Tribeca Festival: Music & Madcap Movies

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 27 April 2026 15:09

Written by Brad Balfour

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World)

One of NYC’s great events for film, television, and beyond returns as the Tribeca Festival runs June 3 to the 14th. Academy Award winner Questlove kicks off the 25th Tribeca Festival with the documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World) at the Beacon Theatre, a boisterous, decades-spanning story of this legendary American band and its enigmatic founder, Maurice White. Followed by the screening is a performance by Earth, Wind & Fire and The Roots.  

Imaginal Disk is a cinematic companion to Magdalena Bay’s eponymous album. Imaginal Disk expands its kaleidoscopic world into a bold, visually driven narrative. In the spotlight narrative feature That Friend, where a trip to Palm Springs, meant to be refreshing for Henry and his girlfriend Penny, escalates to cackling shenanigans when his bombastic friend Paul tags along. Armed with laced cigarettes and a passion for taking things too far, Paul tests the bonds of everyone involved. 

The Escape From Tribeca section features strange works and future cult classics such as Breeder, in which an eccentric poodle breeder lures a broke college student to her remote ranch with a promise of research funding. But, as he soon learns, there’s a catch. 

The Closing Night presentation is the documentary Alicia Keys: Girl From Hell's Kitchen. Multi Grammy Award winner and New York City native Alicia Keys reflects on her childhood growing up in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen and the journey that led her from the gritty streets of 90s New York to the Broadway stage in Tribeca alum One9's (Nas: Time Is Illmatic, TF 2014) moving tribute to a life of music, dreams, and the city that breaks them and makes them. After the film will be a special appearance by Alicia Keys.

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 immersive. 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.

To learn more, go to: https://tribecafilm.com/festival

Tribeca Festival
June 3 - 14, 2026

Various Venues in NYC

SR Socially Relevant Film Festival Now In Its 13th Edition

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 10 March 2026 11:31

Written by Brad Balfour

The 13th annual edition of SR Socially Relevant Film Festival opens in NYC on Wednesday, March 11. Running March 11 to the 15th, the festival features films from all over the world to raise social awareness. The festival opens at the iconic LenFest Center for the Arts at Columbia University, with the feature film The Last Wish by Rax Rinnekangas. 

The Armenian spotlight this year includes My Armenian Phantoms by Tamara Stepanyan, Armenia’s Official submission to the Oscars; Silence by Narek Shahverdyan; and Imagined Landscapes by Eleanor Ekserdjian. The festival themes range from BIPOC to Disability, Family and Home, Race, Religion and Exile, and Mental Health issues. Most screenings conclude with a Q&A with the filmmakers.

SRFF was founded by Actress/ Filmmaker Nora Armani in 2013 as a response to the proliferation of violence and violent forms of storytelling in media and entertainment. Following a family tragedy that cost the lives of two of her dearest and nearest, namely her cousin Vania and uncle Jack Exerjian, Armani founded the festival to commemorate them in a meaningful way. SRFF believes in the power of the film medium to raise awareness of social issues and promote positive social change. The Mission of the SR Film Festival is to shine a spotlight on filmmakers who tell compelling, socially relevant, human-interest stories across a broad range of social issues without resorting to violence or violent forms of storytelling.

To learn more, go to: https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/

SR Socially Relevant Film Festival
March 11 - 15, 2026

Cinema Village
22 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003 

And Online

Athena Film Festival 2026: Women Leaders Tell Their Story

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 05 March 2026 10:27

Written by Brad Balfour

Telling stories of women in leadership, the Athena Film Festival returns to Barnard College March 6 to 8. The festival is an annual showcase of narrative films, documentaries, and short films, alongside powerful and thought-provoking conversations with women from around the world.

Films include:

Opening Night Film
State of Firsts
Director: Chase Joynt
This film explores Sarah McBride’s historic run to become the first trans Member of Congress, the intense backlash that followed, and how the fight for change can be impacted by growing political extremism.

Centerpiece Film
Cutting Through Rocks
Directors: Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki
As the first elected councilwoman of her remote Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi fearlessly breaks patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara’s intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.

Closing Night Film
Ask E. Jean
Director: Ivy Meeropol
A documentary that chronicles the life and career of advice columnist and gonzo journalist E. Jean Carroll, and her two successful legal battles with President Trump.

To learn more, go to: https://athenafilmfestival.com/

Athena Film Festival
March 6 - 8, 2026

Barnard College, Athena Center
3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027