Manhattan, "Jane, Bob and
Craig really wanted to bring the energy back, the community back. We
shared their vision, Hayes says. " We knew that the festival had the
potential to be extremely powerful. Our goals were to drive business to
merchants who were hurting, give platforms for filmmakers to tell their
stories broadly, and create amazing experiences for our Cardmembers who
are passionate about film.
As it turned out, a lot of others brought into the visions, too.
Attendees on the inaugral fest's opening day included former President
Bill Clinnton and former South African president Nelson Mandela, in
addition to film world luminaries, , such as Marin Scorsese and Francis
Ford Coppola. As projectors rolled, it seemed the whole world was on
its way downtown, including filmmakers, actors and politicos from
around the globe, and perhaps most importantly, those 4,000 American
Express employees and scores of New Yorkers from around the city.
Actor Hugh Grant, star of the De Niro/Rosenthal-produced About a
Boy, which premiered at the Festival, predicted it is his own charming
way at the opening dat press conference, saying that TFF'02 would be a
"shot of vitamin B-12 in the buttocks" of Manhattan. He was right: That
first year, TFF infised $10.5 million into the borough's economically
stilted lower reaches. Since its launch, the Tribeca Film Festival has
grown exponentially, and has screened more than 1,100 films from at
least 80 countries and attracted more than 2 million attendees, all
while generating more than $530 million in economic activity for the
city of New York.
American Express, the fest's first sponsor, has been a part of the
expansion year after year and is focused on supporting filmmaking while
providing special experiences for Cardmembers, including advance
ticketsales, film talks and special screenings, and connecting
filmgoers with local restauranteurs and shopkeepers through Cardmember
offers. (Other TFF sponsors include the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation,
AMCtv, Apple, Bloomberg, Brookfield Properties, Borough of Manhattan
Community College, Delta Airlines, DIRCTTV, Heineken, iShares, NBC 4
New York, RR Donnelly, Snapple, The New York Times, Telemundo 47 and
Vanity Fair). Also helping to drive business downtown are the numerous
free and family-friendly events like the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film
Festival and the Tribeca Drive-In.
"We're happy when this time of year comes around", says Drew
Nieporent, owner of local favorites like Nobu and the Tribeca Grill.
"What they have built here is just totally positive, good-feeling
event."
Contribitions from neighbors and friends have been paramount to the
festival's tone and success. Contemporary artist Stephen Hancock has
donated a painting every year since the festival's inception. The
works, presented to award winning filmmakers, are the Tribeca
equivalent of shiny statuettes, and in many people's opinions are more
meaningful than the coverted cash prizes. " I 've heard from many film
makers a year or more after winning their prize, " Hancock says. " They
realize that an actual community has recognised their efforts, thanking
them for participating and making their art."
And then there is the life-changing award of being seen,which the
festival excels at offereing to participants. " We got our first paid
job as a result of the exposure at Tribeca," says John Dowdle, who with
his brother Drew premiered their feature The Ploughkeepsie Tapes, as
upstate New York-based "faux doc" about a serial killer. at TFF'07. The
flick was purchased by MGM two weeks later and before the L.A. 0 based
team headed home from the festival, they'd been approached to write
2008's Quarantine, which John also directer. The brothers return in
2009 with Transcendent Man, a documentary they produced about Ray
Kurzwell, inventor and the bestselling author of The Singularity is
Near: When Humans Transend Biology.
Given the economic horizon this year, the festival may bear fewer
such deals than they have in the past. "the world had changed,"
Rosenthal says, "There are fewer distribution companies, and it will be
harder to have that frenzy."
Of course, inside the theater, sitting shoulder to-shoulder with
fellow filmlovers, the realities outside are easier to forget. "We like
to think we're doing our part to install confidence, hope and
inspiration in individuals, especially in these tough times, "
Rosenthal says.
Movies, take us away!
Mr Wijat's friend Magic Rabbit 
STUNTMAN: Jon Templeton will act as Hugh Jackman's stunt double in the film Australia. Picture: MEGAN RAYLE
Tourists witness man perish in UK cliff accident
View footage of the 2009 North Pole Marathon
Kangaroo cull plan causes outrage in Australia
Owen set for solo career after Take That success
Report: 6 shot, many held hostage in N.Y.
Conficker worm quietly evolving, still a threat
Junior college beats pro baseball squad
CDC finds rocket fuel chemical in baby formula
Joe of Jonas Brothers in new photo scandal
Free London events to mark St George's Day
Files show MoD briefed govt over UFO sighting
Jade Goody dies after battle with cancer
Star in 'critical condition' after skiing accident
Details emerge in players' boating accident
Obama calls on Steelers owner Dan Rooney
New details of AIG spark more outrage
Huge python swallows pet dog in back garden
Use our Mother's Day gift finder to treat your mum
Britain's sunny spring weather set to stay
Fruit bat found hiding on Space Shuttle Discovery
Madonna moves Luz in to New York pad
Tent premiere for Postlethwaite film
Human remains found in Australian croc swamp
New Bin Laden tape talks of Gaza 'holocaust'
Madonna's new man moves into her NY home
Hunt on for 'monster croc' that decapitated girl
Hilarious advert for tomorrow's Red Nose Day
Man in hospital after Niagara Falls jump
See five of the best futuristic car technologies
Watch clips from Jade Goody's wedding video
Michael Jackson extends concerts into 2010
Police investigate Jose Mourinho fan 'attack'
Man who threw shoes at George Bush is jailed
Contestant who's 'never been kissed' stuns Web
Ellen loses No. 1 spot in magazine power list
Passenger lands plane after pilot dies in flight
Rare 'four-out play' rule in MLB game
Futuristic movies that got it really wrong
Mel Gibson's wife files for divorce
Legendary announcer dies before game
Unruly fan's 'dumb' move during Masters
H.S. football game from 1993 to be played again
Fun facts about the Obama girls' new puppy
Volcano threatens wildlife in Galapagos
Cat takes paper sack to whole new level of fun
Dancing crowd stunt takes Web by storm
