Charliebird, Happy Birthday and Natchez took top honors in the U.S. Narrative, International Narrative and Documentary competitions, respectively at the 24th annual Tribeca Festival.
Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn shared the Performance Award for international narrative feature Dragonfly, leading a strong showing by women across the majority of categories at the ceremony held at Racket NYC today. Winners also highlighted first-time feature directors and a notable presence of Latin American cinema throughout the competition.
The festival wraps on June 15 in NYC.
“Every year at Tribeca we set out to spotlight the most exciting new voices from around the world,” said fest director and SVP of Programming Cara Cusumano. “We are thrilled our jury honored this mission with winners that brilliantly represent the vibrancy and diversity of global independent storytelling today.”
All winning films in the U.S. Narrative category are first-time directors, including Libby Ewing for Charliebird, Cristian Carretero and Lorraine Jones Molina for Esta Isla (This Island), who also won the Best New Narrative Director Award, and Isabel Hagen for On a String.
Other first-time filmmakers include The Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director honorees Augusto Zegarra for Runa Simi and Rowan Haber for We Are Pat, and Walter Thompson-Hernandez who took home the Viewpoints Award for Kites.
Debut filmmaker Sarah Goher earned three awards on behalf Happy Birthday, including Best International Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature and the Nora Ephron Award, which honors exceptional female filmmakers.
Latin American cinema saw winners in A Bright Future, Cuerpo Celeste, Runa Simi and Kites.
Audience Award winners will be announced at a later date.
Tribeca Festival 2025 Winners and Special Jury Mentions
U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION
Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Charliebird, director Libby Ewing (United States) – World Premiere. Al (Samantha Smart) works as a music therapist at a children’s hospital, taking things day by day and trying to make ends meet. Charlie (Gabriela Ochoa Perez) comes into her life as a patient, an ever immovable and unmotivated teenager. As their worlds collide following the revelation of a secret passion project, Al and the pessimistic young Charlie become a source of strength and love for each other whilst they chart a course through an unknown future.
Special Jury Mention for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Esta Isla (This Island), directors Cristian Carretero and Lorraine Jones Molina (Puerto Rico) – World Premiere.
Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Gabriela Ochoa Perez for Charliebird (United States) – World Premiere
Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Isabel Hagen for On a String (United States) – World Premiere.
INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION
Best International Narrative Feature: Happy Birthday, director Sarah Goher (Egypt) – World Premiere. Eight-year-old Toha works as a child maid for a wealthy Cairo family and forms a special bond with her employer’s daughter, Nelly. Having never celebrated her own birthday, Toha becomes determined to ensure Nelly has a perfect party, secretly hoping to experience the joy she’s never known. As Toha’s relationship with Nelly’s mother, Laila, begins to transcend typical employer-servant boundaries, deep-rooted social hierarchies are threatened, forcing the young girl to confront the harsh realities of class division in modern Egypt.
Special Jury Mention for International Narrative Feature: Cuerpo Celeste, director Nayra Ilic García (Chile, Italy) – World Premiere.
Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature: Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn for Dragonfly (United Kingdom) – World Premiere.
Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature: Mohamed Diab and Sarah Goher for Happy Birthday (Egypt) – World Premiere.
Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature: Lev Predan Kowarski for Little Trouble Girls (Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Serbia) – North American Premiere.
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Best Documentary Feature: Natchez, director Suzannah Herbert (United States) – World Premiere. At an antebellum home in Natchez, Mississippi, a group of older women convene as members of the local Garden Club. The charismatic mayor of Natchez, Dan Gibson, arrives and addresses the chatty and enthusiastic women: “I’m excited that Natchez is a new Natchez — one that appreciates and loves our city — all of it, even the bad, but it is our history. It is also a city that believes in coming together in love — and if we ever needed it in America, we need it today.” This proclamation sets off Herbert’s sharp exploration of the American South’s unreconciled history.
Special Jury Mention for Documentary Feature: An Eye for an Eye, directors Tanaz Eshaghian and Farzad Jafari (Denmark, Iran, United States) – World Premiere.
Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature: Chance Falkner and Johnny Friday for The Last Dive (United States) – World Premiere.
Special Jury Mention for Cinematography in a Documentary Feature: Noah Collier for Natchez (United States) – World Premiere. Jury statement: “For its idiosyncratic visual storytelling, masterfully timed and restrained camerawork, and photography as close, wide and open as the film’s curious heart.”
Best Editing in a Documentary Feature: Soren B. Ebbe and Hayedeh Safiyari for An Eye for an Eye (Denmark, Iran, United States) – World Premiere. “
Special Jury Mention for Editing in a Documentary Feature: Pablo Proenza for Natchez (United States) – World Premiere.
VIEWPOINTS AWARD A Bright Future, director Lucia Garibaldi (Uruguay, Argentina, Germany) – World Premiere.
Special Jury Mention for Viewpoints: Kites, director Walter Thompson-Hernandez (Brazil) – World Premiere.
BEST NEW NARRATIVE DIRECTOR AWARD Lorraine Jones Molina and Cristian Carretero for Esta Isla (This Island) – World Premiere.
ALBERT MAYSLES AWARD FOR BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR Augusto Zegarra for Runa Simi (Peru) – World Premiere.
Special Jury Mention for New Documentary Director: Rowan Haber for We Are Pat (United States) – World Premiere.
NORA EPHRON AWARD: Sara Goher for Happy Birthday (Egypt) – World Premiere.
SHORTS COMPETITION
Best Narrative Short: Beyond Silence, director Marnie Blok (Netherlands) – International Premiere.
Special Jury Mention for Narrative Short: Chasing the Party, director Jessie Komitor (United States) – World Premiere.
Best Documentary Short: I hope this email finds you well, director Asia Zughaiar (Palestine) – World Premiere.
Special Jury Mention for Documentary Short: Natasha, directors Mark Franchetti and Andrew Meier (Italy, Russia) – World Premiere.
Best Animated Short: Playing God, director Matteo Burani (Italy, France) – New York Premiere.
Special Jury Mention for Animated Short: Petra and the Sun, directors Malu Furche and Stefania Malacchini (Chile) – North American Premiere.
Best Music Video: Rock The Bells – LL COOL J, director Gregory Brunkalla (United Stated).
Student Visionary Award: Manya Glassman for How I Learned to Die (United States) – World Premiere.
Special Jury Mention for Student Visionary: Jiayi Li for āyí (United States) – World Premiere.
TRIBECA GAMES AWARD Cairn (France) – New York Premiere.
AT&T PRESENTS UNTOLD STORIES Liz Sargent for Take Me Home
TRIBECA X AWARD COMPETITION
Best Feature: Abnormal Beauty Company from The Ordinary, directed by Aref Mahabadi
Best Short: First Speech by Reporters without Borders, directed by Giordano Maestrelli
Best Commercial: Century of Cravings from Uber Eats, directed by Jim Jenkins
Best Episodic: A New York Minute from Mejuri, directed by Gia Coppola
Best Content Creator/Influencer: A Robot’s Guide to Happiness from Brilliant Labs, directed by Lucas Rizzotto
Best Games/Immersive: WICKED RP: The Official Experience on Roblox from Wicked & NBCU, creative directed by Ben Caro
Best Audio/Podcast: Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance from Electronic Arts, BioWare, directed by Matt Sav
Social Impact Award: Daniel Really Suits You from Human Rights Campaign, directed by Karimah Zakia Issa
Environmental Impact Award: A Vital Sun from Fordham University, directed by Alison Bartlett
