2025 Tribeca Festival Announces Award Winners: Celebrating Global Independent Storytelling
The 2025 Tribeca Festival has proudly unveiled this year’s award winners, showcasing the best in independent filmmaking. The highly anticipated top honors went to Charliebird for Best U.S. Narrative Feature, Happy Birthday for Best International Narrative Feature, and Natchez for Best Documentary Feature.
Cara Cusumano, the festival’s director and Senior VP of Programming, expressed her excitement, stating, “Every year at Tribeca, we aim to highlight the most exciting new voices from around the globe. We are thrilled that our jury celebrated this mission with winners that truly reflect the vibrancy and diversity of today’s global independent storytelling.”
The 2025 Tribeca Festival continues through June 15, with a comprehensive list of award winners and special jury mentions available, including detailed jury statements for each project honored. Audience award winners, determined by filmgoers’ votes during the festival, will be announced soon.
U.S. Narrative Competition
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Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Charliebird, directed by Libby Ewing (United States) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "A deeply affecting portrait featuring grounded and complex performances, this film is an assured and well-crafted debut."
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Special Jury Mention for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Esta Isla (This Island), directed by Cristian Carretero and Lorraine Jones Molina (Puerto Rico) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "A compelling depiction of a place, this film is a lush and stunningly realized reckoning with class, love, and history."
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Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Gabriela Ochoa Perez for Charliebird (United States) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "This actor delivers a fresh performance that is at once ferocious and vulnerable, grounding a young woman’s painful journey in humanity and truth."
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Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Isabel Hagen for On a String (United States) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "A nimble, witty, and accomplished story chronicling the ups and downs of a young woman facing her reality."
- Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Cedric Cheung-Lau for Esta Isla (This Island) (Puerto Rico) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "Beautifully lensed, this film is full of unforgettable and evocative imagery, adeptly capturing intimate details and grand vistas."
International Narrative Competition
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Best International Narrative Feature: Happy Birthday, directed by Sarah Goher (Egypt) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "For its authentic and complex portrayal of class, motherhood, and loss of innocence, along with outstanding performances and brilliant nuanced writing."
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Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature: Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn for Dragonfly (United Kingdom) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "Their daring and electrifying performances filled the audience with empathy and dread."
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Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature: Mohamed Diab and Sarah Goher for Happy Birthday (Egypt) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "For profound storytelling, compelling characters, and wonderfully crafted dialogue."
- Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature: Lev Predan Kowarski for Little Trouble Girls (Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Serbia) – North American Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "For its evocative tone and rich sensual texture that conjured the fragility of a singular summer."
Documentary Competition
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Best Documentary Feature: Natchez, directed by Suzannah Herbert (United States) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "This film confronts America’s complex history with compassion and honesty, exploring a southern town’s legacy with sharp craft and humor."
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Special Jury Mention for Documentary Feature: An Eye for an Eye, directed by Tanaz Eshaghian and Farzad Jafari (Denmark, Iran, United States) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "This unflinching film captures the urgency of women’s rights in a society that limits them, leaving the audience breathlessly invested."
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Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature: Chance Falkner and Johnny Friday for The Last Dive (United States) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "Immersed us in a natural world where the meeting between man and animal changes the course of preservation history."
- Best Editing in a Documentary Feature: Soren B. Ebbe and Hayedeh Safiyari for An Eye for an Eye (Denmark, Iran, United States) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "A narrative precision that locked us inside a moral crucible, weaving a deeply personal story with emotional impact."
Additional Awards and Highlights
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Viewpoints Award: A Bright Future, directed by Lucia Garibaldi (Uruguay, Argentina, Germany) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "This film presents an original, thought-provoking narrative that resonates with contemporary themes."
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Best New Narrative Director Award: Lorraine Jones Molina and Cristian Carretero for Esta Isla (This Island) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "For its balance of poetic imagery and cinematic tension, exploring the survival crisis of a young man in a paradise turned prison."
- Nora Ephron Award: Sara Goher for Happy Birthday (Egypt) – World Premiere.
- Jury Statement: "An exploration of innocence and class, resonating on a larger canvas through the eyes of a longing child."
The 2025 Tribeca Festival has once again proven its commitment to fostering diverse voices and innovative storytelling in the world of cinema. Stay tuned for more updates and the announcement of audience award winners as the festival continues.
