Tribeca announces dates for 2020 festival, submission deadlines

The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, announced that its 19^th edition will take place April 15-26, 2020 in New York City. Since its inception in 2001, Tribeca has been a platform for new work from established filmmakers and discoveries from emerging voices, while exploring innovations in storytelling across film, TV, VR, online, music, gaming and more.

Submissions for the 2020 Festival will open on August 19 via Tribeca’s website or FilmFreeway for feature and short films; episodic and online storytelling; virtual and immersive; and branded entertainment. 

Under the purview of Cara Cusumano, newly named Festival Director, Tribeca will continue its tradition of curating a program that unites artists and diverse audiences to support great storytelling. 

Last year’s Festival featured a slate of feature films; acclaimed shorts programming; Tribeca N.O.W.  (New Online Work), a showcase of artists working in the online space; Tribeca Immersive; Tribeca Talks; and Tribeca TV with series world premieres including Emmy-nominated Chernobyl, breakout hit The Hot Zone, and more. Tribeca celebrated diverse voices with 40% of the feature films having one or more women directors, people of color directed 29% of the feature films and 13% of the feature films were from individuals who identify as LGBTQ+. The Festival hosted Tribeca Celebrates Pride, an event honoring the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots with a day of conversations. Tribeca X, which honors excellence in branded entertainment, expanded with program new categories and a day of conversations with innovators at the intersection of advertising and entertainment.

New this year, feature films selected for the Tribeca Film Festival program are eligible for the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards. As in previous years, recipients of Tribeca’s Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Animated Short awards will qualify for consideration in the Oscars’ Short Films category.

“We never fail to be surprised and inspired by the boundless creativity of independent storytellers,” said  Cara Cusumano, Festival Director and VP of Programming. “Discovering and showcasing their boundary-pushing work is truly what makes this Festival great, and we can’t wait to see what surprises are in store for us this year as 2020 submissions officially open.”

The Tribeca Film Festival is curated by Cusumano, Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer; VP of Filmmaker Relations and Shorts Sharon Badal; Senior Programmers Liza Domnitz (features, TV, and online work), Loren Hammonds (immersive and features); Lucy Mukerjee (features); Programmers Ben Thompson (shorts); Ingrid Kopp (immersive); Shayna Weingast (panels and programs); and program advisors Paula Weinstein and Tammie Rosen, along with a team of associate programmers.

Submissions open on August 19, 2019 for all sections of the Festival: feature and short films, TV, Immersive, N.O.W., and the Tribeca X Awards at www.tribecafilm.com/festival/submissions or via FilmFreeway at www.filmfreeway.com/TribecaFilmFestival. 

SUBMISSION DEADLINES FOR THE 2020 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: 

Feature and Short Films, Tribeca TV, Tribeca N.O.W. and Tribeca Immersive:
August 19, 2019 – Submissions Open
September 25, 2019 – Early Deadline
October 30, 2019 – Official Deadline
December 2, 2019 – Late Deadline

Tribeca X Award:
August 19, 2019 – Submissions Open
October 30, 2019 – Early Deadline
December 2, 2019 – Official Deadline
January 15, 2020 – Late Deadline

Submission rules, regulations, and complete information regarding eligibility for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival are now available at https://tribecafilm.com/festival/submissions. Questions regarding submissions may be directed to entries@tribecafilmfestival.org or by calling 212.941.2305.