The field of short films for 2023 just got a lot more crowded. The Tribeca Film Festival announced the titles in 12 (!!!) shorts programs ahead of their festival in June. Seventy-six titles will be presented, and familiar faces include Emma D’Arcy, Tom Holland, and Academy Award winner, Troy Kotsur. The festival will include live action, documentary, and animated shorts as well as music videos. Is there an early Oscar frontrunner in the bunch?
Scroll down to check out the festival’s official press release and line-up of films
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NEW YORK, NY – (April 25, 2023) – The 2023 Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, today announced its lineup of short narrative, documentary, and animated films, as well as music videos. This year’s Festival, which takes place June 7-18, showcases 12 short film programs of diverse and creative storytelling.
The 2023 shorts lineup includes 76 total selections – 62 shorts in competition, eight music videos, and six special screening shorts – from 91 filmmakers across 25 countries. The lineup includes 48 world premieres, three international premieres, two North American premieres, one U.S. premiere, and 22 New York premieres. Six directors return to Tribeca with their latest projects.
With a record-breaking 8,096 total submissions, the lineup’s four categories – narrative shorts, documentary shorts, animated shorts, and music videos – are curated across thematic programs highlighting love, family relationships, LGBTQ+ stories, “Expressions of Black Freedom,” Latin America, resilience, and more.
Premieres include Last Call, which is about a desperate mother needing to reconnect with her son, directed by Harry Holland and starring brother Tom Holland; Shadow Brother Sunday, Alden Ehrenreich’s directorial debut as he plays a down-on-his-luck musician returning home on the day of his younger brother’s movie premiere to steal his computer and sell it to the paparazzi; For people in trouble, a relationship drama set against the backdrop of impending societal collapse, directed and written by Alex Lawther and starring Emma D’Arcy; the documentary short To My Father, an intimate glimpse into Troy Kotsur’s relationship with his father and how his tragic accident shaped his life and career, directed by Sean Schiavolin; My Eyes Are Up Here, a romantic comedy starring Jillian Mercado as an international fashion model whose mission to get the morning after pill is complicated by her disability and clumsy but considerate partner, directed by Nathan Morris; and more.
Additionally, the world premiere of Misty Copeland‘s Flower will screen as a special event at Spring Studios. Flower is a poignant take on community, belonging, and intergenerational equity, directed by Lauren Finerman, in which Copeland stars and serves as producer. This film also marks the return to performance for Copeland after a multi-year hiatus. Following the screening, the premiere event will feature live performances by Copeland’s co-star Babatunji Johnson and a group of NYC hip-hop dancers choreographed by the legendary choreographers Rich + Tone Talauega, who also worked on the film, and a Q&A with Copeland and the filmmakers.
“From a staggering record number of 8,096 shorts submissions, we are thrilled to present an incredible range of storytelling in short films and music videos from around the globe,” said Ben Thompson, VP of Shorts Programming at Tribeca Festival. “Thoughtfully curated into 12 distinct programs, my co-programmer VP of Programming Sharon Badal and I hope there is something for everyone. From free-flowing music and dance to crazy late-night comedy, join us for an unforgettable journey through short films.”
Recipients of the Tribeca Festival awards for Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short qualify for consideration in the Academy Awards’ Short Films category, provided the film complies with Academy rules. Since the Tribeca Festival’s founding in 2001, 36 short films that have premiered at the Tribeca Festival have been nominated for an Academy Award and 11 have gone on to win, establishing the Festival as a launching pad for emerging filmmakers. Tribeca also grants a Student Visionary Award to a rising filmmaker with emerging talent and potential.
The Tribeca Festival is curated by Festival Director and VP of Programming Cara Cusumano, Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer; VP of Programming Sharon Badal and VP of Shorts Programming Ben Thompson; Senior Programmers Liza Domnitz, Faridah Gbadamosi, and Jarod Neece; Programmers José F. Rodriguez, Casey Baron, Jason Gutierrez, and Jonathan Penner; VP of Games and Immersive Casey Baltes and Immersive Curator Ana Brzezińska; Curator of Audio Storytelling Davy Gardner; Music Programmer Vincent Cassous; and Chief Content Officer Paula Weinstein, along with a team of associate programmers.
