Robert De Niro has spoken about putting together the Tribeca Film Festival.
Tribeca 25 is streaming on Netflix.
The festival was built in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack.
A new documentary about the history of the Tribeca Film Festival, Tribeca 25, is now out on Netflix. Robert De Niro talked about the origins of the Tribeca Film Festival alongside festival co-founder Rosenthal and Tribeca 25 director Matt Tyrnauer at the People Inc. headquarters in N.Y.C. on Thursday, Sept. 10, in an edition of People Talks. They were introducing the new documentary.
“We had talked about maybe doing a festival. It wasn’t really a serious conversation. We were sort of kicking it around,” De Niro told PEOPLE President Leah Wyar during the event. “And then when 9/11 happened, we wanted to revitalize the neighborhood, to say the least. And so we talked about actually doing it and we said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Just made the commitment.”
In May 2002, just eight months after the attacks, the very first Tribeca Film Festival kicked off, raking in big crowds and starry names, like Nelson Mandela.
“If we can produce a film, if we can prep a film in three months, you can prep a film festival. Why not?” Rosenthal spoke during the panel. “I mean, it was a producer’s mentality.”
The Purpose Of Tribeca Film Festival
“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 shares in the exclusive first-look clip of Tribeca 25. “This wasn’t just about movies; it was about whether downtown was coming back.”
“I mean, we felt we had to do something because I keep saying we weren’t firefighters or steel workers, so what could we do to help?” Rosenthal affirmed. “Put on the screening, put on a show and try to provide a new memory.”
The film traces a city's battered, resilient history through archival footage and interviews with De Niro, Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Whoopi Goldberg, Nas, Jon M. Chu, Nia DaCosta and Denis Leary.
