Robert De Niro Explains How Tribeca Film Festival Began as an ‘Act of Defiance’ After 9/11 in New Doc “Tribeca 25” (Exclusive)
Robert De Niro Explains How Tribeca Film Festival Began as an ‘Act of Defiance’ After 9/11 in New Doc “Tribeca 25” (Exclusive)
Breanne L. HeldmanWed, August 26, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC
0
Jane Rosenthal, New York Governor George Pataki, Robert De Niro, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Nelson Mandela at the 2002 Opening Ceremony of the Tribeca Film FestivalCredit: KMazur/WireImage -
Tribeca 25 explores how Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal launched the Tribeca Film Festival to revitalize downtown New York after 9/11
In an exclusive clip, De Niro and Rosenthal reflect on some of the challenges that came with launching the festival in only 120 days
The documentary includes archival footage and interviews with stars like Martin Scorsese, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen
When the Tribeca Film Festival first launched in 2002, it wasn’t really about glitz and glamour and celebrities: It was about a neighborhood.
In Tribeca 25, a new documentary coming to Netflix, the event’s creators, Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, and others reflect on the event’s origins in the wake of 9/11.
“The festival was kind of an act of defiance. We had 120 days, 1,300 volunteers, no money, no blueprint, just an idea and a neighborhood that needed people back in it,” De Niro says in the exclusive first-look clip above. “This wasn’t just about movies; it was about whether downtown was coming back.”
The challenges leading up to their May 8, 2002, opening day were vast.
“Some of the toughest things were figuring out what movie theaters we could go into. We had to go in wearing hazmat suits,” Rosenthal shares in the clip.
“Nobody slept much,” adds De Niro. “You looked out the window, and [the site of the Twin Towers] was still smoking. That kept things in perspective.”
— sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Rosenthal gets emotional as she says, “Our city had been attacked. It felt like this is what you had to do. There was this mantra that we had whenever people would get upset about something or complain about something or whatever it was. We’d say, ‘Look left.’ That’s why we were doing it.”
The first year featured five days and 150 films chosen from more than 10,000 submissions — and it brought more than 150,000 people back into the neighborhood.
Advertisement
In the documentary’s trailer, De Niro reflects further on the festival’s original mission.
“Our goal was to celebrate the power of filmmaking, but, more importantly, to revitalize our neighborhood that was devastated on September 11th,” he says. “You couldn’t even comprehend the enormity of it. It was devastation downtown. It was dying.”
In addition to De Niro and Rosenthal, Tribeca 25 features never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with Martin Scorsese, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Whoopi Goldberg, Nas, Jon M. Chu, Nia DaCosta, Denis Leary and more.
“Tribeca 25 is a film about reinvention,” director Matt Tyrnauer said in a statement. “It traces how Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal’s grit and determination to bring people back downtown after 9/11 evolved into one of the most influential cultural festivals in the world. I wanted to make a film about a city and a moment. Through archival footage, interviews, and scenes from downtown, the film explores the relationship between art and civic life — how storytelling can help restore a sense of community after profound tragedy.”
Tyrnauer continues: “It is, in many ways, a love letter to New York and to the movies—to the belief that storytelling is one of humanity’s oldest and most powerful acts: a way of making meaning, building community, and imagining what comes next. Ultimately, it’s a story about resilience, creativity, and the enduring human need to gather, connect, and find meaning in moments of upheaval.”
Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal at the 2026 Tribeca FestivalCredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
“Tribeca began with a simple idea: bring people back downtown and let artists help us find a way forward,” Rosenthal said in a statement. “It grew into something we never could have imagined, but its heart hasn’t changed. We still need places where artists can take risks and people can come together, listen to one another, and see the world differently.”
Added De Niro: “I hope this film reminds people that we all have a voice, and that what we do with it matters.”
Tribeca 25 arrives on Netflix on Sept. 11.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