The short film lineup is detailed below. For the latest updates on programming follow @Tribeca and #Tribeca2023 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Purchase passes and ticket packages for the 2023 Tribeca Festival attribecafilm.com/festival.
ABOUT TRIBECA FESTIVAL
The Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, brings artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, music, audio storytelling, games, and XR. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is synonymous with creative expression and entertainment. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning talent, curates innovative experiences, and introduces new ideas through exclusive premieres, exhibitions, conversations, and live performances.
The Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. The annual Tribeca Festival will celebrate its 22nd year from June 7–18, 2023 in New York City.
In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems bought a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, bringing together Rosenthal, De Niro, and Murdoch to grow the enterprise.
ABOUT 2023 TRIBECA FESTIVAL PARTNERS
The 2023 Tribeca Festival is presented by OKX and with the support of our partners: AT&T, Audible, Black Women on Boards, Canva, CHANEL, City National Bank, Diageo, Easterseals Disability Services, Expensify, Indeed, NBC4 and Telemundo 47, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, National CineMedia, Novartis, ServiceNow, Spring Studios New York, The Wall Street Journal, Tubi, and Variety.
2023 TRIBECA FESTIVAL SHORT FILM SELECTION
>> NARRATIVE SHORTS
Angelo, (Bolivia) – New York Premiere. Directed and written by Alex Plumb.
Bellybutton, (United States) – New York Premiere. Directed and written by Hilary Eden.
Blackwool, (Scotland) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Eubha Akilada.
Blood, (Australia) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Vathana Suganya Suppiah.
Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant), (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Dave Solomon.
Burrow, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Leaf Lieber.
Cuarto de Hora, (France, Chile) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Nemo Arancibia.
Daddy Issues, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Matt Campanella and Stephanie Chloé Hepner. Written by Matt Campanella.
Dead Cat, (Canada) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Annie-Claude Caron and Danick Audet.
Ecstasy, (Mexico, United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Carolina Costa.
Everybody Dies…Sometimes, (United Kingdom) – International Premiere. Directed and written by Charlotte Hamblin.
Fairytales, (Mexico) – World Premiere. Directed by Daniela Soria. Written by Daniela Soria and Mar Flores.
Feliz Navidad, (Italy) – International Premiere. Directed and written by Greta Scarano.
Ferns, (Chile) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Paz Ramírez.
Fish Out of Water, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Francesca Scorsese. Written by Francesca Scorsese, Megan LuLu Taylor, Savannah Braswell.
Flower, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Lauren Finerman.
For people in trouble, (United Kingdom) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Alex Lawther.
A Fox In The Night, (United Kingdom) – New York Premiere. Directed and written by Keeran Anwar Blessie.
Hafekasi, (Australia) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Annelise Hickey.
HEARTBEAT, (Switzerland) – North American Premiere. Directed by Michèle Flury. Written by Michèle Flury and Martha Benedict.
Il Fait Beau, (Netherlands) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Leonardo Cariglino.
In Passing, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Hillia Aho.
Konpa, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Al’Ikens Plancher.
The K-Town Killer, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Healin Kweon and Vahan Bedelian.
Last Call, (United Kingdom) – World Premiere. Directed by Harry Holland.
Let Liv, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Erica Rose. Written by Olivia Levine.
Mars, (United Kingdom) – North American Premiere. Directed by Abel Rubinstein. Written by Chris Bush.
My Eyes Are Up Here, (United Kingdom) – New York Premiere. Directed by Nathan Morris. Written by Arthur Meek.
Nuit Blonde, (Canada) – United States Premiere. Directed and written by Gabrielle Demers.
Proof of Concept, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Ellie Sachs.
Rustling, (New Zealand) – New York Premiere. Directed and written by Tom Furniss.
