The Second Time Around: New Festivals, Special Programs

Abstract

Speculation in the film world was running riot by the beginning of 2003: would the Tribeca Film Festival emerge for its second round? If so, what would happen? What would this festival look like? And how would the festival affect the myriad other film events in New York City? Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal had to be credited with pulling off the event the first time out, but would lightning strike twice? By February, it was announced that the festival would take place in May; when the full program was available, the results were staggering—over 200 films would be shown in an eight day period at the beginning of May! It was, in fact, one of the biggest film festivals ever to be held in New York City. Previously, the New York Film Festival had been the model for New York City film events. The New York Film Festival has existed for forty years as a self-admittedly “boutique” festival, a highly selective event showing an average of thirty films, representing the best of the best (according to the selection committee). But New York City had never had a massive international film festival, with a multitude of films screening simultaneously at several venues, the model of Berlin, Cannes, Venice. In North America, Montreal and Toronto have continued in that tradition; San Francisco has tried to develop into such an international festival. Could the Tribeca Film Festival pull off such an event?