15 Movies and Events We’re Lining Up for at Tribeca This Year

The Tribeca Festival is back in downtown Manhattan on June 3rd, celebrating its 25th year. Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff, the festival will run for a week and a half, showcasing a huge range of entertainment. This year’s event features 118 feature films – a record 103 of which will be shown for the very first time – plus short films, TV shows, parties, discussions, podcast recordings, and the Vulture Festival.

It’s a potentially overwhelming program, so here are a few films and events to prioritize.

Opening Night: Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World)

The Tribeca Film Festival used to kick off with highly anticipated new movies, but recently it’s found a successful pattern: a documentary featuring a well-known personality, followed by a live music performance. While those opening films haven’t always been standouts, this year’s choice is particularly promising. Musician Questlove directs a profile of Earth, Wind & Fire and its iconic leader, Maurice White. Questlove’s previous documentary, Summer of Soul, won an Oscar, and his latest, Sly Lives!, was equally impressive. Even better, the film will be followed by a live concert featuring both Earth, Wind & Fire and Questlove’s band, The Roots.

Act One

Ten years after her breakout film Always Shine, director Sophia Takal returns to the world of acting with a gripping and unsettling new story. The film follows Ella Beatty as a high school student who, after being excluded from the school play, seeks extra training at a local acting school led by the forceful Melanie (a captivating Ari Graynor). Takal, herself an actor, delivers a remarkably authentic portrayal of the acting process – the exercises, the jargon, and the intense environment. She expertly captures how a strict approach can feel enlightening to a young performer, but also how quickly it can turn into an emotionally damaging obsession with a charismatic teacher.

The Long Haul

At the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, the film Diane generated a lot of excitement and won several awards, giving veteran character actress Mary Kay Place a rare opportunity to lead a movie. A similar buzz is building around this quiet, character-driven drama from first-time filmmaker David Drake. It stars Margo Martindale, known for her memorable supporting roles, as CJ, a truck driver struggling to survive in a changing industry while also dealing with difficult memories from her past. The film slowly reveals CJ’s history – she doesn’t easily share it – but Martindale powerfully portrays a lifetime of sorrow, and Drake fills the movie with realistic and telling details.

Sara Bareilles: Good Grief

Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles recorded her new album, the follow-up to her Grammy-winning Amidst the Chaos, with her band over six days in Woodstock in March 2025. In an early video diary, she described the album as being centered around themes of grief, loss, and change, and the recording process feels incredibly raw and personal. While the subject matter might sound heavy, the album – titled Good Grief – is actually very comforting and intimate, like one of Bareilles’ best songs. The documentary about its creation, directed by Josh Alexander, feels similarly close and immersive, letting viewers simply observe and listen without a lot of narration. The film beautifully captures the subtle and often delicate process of making music, and it’s one of the best portrayals of that I’ve seen.

House of Criticism

The film centers around the cozy, lived-in apartment shared by acclaimed art figures Jerry Saltz and his wife, Roberta Smith, a longtime art critic for the New York Times. Director Alison Chernick shares how each of them became critics, but focuses more on their relationship – how they met, and how they’ve managed to live and work together for so long. They have a playful, teasing dynamic, and a particularly charming part of the film is how openly Jerry Saltz acknowledges Roberta Smith’s influence, inspiration, and even her greater talent (without seeming overly humble). You don’t need to know much about the New York art world to enjoy this film; at its heart, it’s a heartwarming story about a lasting love.

Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders

The Tribeca Film Festival is known for showcasing excellent documentaries about movies, and recent years have featured gems like Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, Enter the Clones of Bruce, and The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan. This new documentary, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz (known for I Am Divine), tells the story of the difficult making of Cruising, the 1980 Al Pacino thriller set in New York City’s gay leather bars, which sparked controversy. Schwarz speaks with activists, historians, and people who were part of the scene at the time, giving important background on how the film’s shooting in Greenwich Village became a key moment during a period of social and political change. The film also gives significant attention to Addison Verrill, a reporter and film critic for Variety, whose murder inspired the film’s writer and director, William Friedkin.

Hadestown: The Musical

I’m really getting into these “live capture” films – you know, where they film a stage show during a performance with the original cast, instead of re-shooting it like a movie. It used to be mostly for TV and home video, but things like the Merrily We Roll Along and Waitress releases have proven they can really make money in theaters. And Hadestown is the latest – it follows the same path as Waitress (even using the same distributor!). Honestly, it’s fantastic. They filmed it during a run in London with a lot of the original cast, and it feels less like a filmed play and more like being at a concert – the band is amazing, everyone’s dancing, and the audience is right there with them, singing and clapping. The performers are all so engaging, the staging is full of energy, and the camera work keeps things moving. Seriously, what more could you want from a live capture?