Schettinimous, (Argentina) – International Premiere. Directed by Tomás Terzano. Written by Tomás Terzano and Macarena Rubio.
Sealed Off, (China, Macau, United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Tianyu Jiang.
Shadow Brother Sunday, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Alden Ehrenreich.
Somewhere In Between, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Kyle Vorbach.
The Sperm Bank, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Margaux Susi. Written by Rob Scerbo and Jeremy Culhane.
Spinning, (Mexico) – New York Premiere. Directed by Isabel Vaca and Arturo Mendicuti. Written by Mara Vaca
Thaw, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Alex Bush
They Grow Up So Fast, (United States) – New York Premiere. Directed and written by John F. Beach.
Tits, (Norway) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Eivind Landsvik.
Upsidedown, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed and written by Razan Ghalayini.
Voice Activated, (Australia) – New York Premiere. Directed by Steve Anthopoulos.
>> DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Ayenda, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Marie Margolius.
Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson.
Cam’s Mementos, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Cam Archer.
Cruzan Cowboys, (United States, US Virgin Islands) – World Premiere. Directed by Douglas Wesley Segars.
Deciding Vote, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Jeremy Workman and Robert Lyons.
Dragon Boys, (United Kingdom, Ghana) – World Premiere. Directed by Tom Ringsby.
Goodbye, Morganza, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Devon Blackwell.
In the Shadow of Palms, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Mischa Meyer.
Letter to Rosie, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Ariel Danziger.
Merman, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Sterling Hampton IV.
Miss Brown, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Christina Burchard.
Over The Wall, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Krystal Tingle.
The Right to Joy, (United States) – New York Premiere. Directed by Tim Kressin.
Savi the Cat, (United States) – New York Premiere. Directed by Bryan Tucker and Netsanet Tjirongo.
Then Comes the Body, (Nigeria, United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Jacob Krupnick.
To My Father, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Sean Schiavolin.
What Next?, (France) – World Premiere. Directed by Cécile Rogue.
The Winterkeeper, (United Kingdom) – World Premiere. Directed by Laurence Topham and David Levene.
>> ANIMATED SHORTS
American Sikh, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by Ryan Westra and Vishavjit Singh. Written by Ryan Westra.
Corvine, (Canada) – New York Premiere. Directed and written by Sean McCarron.
A Cow in the Sky, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by C. Fraser Press and Darren Press. Written by C. Fraser Press.
The Night Doctrine, (United States, Afghanistan) – World Premiere. Directed by Mauricio Rodriguez Pons and Almuneda Toral.
Regular Rabbit, (Ireland) – New York Premiere. Directed and written by Eoin Duffy.
Restless Is the Night, (United States) – New York Premiere. Directed by Yuehan Tan and Xiaoxue Meng.
Starling, (United States) – World Premiere. Directed by and written by Mitra Shahidi.
Witchfairy, (Belgium, Bulgaria) – New York Premiere. Directed by David Van de Weyer. Written by Brigitte Minne.
>> MUSIC VIDEOS
Anoana, (Norway) – New York Premiere. Directed by Line Klungseth Johansen. Written by Line Klungseth Johansen and Øystein Moe.
Bugs, (United States) – New York Premiere. Performed by The Vindys. Directed by Peter-John Campbell.
I Guess I’m Changing, (United Kingdom) – New York Premiere. Performed by Someone. Directed by David Spearing. Written by Tessa Rose Jackson.
The Light, (United States) – New York Premiere. Performed by Lunarcode. Directed and written by Vincenzo Carubia.
Special, (United States) – New York Premiere. Performed by Lizzo. Directed by Christian Breslauer.
To The Desert, (Israel) – New York Premiere. Performed by Dana Ivgy. Directed by Asaf Yecheskel. Written by Dana Ivgy.
Wait in the Truck, (United States) – New York Premiere. Performed by Hardy. Directed by Justin Clough. Written by Michael Hardy and Justin Clough.
Wild Child, (United States) – New York Premiere. Performed by The Black Keys. Directed by Bryan Schlam.
