by Liz Wiest, Staff Writer

The 23rd edition of the Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, will kick off Wednesday, June 5 and continue through Sunday, June 16, 2024. This year’s lineup features the crème de la crème of film, games, and audio storytelling. In addition to the usual festivities, guests also have the opportunity to attend the first-ever De Niro Con, a presentation celebrating the 80th birthday of the festival’s most iconic founder.

A plethora of new immersive and live experiences have also been unveiled to cater to the demand of multiplatform content from audiences. While this is my second rodeo covering an NYC-based event for MovieJawn (the last being FLC’s 2023 “The Unspeakable Films of Tod Browning”), this is my first of this scale, and it is shaping up to be an artistic journey of epic proportions.   Narrowing down my picks from the smorgasbord of options proved far more challenging than I anticipated, though below are my carefully curated picks for what I anticipate being the stars of this year’s lineup: 

FEATURES

Mars
Directed by Sevan Najarian
Premieres June 6
Tickets here

Having just finished last year’s buzzworthy bestseller A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? I must admit I have been on a big space colonization kick. This debut animated feature from “The Whitest Kids U Know” (WKUK) follows a man who leaves his wife at the altar to cash in on winning billionaire Elron Branson’s (wonder who that could be?) contest to travel to the Red Planet. Though shocker, nothing goes as planned. The millennial-Gen Z cusp in me who grew up watching the WKUK evolve from lovable YouTube goofballs to heavy-hitting content creators is absolutely elated to see what Mars will bring to the table. Of course, following the tragic passing of the brilliant Trevor Moore, I’m anticipating this one with both cautious optimism and a heavy heart.

Sacramento
Directed by Michael Angarano
Premieres June 8
Tickets here

There are few genres that remain as evergreen in their appeal to me as the road trip buddy comedy, especially one with a cast this stacked. Sacramento is the directorial debut of indie darling Michael Angarano that follows a free-spirited man (played by Angarano) and his domesticated best pal (everyone’s favorite Michael Cera) as they embark on an impromptu trip from LA to Sacramento. “Dudes Rock” vibes aside, the beginning of this year packed a punch for the leading ladies Kristen Stewart with Love Lies Bleeding and Maya Erskine (Angarano’s real-life wife), who proved her chops dramatically taking over the would-be Phoebe Waller-Bridge led Mr. and Mrs. Smith for Amazon Prime alongside Donald Glover. With a group this dynamic and plot tried and true, I’m confident this one has the potential to easily achieve status as a classic indie gem. 

Daddio
Directed by Christy Hall
New York Premiere June 10
Tickets here

Knowing I had to add a drama to my roster, Daddio seemed like the obvious choice. The emotionally charged feature follows a Manhattan socialite-type (Dakota Johnson) and her cab driver (Sean Penn) as their small-talk en route to JFK Airport turns into a life-changing bond. Coming off the heels of Johnson’s meme-worthy Madame Web and Penn’s stark pivot further into the indie world, I’m curious about the originality of this seemingly artsier Driving Miss Daisy, but ultimately am putting my trust in the discretion of the headlining industry vets. 

Group Therapy
Directed by Neil Berkeley
Premieres June 6
Tickets here

Shifting out of the narrative space, Tribeca has selected strong contenders in the documentary category that I’m eager to watch. Group Therapy from filmmaker Neil Berkeley (Gilbert, 2017 Tribeca Selection) is the first Tribeca Selection from Hartbeat- Kevin Hart’s production company. Having been immersed in the NYC comedy scene upon my move here last year, I’m honored to have the opportunity to attend the world premiere of this feature where fan favorites Neil Patrick Harris, Mike Birbiglia, Nicole Byer, Gary Gulman, London Hughes, Tig Notaro and Atsuko Okatsuka break down barriers with their audience and candidly discuss their mental health struggles and relationships to their comedy careers. 

Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Directed by Bruce David Klein
Premieres June 12
Tickets here

As a theater kid hiding in a closet of glass, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to screen a Liza Minelli documentary. An icon to me and millions of others for decades, the daughter of Dorothy has never truly been granted the chance to have agency over own her body or story. Bruce David Klein’s documentary, complete with first-hand accounts and anecdotes is now stepping up to the mammoth task of rectifying this. 

PROGRAMS

Escape from Tribeca

As Nicole Kidman famously says in her AMC intro: “We come to this place for magic…to laugh…to cry…”. And few understand this better than the NYC film community. In the spirit of curating “pure escapism” this year’s “Escape from Tribeca” program features a diverse lineup of adrenaline-pumping shorts: Marcus Dunstan’s #AMFAD All My Friends Are Dead, Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Kill, Yannis Veslemes’s She Loved Blossoms More, Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express (this 50th Anniversary screening is being hosted by the legend himself) and Tod Browning’s The Unknown. The showcase is being kicked off by an epic Godzilla-themed dance party on June 7th to celebrate the 70-year reign of everyone’s favorite King of the Monsters at the Tribeca Music Lounge backed by Toho International. Given that these are a few of my favorite things, I’m thrilled to see what this “escape” has in store. 

Immersive

Tribeca unveiled their 2024 Immersive Programming will take place June 6-17, in conjunction with Mercer Labs and Co-Founder Roy Nachum at the newly opened Museum of Art and Technology in lower Manhattan. The festival is increasing their stride to meet the demands of more expansive experiences from audiences, which I speculate is unmistakably linked to the hot button topics of how AI, virtual reality and CGI will shape the future of filmmaking as we know it. That being said, the new avenues being presented are certainly inviting. 

Throughout the duration of the program, eight large-scale exhibitions from six esteemed digital artists- Memo Atken (Embodied Simulation), Wen-Yee Hseih (The Great Filter), ScanLAB Projects (FRAMERATE: Rhythms Around Us), Robertina Šebjanič (CO_SONIC 38,144 km²), Liam Young (The Great Endeavor) and Sutu (While We Wait)- will alternate within the museum venue to create three multi-platform presentations: Body in the World, Redesigning Tomorrow and Far From Nature. 

The overarching theme of the installation is said to critically examine our society’s present relationship to technology, the natural environment, and individual life experiences- and what we should expect to come living in an era of unprecedented advancements. As an immersive experience enthusiast, I will be attending the exhibition on June 9, and I am eager to see how these digital art prodigies translate their messages across multimedia and the five senses.

Tribeca Film Festival starts June 5 until June 16, tickets may be purchased here