The 2023 Tribeca Film Festival recently concluded after showing 109 feature films, in addition to a variety of short film and television premieres. The festival was established in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, and Craig Hatkoff as a means of restoring spirit to the Tribeca neighborhood in New York City in the wake of the September 11 attacks a year previously. Now in its 22nd year, the film festival consistently sees attendance in the range of 150,000 audience members.
The winner of the 2023 Founder’s Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature at Tribeca was the film Cypher, a fictional pseudo-documentary about real-life rap artist Tierra Whack. Written and directed by Chris Moukarbel, this dark comedy examines the conspiracy theories concerning secret societies in the music industry. Another big winner was the family drama Smoking Tigers, written and directed by So Young Shelly Yo, who won the Best Screenplay Award. Actress Ji-Young Yoo also won Best Performance for Smoking Tigers in the lead role of Hayoung.
In the Best Cinematography category, Carolina Costa won for her work on The Graduates. Written and directed by Hannah Peterson, this drama considers the aftermath of a community recovering from a devastating school shooting, and stars Mina Sundwall, Alex R. Hibbert, Maria Dizzia, and John Cho. The Graduates is also executive produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao.
The U.S. Narrative Feature Special Jury Mention was granted to director Monica Sorelle for Mountains. This film comments on the dynamics of generational differences within families and the negative cultural effects of gentrification. These issues are examined through the lens of the experiences of a family of Haitian immigrants in Miami, Florida.
Looking to the International Narrative Competition, the Brazilian film A Strange Path swept all four categories, including Best International Narrative Feature, Best Performance (Carlos Francisco), Best Screenplay (Guto Parente), and Best Cinematography (Linga Acácio). This mystery drama directed by Guto Parente tells the story of an experimental filmmaker named David who finds himself trying to reconnect with his father as the COVID-19 pandemic begins.
Finally, in the Documentary Competition, the Kenyan film Between the Rains won for Best Documentary Feature (Andrew H. Brown and Moses Thuranira) and Best Cinematography (Andrew H. Brown). Hailing from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, The Gullspång Miracle took home Best Editing (Mark Bukdahl and Orvar Anklew). And, the Documentary Competition Special Jury Mention was awarded to the Ukrainian film Rule of Two Walls (David Gutnik).
Jurors at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival included the likes of Zazie Beetz, Brendan Fraser, Stephanie Hsu, Adam Goldberg, Chance the Rapper, Noah Centineo, and a host of others. Dates for the 2024 festival have yet to be announced, but an official update will likely come in August.