20 Years of Tribeca: A Timeline of Key Moments From the Festival

MAY 2002

The first festival, organized in just 120 days, with more than 150 films and a dozen panels. Nelson Mandela speaks at the opening ceremony.

MAY 2004

The fest broadcasts the final episode of Friends live at the Tribeca Drive-In Theater, overlooking the Hudson River.

MAY 2005 

Felicity Huffman takes home best actress in a narrative feature for Transamerica, on her road to winning a Golden Globe and landing an Oscar nom.

APRIL 2007 

Tribeca launches the inaugural Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, with an advisory board that includes Spike Lee (right) and Mark Cuban.

APRIL 2009 

A 24-year-old Damien Chazelle premieres his first film, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, out of competition.

MARCH 2011

L.A. Noire becomes the first video game to be featured at Tribeca. Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman also celebrate the 10th anniversary of A Beautiful Mind with a special screening.

APRIL 2012

Co-founder Robert De Niro and Judd Apatow discuss and fete Universal Pictures’ 100th anniversary.

APRIL 2013 

Thirty years after its release, a restored version of King of Comedy closes the festival with (from left) Martin Scorsese, Jerry Lewis and De Niro. Tribeca also launches the Nora Ephron Prize, recognizing a female writer or director with a distinctive voice. Meera Menon takes the inaugural award.

APRIL 2014

Howard and Lee Daniels stop in for director conversations; Kevin Spacey premieres NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage.

APRIL 2015 

Tribeca fetes 40 years of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with (from left) Michael Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam; a 25th anniversary screening of Goodfellas closes the fest, with Jon Stewart interviewing De Niro, Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino and co-writer Nicholas Pileggi.

APRIL 2016 

Scorsese, De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd and Paul Schrader take part in a 40-year commemorative screening of Taxi Driver. Tribeca also sets an official selection of the festival dedicated to TV programming.

NOVEMBER 2016 

Festival director Genna Terranova steps down.

APRIL 2017

The Godfather and its Part II close out the fest, with a talk among Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire and De Niro. Kathryn Bigelow debuts VR film The Protectors: Walk in the Ranger’s Shoes. Cara Cusumano is promoted to director of programming.

SEPTEMBER 2017

Tribeca launches the Tribeca TV festival, with premiere screenings and panels featuring Pamela Adlon, Kyra Sedgwick, Amy Sedaris and the cast of Will & Grace.

APRIL 2018 

Nia DaCosta, who would go on to helm Candyman and Captain Marvel 2, wins the Nora Ephron Prize for her debut, Little Woods. Tribeca also hosts a Time’s Up panel featuring (from left) Cynthia Erivo, Amber Tamblyn, Mira Sorvino and Lupita Nyong’o.

MAY 2019 

At 19, Phillip Youmans is the first Black director, as well as the youngest, to win the festival’s Founders Award, which he received for his 2019 directorial debut, Burning Cane. Coppola also debuts Apocalypse Now: Final Cut for the film’s 40th anniversary, and Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner reunite for the 35th anniversary of This Is Spinal Tap. The festival also unveils Tribeca Immersive, a showcase of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality experiences.

APRIL 2020

The fest postpones its in-person gathering amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, but hands out awards for the juried competition. Alice Wu and her coming-of-age tale The Half of It are big winners.

JULY 2020

Tribeca launches drive-ins across the country as theaters remain shuttered, with summer movie outposts in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Arlington, Texas.

JUNE 2021 

The festival, returning in person, becomes the first major fest to recognize podcasts, with world premieres of 12 from emerging creators. It will also feature video games as official selections for the first time. In the Heights (starring Anthony Ramos) will kick off opening night.

This story first appeared in the June 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.