Despite being rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tribeca Film Festival has opted to announce the winners of this year’s edition. Originally set to take place April 15-26, the fest included a feature program was 39 percent women-directed or co-directed.
“The Half of It” took home the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature. Written and directed by Alice Wu, the rom-com tells the story of a shy, overachieving Chinese-American student who helps a jock woo the girl they both love.
“The film is so charming, it’s so energetic, it’s so fun, it’s so well-paced, it’s directed with such a sure hand, it’s a really confident film and the characters are really well drawn and the actors were fantastic,” said the jury.
Other winners in the U.S. Narrative Competition categories include Assol Abdullina and Anna Kerrigan. The former was recognized as Best Actress for her role in “Materna,” a portrait of four women whose lives are touched by an incident on the New York City subway, and the latter won Best Screenplay for “Cowboys,” a family drama about a father and his transgender son.
“Unorthodox” breakout Shira Haas scored the honor of Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film for “Asia,” Ruthy Pribar’s portrait of a mother and daughter who struggle to connect.
“[Haas’] face is a never-ending landscape in which even the tiniest expression is heartbreaking; she’s an incredibly honest and present actress who brings depth to everything she does,” the jury observed.
Daniella Nowitz won Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film for “Asia.”
Pribar landed the Nora Ephron Award for “Asia.” Created seven years ago “to honor excellence in storytelling by a female writer or director who embodies the spirit and boldness of the late filmmaker,” previous recipients of the honor include Nia DaCosta for “Little Woods” and Meera Menon for “Farah Goes Bang.”
The Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award went to Jessica Earnshaw for “Jacinta,” an exploration of the hereditary nature of trauma.
“We are fortunate that technology allowed for our jury to come together this year to honor our filmmakers,” said Tribeca Film Festival Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “Despite not being able to be together physically, we were still able to support our artists, which has always been at the heart of the Festival.”
Festival Director Cara Cusumano added, “While we are not yet able to celebrate these incredible films at their premieres, we are so proud to celebrate them in partnership with our generous jurors through our 2020 Tribeca awards. The jury chose to recognize a daring, innovative, entertaining, diverse group of films and filmmakers, and the Festival is pleased to honor all of them with our first ever virtual awards ceremony.”
Check out all of the Tribeca 2020 winners over at the fest’s website.