Playing POTUS

I honestly didn’t know a documentary about presidential parodies could be so interesting, but Josh Greenbaum’s film, Playing POTUS, really delivers. It’s not just a fluff piece – it actually dives pretty deep into the impact these impressions have had. Of course, Saturday Night Live gets a lot of attention, as you’d expect, but I was glad to see Greenbaum also highlight shows like Key & Peele and MAD TV, and even go way back to legends like Vaughn Meader and Rich Little. What really got me thinking was the discussion about whether these comedic performances actually change how people see the politicians they’re imitating – do they end up sticking to the real person’s image? Plus, it’s just fun to hear from the performers themselves – Will Ferrell, Dana Carvey, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, and Keegan-Michael Key all have hilarious and insightful interviews.

Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross found very different paths after their successful comedy partnership on Mr. Show. Cross became known as a solid character actor and a somewhat grumpy comedian, while Odenkirk surprised audiences with his dramatic roles and action-hero persona. This documentary, directed by Michael LaHaie (Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro), simply shows the two friends hiking to Machu Picchu over a week and having open, honest conversations about their lives, careers, and long-standing friendship.

Humpty Dumpty X

Tony Kaye’s film, American History X, was a remarkably impactful and forward-thinking drama, featuring a standout, Oscar-nominated performance by Edward Norton, and seemed to mark the arrival of a significant new director. However, reports at the time revealed Kaye had frequent disagreements with both Norton and the studio, even threatening to take his name off the finished film – and replace it with the pseudonym “Humpty Dumpty” – because he felt the final cut was compromised. Now, years later, Kaye is releasing a deeply personal and provocative documentary, compiling his original footage, records, and recollections of that tumultuous period.

“Storytellers”: Keke Palmer With Whoopi Goldberg

Some of the most talked-about moments at the Tribeca Festival often happen during its casual, one-on-one conversations – events like “Tribeca Talks” and “Storytellers.” This year’s lineup is especially interesting, with Seth Meyers interviewing Paul Rudd, Kaitlan Collins facing off with Sean Penn (expect a lively discussion!), Vulture’s Jesse David Fox hosting Jason Bateman on his podcast Good One, and Solange celebrating the tenth anniversary of A Seat at the Table with critic Craig Jenkins. The festival’s founders, Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro, will also discuss the festival’s history. However, the most anticipated conversation might be between two celebrities known for being refreshingly honest. Hopefully, it will give us at least one memorable quote, even just something as iconic as “I don’t want somebody in my house…”

The 2026 Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award

Five years ago, Paula Weinstein of Tribeca created the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award to celebrate artists who use their platform to champion equality, respect, and human rights. This year, Bruce Springsteen will receive the award. Known for his outspoken views, Springsteen has been especially vocal recently. Robert De Niro, Patti Smith, and Bono will honor him, with Bono leading a discussion with Springsteen about his music, his work as an activist, and how the two connect.

Taxi Driver With Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese

Having Robert De Niro as the face of the Tribeca Festival is a great benefit because his iconic films often have anniversaries. This leads to popular events where audiences can revisit classics like Raging Bull, GoodFellas, and Meet the Parents – and the festival has been running long enough that these films are being shown again. In 2016, the 40th anniversary of Taxi Driver brought De Niro, director Martin Scorsese, and co-stars Jodie Foster and Cybill Shepherd together for a large panel discussion. This year, the celebration will be more personal, featuring a pre-screening conversation between De Niro and Scorsese, led by W. Kamau Bell.

Bound: 30th Anniversary

It’s easy to understand why we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Taxi Driver, but it’s surprising to think it’s been over thirty years since the Wachowskis first impressed audiences with Bound. This visually creative and playfully sexy film stood out from the many Pulp Fictioninspired crime movies of the mid-90s. It not only landed the Wachowskis the opportunity to make The Matrix*, but it also remains the best showcase for the talents of Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, and Joe Pantoliano. All three actors, along with co-director Lilly Wachowski, will be at a post-screening discussion led by Julie Klausner.

Bridget Jones’s Diary With Renée Zellweger and Sharon Maguire

It’s been 25 years since Renée Zellweger surprised everyone with her charming and relatable portrayal of the delightfully chaotic Bridget Jones. (Roger Ebert famously started his review with, “Glory be, they didn’t muck it up!”) Zellweger went on to play the character three more times, and director Sharon Maguire returned for the third film, Bridget Jones’s Baby. Both Zellweger and Maguire will be at a special anniversary screening, followed by a discussion led by H. Alan Scott from Newsweek.

2026-05-27 19:56