What's the Tribeca Film Festival?

Every year I'm in New York I seem to hear about the Tribeca Film Festival. For a long time I just assumed that this was some event that was only interesting to film makers or film critics and not ordinary movie watchers like myself. I heard about it again early this year and decided to challenge that assumption by doing a bit of research into what it is and then taking part in it. Who knows? It could be fun.

My first stop was the website. It looks great but it didn't seem like it was designed with the "uninitiated" in mind. There wasn't even a button to some "about" page. So I looked at Wikipedia. 

"To enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film by redefining the film festival experience."

I had to really unpack that.

A festival is an organized series of events over some period of time to celebrate something. I learned that a film festival is a festival where the series of events are film screenings in multiple theaters and its celebration are the many aspects of film making and film watching. 

There are many different film festivals that take place all over the world (Sundance Film Festival, Venice Film Festival). Aside from the obvious difference of where these screenings take place and over what period of time, they can also differ based on the kinds of films they choose to screen. In some festivals, there may be a special focus on a particular genre or film maker. 

The films that are screened are independent films. That means these films are all produced outside of the major studio system. In other words, they are not created by the companies that create blockbuster movies like Spiderman or big name directors like Steven Spielberg. It's likely you've never heard of these films or film makers before if you're not part of the film making community.

The Tribeca Film Festival is held in Tribeca, NYC and the focus, like any other film festival, is on independent films (documentaries, fiction films, and short films). There is no particular film theme. In addition to the film screenings, the festival also puts on panel discussions with well known actors and actresses (this upcoming one features a panel discussion with Ethan Hawke), live music and comedy performances, interactive activities, and even major studio premieres (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones).

Questions about the upcoming TFF

When is it?

This year, the TFF runs from April 13-24.

How do you participate? 

The TFF is run as a business by a company called Tribeca Enterprises. None of these events are free. You have to get tickets for them. You can get two types of tickets: a festival pass or individual tickets. A festival pass costs between $550 - $1250. The $1250 pass pretty much gives you access to everything. Your other option is to buy individual tickets. That's a much better option if you only want to buy tickets to a few events. For example, maybe you only want to see one panel discussion and two films. That will probably be less than $100. 

Where do the events take place?

The films are all shown in select theatres in the Tribeca area. You can see the specific location on the actual event page. You can get more information here.

My Plans

I plan on checking out 2-3 events at this years festival with my girlfriend this year. I'll probably look at one or two films and maybe a couple of non-film watching activities. The festival officially begins tomorrow so I better start looking! I hope the tickets don't get sold out.