18/04/2025 - The US festival’s competition sections boast a diverse set of European works, with a particularly strong documentary turnout from the UK and Denmark

The 24th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival (4-15 June) will once again present an impressive showcase of European productions in nearly every strand, paying special attention to world premieres. Selected from a record number of over 13,500 submissions, the New York City festival will screen 118 features in full. This includes works from 36 countries and 94 world premieres, with 40% of the films directed by women and 36% directed by BIPOC helmers. The festival will close with the world premiere of the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced YANUNI (Austria/Brazil/USA/Canada/Germany) by Richard Ladkani, which follows an indigenous chief as she fights to defend her land.

Tribeca’s International Narrative Competition has the widest slew of European productions, including five world premieres. Cuerpo Celeste (Chile/Italy) by Nayra Ilic follows 15-year-old girl Celeste as she comes of age after the fall of Pinochet, while The Wolf, the Fox and the Leopard (Netherlands/Luxembourg/Ireland/Croatia/Taiwan) by David Verbeek tells of a feral girl taken in by wolves as a climate apocalypse looms. Connections are sought and tested in Dragonfly (UK) by Paul Andrew Williams, while A Second Life (France) by Laurent Slama brings an endearing and unexpected friendship to the fore. My Father’s Son (China/France) by Qiu Sheng combines science fiction, family drama and sports movie. The section also features the North American premieres of the Berlinale Competition entry Reflection in a Dead Diamond [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani
film profile] (Belgium/Luxembourg/Italy/France) by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani as well as the Berlinale Perspectives opener, Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

The Spotlight Narrative strand includes the international premiere of Tom Kingsley’s action-comedy Deep Cover (UK), starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom, as well as the world premiere of the Irish-Luxembourgish mystery-thriller Re-Creation by Jim Sheridan and David Merriman, starring Vicky Krieps and Sheridan. US-UK co-productions feature heavily in the Spotlight Documentary section, which will present the world premieres of Blue Scuti: Game Crasher (USA/France) – the story of 13-year-old Willis Gibson, the first person ever to beat the game of Tetris – and Culture Club (USA/UK), which tells the story of the eponymous band’s rise to fame. Others include the world premieres of Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation (UK/USA) and The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel (USA/UK). Paco Plaza’s Mugaritz: No Bread, No Dessert (Spain) will enjoy its international premiere after world-premiering last year in San Sebastián’s Culinary Cinema speciality strand, while Ole Juncker's Take the Money and Run (Denmark) also takes its international bow.

The festival’s Documentary Competition includes Kasper Bisgaard and Mikael Lypinski’s The End of Quiet (Denmark), Tanaz Eshaghian and Farzad Jafari's An Eye for an Eye (USA/Iran/Denmark), and Robert Petit’s Underland (USA/UK). The Viewpoints section also features world premieres of multiple co-productions, including Alberto Arvelo's All We Cannot See (USA/Spain), A Bright Future by Lucía Garibaldi (Uruguay/Argentina/Germany), Charlotte Ercoli’s surreal comedy Fior di Latte (USA/Italy) and Lilian Mehrel’s mother-daughter comedy-drama Honeyjoon (USA/Portugal). It also presents the international premiere of Frédéric Hambalek’s What Marielle Knows [+see also:
film review
interview: Frédéric Hambalek
film profile] from this year’s Berlinale Competition.

Last but not least, the Escape from Tribeca programme, which seeks to highlight fun and entertaining flicks that might not otherwise have the chance to shine, will be graced by the world premiere of Dog of God by Lauris Ābele and Raitis Ābele (Latvia/USA). The film is a rotoscope-animated comedy about a woman on trial for witchcraft in a 17th-century Swedish Livonian village, complete with the arrival of a self-proclaimed werewolf.

Here is the full list of titles announced so far that have European involvement:

Closing Night Gala
YANUNI - Richard Ladkani (Austria/Brazil/USA/Canada/Germany)

Spotlight+
Metallica Saved My Life - Jonas Akerlund (UK)
Wizkid: Long Live Lagos - Karam Gill (USA/UK/Nigeria)
Just Sing - Abraham Troen, Angelique Molina (UK)

Spotlight Narrative
How to Train Your Dragon - Dean DeBlois (USA/UK)
Deep Cover - Tom Kingsley (UK)
Re-Creation - Jim Sheridan, David Merriman (Ireland/Luxembourg)

Spotlight Documentary
Kerouac’s Road: The Best of a Nation - Ebs Burnough (UK/USA)
Culture Club - Alison Ellwood (USA/UK)
Take the Money and Run - Ole Juncker (Denmark)
The Shadow Scholars [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Eloïse King (UK)
Blue Scuti: Game Crasher - Chris Moukarbel (USA/France)
The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel - Ramiel Petros, Nicholas Freeman (USA/UK)
Mugaritz: No Bread, No Dessert - Paco Plaza (Spain)

International Narrative Competition
Reflection in a Dead Diamond [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani
film profile] - Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani (Belgium/Luxembourg/Italy/France)
Little Trouble Girls [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Urška Djukić (Slovenia/Italy/Croatia/Serbia)
Cuerpo Celeste - Nayra Ilic (Chile/Italy)
My Father’s Son - Qiu Sheng (China/France)
A Second Life - Laurent Slama (France)
The Wolf, the Fox and the Leopard - David Verbeek (Netherlands/Luxembourg/Ireland/Croatia/Taiwan)
Dragonfly - Paul Andrew Williams (UK)

Documentary Competition
The End of Quiet - Kasper Bisgaard, Mikael Lypinski (Denmark)
An Eye for an Eye - Tanaz Eshaghian, Farzad Jafari (USA/Iran/Denmark)
Underland - Robert Petit (USA/UK)

Viewpoints
All We Cannot See - Alberto Arvelo (USA/Spain)
Fior di Latte - Charlotte Ercoli (USA/Italy)
A Bright Future - Lucía Garibaldi (Uruguay/Argentina/Germany)
What Marielle Knows [+see also:
film review
interview: Frédéric Hambalek
film profile] - Frédéric Hambalek (Germany)
Honeyjoon - Lilian Mehral (USA/Portugal)

Escape from Tribeca
Dog of God - Lauris Ābele, Raitis Ābele (Latvia/USA)