The 25th Annual Tribeca Festival announced its prize winners on Thursday, with films from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Malta and Cameroon taking top honors across narrative and documentary categories.
Cotton Fever, directed by Daniel Blake Schwartz, won the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature. The film also took Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature, with that prize going to Tom Acton Fitzgerald.
The Canadian film Labrador: Autopsy of Silence, directed by Rodrigue Jean, won Best International Narrative Feature. It also claimed Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature for Christopher Angatookalook and Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature for Mathieu Laverdière.
Best Documentary Feature went to Jail Time Records, directed by Dione Roach and Steve Happi, a co-production between Cameroon and the United States. That film also won Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature, with the prize shared by Roach, Urberto Rapisardi and Happi.
Summer of Three picked up two awards in U.S. narrative competition. Marcel Ruiz, Paolo Schoene and Kiki Montilla won Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature, and writers Carlitos Ruiz-Ruiz, Marcel Ruiz and Mariana S. Belaval won Best Screenplay.
The festival juries included actor Benedict Wong, actress Haley Lu Richardson, director Mira Nair and filmmaker Janicza Bravo, among others, according to The Wrap.
"This year's award winners embody the spirit of Tribeca: fearless work that crosses borders, expands the form and reveals the power of storytelling to uncover humanity in unexpected places," said Festival Director and SVP of Programming Cara Cusumano. "As we celebrate our 25th year, these artists remind us that powerful stories do more than entertain, they deepen our empathy, broaden our perspective and bring us closer together."
Special jury mentions went to Here I'm Alive in U.S. narrative competition and Time Warp in the documentary category. In international narrative, the Brazilian film Funk received a special jury mention for performance, shared by Duda Santos and Mc Nem. Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature went to Alex Camilleri for Zejtune, a co-production between Malta, Germany and Qatar.
Audience awards had not yet been announced as of Thursday, with votes from festivalgoers still being tallied.
