New York [US], September 12 (ANI): Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro has reflected on the origins of the Tribeca Festival, recalling how he and producer Jane Rosenthal decided to launch the event in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to help revive New York City’s Tribeca neighbourhood.
Speaking at a People Talks event ahead of the release of the documentary ‘Tribeca 25’, De Niro said the idea of starting a film festival had existed before the attacks but became a reality as the city grappled with the tragedy.
“We had talked about maybe doing a festival. It wasn’t really a serious conversation. We were sort of kicking it around. And then when 9/11 happened, we wanted to revitalise the neighbourhood, to say the least. And so we talked about actually doing it, and we said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Just made the commitment,” De Niro said.
Co-founder Jane Rosenthal said the festival was conceived as a way to help a community devastated by the attacks despite neither of them having prior experience organising a film festival.
“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? Put on the screening, put on a show and try to provide a new memory,” Rosenthal said, according to People.
The duo announced the festival in November 2001 and organised its inaugural edition within months, applying the same approach they used in filmmaking.
“If we can produce a film, if we can prep a film in three months, you can prep a film festival. Why not? It was a producer’s mentality,” Rosenthal said.
In Tribeca 25, De Niro recalls the urgency behind the effort, saying, “We had 120 days, 1,300 volunteers, no money, no blueprint, just an idea and a neighbourhood that needed people back in it. This wasn’t just about movies; it was about whether downtown was coming back.”
Rosenthal also described the challenges of preparing venues in the aftermath of the attacks.
“Some of the toughest things were figuring out what movie theatres we could go into. We had to go in wearing hazmat suits,” she said in the documentary.
Remembering the days following the attacks, De Niro said the destruction remained a constant reminder of the tragedy, according to People.
“Nobody slept much. You looked out the window, and [the site of the Twin Towers] was still smoking. That kept things in perspective,” he said.
The first Tribeca Festival opened on May 8, 2002, featuring 150 films selected from more than 10,000 submissions and drawing over 150,000 visitors back to the neighbourhood.
Rosenthal said the festival was about much more than cinema.
“Our city had been attacked. It felt like this was what you had to do. There was this mantra that we had whenever people would get upset about something or complain about something or whatever it was. We’d say, ‘Look left.’ That’s why we were doing it,” she said, according to People.
She also recalled that De Niro personally invited former South African President Nelson Mandela to the inaugural festival, believing his presence would help set the right tone for a city recovering from tragedy.
“He felt like we needed to set the proper tone to say, ‘It’s okay now to go from grieving to living in life,'” Rosenthal said, according to People.
The documentary Tribeca 25 traces the history and evolution of the festival through archival footage and interviews with Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Whoopi Goldberg, Nas, Jon M. Chu, Nia DaCosta and Denis Leary. Over the past two decades, the festival has grown into one of New York City’s premier cultural events, generating an estimated economic impact of more than USD 1 billion for the city. (ANI)
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