Last week, Chelsea and Tribeca hosted the 15th Annual Tribeca Film Festival. If you didn’t know, the festival (founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2002) is an incredible week-long event that features over 200 films (features, documentaries, shorts) through multiple screenings. In addition to movie-watching, the festival hosts talks, panels, and interactive workshops for people to enjoy. It goes without saying that the festival is insanely cool; several events are attended by famous actors, directors, and Hollywood stars. Plus, a number of the featured films are made by students like us. (Just check the Instagram to see what goes down!) However, I must say, don’t let any big names mislead you: anyone can go to this festival. It’s so easy.
I attended for the first time this year. I purchased the “matinee pack,” which granted me six tickets for six screenings, a Tribeca bag with a free DVD from last year’s festival, and free access to student panels. I went to everything I could. I met a viner, a few actors, the entire cast of a documentary, and spoke to directors. I spent $45.
The matinee pack is pretty cool and cheap for college students. But my post-festival advice for anyone is: divide your money and put it towards multiple events. I was a bit limited and only got to see movies before 5:30pm. So if I were to do it again, I’d purchase one matinee ticket for Tribeca Shorts (it’s $10 and 6 films), one evening screening ticket (premieres are usually at night and it is so cool to be the first to watch, not to mention witness the red carpet action), and one Tribeca Tune In ticket (this year’s talks included Martin Scorcese, cast and crew of Six Feet Under, Broad City, among others). Note: all Tribeca screenings, day or night, will have a talk at the end — the director walks out with some of the actors and the whole audience gets to ask questions. But at a Tribeca Talk or Tune In, more actors will attend and it’s more of a formal interview setting — totally worth your money.
I hope I’ve helped you make your decision to attend a film festival in New York City, or anywhere, someday. Do it!