Charliebird, Happy Birthday and Natchez took top honors Thursday 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 today at Racket NYC. 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 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.
Here is the full list of 2025 competition awards.
U.S. Narrative
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
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
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.
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
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 States).
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 Awards
Cairn (France) – New York Premiere.
AT&T Presents Untold Stories
Liz Sargent for Take Me Home
Tribeca X Awards
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
