Discover all of the can’t-miss storytelling that’s featured in the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival’s US Narrative Competition, International Narrative Competition, World Documentary Competition, and Viewpoints lineups.
So, “The film industry needs more diversity,” you say? The 2016 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), our 15th edition and presented by AT&T, boasts a statistic that’s sure to delight: One-third of this year’s features are directed by women. Furthermore, 12 women directors and screenwriters are eligible for the Nora Ephron Prize, Tribeca’s award designated for women who embody the great filmmaker’s trailblazing spirit.
And that’s just the beginning of what’s shaping up to be Tribeca’s biggest year yet. Today brings the announcement of the Festival’s first wave of feature film—55 of the 101 total films that will bless New York City on April 13-24. These films all fall into the US Narrative, International Narrative, and Documentary Competition programs, as well as Viewpoints, where the most daring and exciting new talents from all around the world are showcased. And here some more noteworthy stats: This year’s overall program, selected from a pool of 6,626 submissions, includes features from 32 countries, with 77 World Premieres, eight International Premieres, six North American Premieres, four US Premieres, and five New York Premieres. A total of 130 directors will screen their films, 42 of which will do so with their feature directorial debuts; 18 of them are Tribeca alums returning to the Festival.
“In our 15th year we wanted to deepen our support of American narrative filmmakers and have opened our competition to separately showcase the US and International films,” said Genna Terranova, Festival Director. “We are very impressed by the films this year and inspired to see new voices transcending traditions and taking risks by telling their stories their own way. We are excited to share with audiences how the world of independent documentary and narrative filmmaking is thriving.”
The US Narrative Competition will open with Kicks, director Justin Tipping‘s debut set in California’s Bay Area, fueled by a vintage hip-hop soundtrack, and co-starring Christopher Jordan Wallace, a.k.a. the son of the Notorious B.I.G. On April 14, the World Documentary Competition will get underway with Contemporary Color, a vibrant and visually ornate doc chronicling Talking Heads’ front-man David Byrne‘s 2015 color guard event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, directed by siblings Bill Ross and Turner Ross and enhanced by musical performances from Nelly Furtado and St. Vincent. The 25-film-deep Viewpoints section will launch with the hilarious R-rated animated comedy Nerdland, featuring voice work from Paul Rudd, Patton Oswalt, Hannibal Buress, Mike Judge, and Molly Shannon. And lastly, the first-ever International Narrative Competition will kick off with Madly, an anthology of love stories helmed by Aussie-Polish actress turned director Mia Wasikowska, award-winning Mexican actor/director Gael García Bernal, Chilean indie darling Sebastián Silva, prolific Japanese genre master Sion Sono, Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, and British singer Natasha Khan, who’s better known by her stage name, Bat for Lashes.
