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Tribeca Festival · 2025

Tribeca Festival 2025

Spotlight Documentary

Programme

26 films · 3 reviews

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Andy Kaufman Is Me

A rare window into the enigmatic mind of comedy legend Andy Kaufman through his never-before- heard audio diary recordings.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Clay Tweel; Writer: Luis Lopez, Shannon E. Riggs, Clay Tweel; Stars: Andy Kaufman, David Letterman)

World premiere

Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything

Documentary about the US journalist in her own words.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Jackie Jesko; Stars: Bette Midler, Oprah Winfrey, Joy Behar, Katie Couric, Monica Lewinsky, Cynthia McFadden)

World premiere

Blue Scuti: Game Crasher

Thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson’s life changes overnight when he becomes the first person in human history to beat Tetris.

(Country: France, US; Year: 2025; Director: Chris Moukarbel; Writer: Chris Moukarbel; Stars: Mykal Buster, Andrew Artiaga, Daniel Vuong, Justin Yu, Alex Thach, Michael Artiaga, Willis Gibson, Karin Gibson)

World premiere

Bodyguard Of Lies

Exposes the tangled web of deception spun by the US government during its 20-year war in Afghanistan.

(Country: Afghanistan, US; Year: 2025; Director: Dan Krauss)

World premiere

Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?

Profile of the San Francisco indie rockers.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Amy Scott; Stars: Mary-Louise Parker, Cyndi Lauper, Chris Martin, Jeffrey Ross, Adam Duritz, Steve Kerr)

World premiere

Culture Club

Celebrates the British pop band's story in their own words.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2025; Director: Alison Ellwood; Stars: Boy George, Jon Moss, Mikey Craig, Roy Hay)

World premiere

Dear Ms.: A Revolution In Print

Documentary about the storied and complex legacy of Ms. magazine.

(Year: 2025; Director: Cecilia Aldarondo, Alice Gu, Salima Koroma; Stars: Gloria Steinem, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Suzanne Braun Levine, Lindsy Van Gelder, Marcia Ann Gillespie)

World premiere

Empire Skate

Chronicles the colorful rise and enduring influence of New York skateboarding culture.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Josh Swade; Stars: Tony Hawk)

World premiere

Holding Liat

Review preview for Holding Liat

Her experience is, of course, only that of an individual, and cannot represent what happened to all of the other hostages, but it still has significance.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
On October 7th, during a raid by Hamas on her kibbutz, Israeli-American Liat Atzili was kidnapped, prompting an urgent and heart-wrenching fight for her release by her family. Through a deeply intimate lens, parents Yehuda and Chaya cope with fear and uncertainty as they are thrust into a global conflict unfolding in real time.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Brandon Kramer; Writer: Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, Carol Dysinger, Gordon Quinn; Stars: Aviv Atzili, Aya Atzili, Liat Beinin Atzili, Netta Atzili, Ofri Atzili, Chaya Beinin, Joel Beinin, Tal Beinin, Yehuda Beinin)

Full review

North American premiere

The Inquisitor

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan became the first Southern Black woman to join Congress, one of many firsts in her career as a trailblazing political leader. This documentary looks at her life both in and out of the limelight.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Angela Lynn Tucker; Stars: Alfre Woodard, Dan Rather, Jasmine Crockett, Barbara Jordan, Jewell Jackson McCabe, Rodney Ellis)

World premiere

It's Dorothy!

Exploring the legacy of L Frank Baum's iconic character.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Jeffrey McHale; Writer: Jeffrey McHale; Stars: Fairuza Balk, Margaret Cho, Lena Waithe, Ashanti, Shanice Shantay, Rufus Wainwright, Danielle Hope, Nichelle Lewis, John Waters)

World premiere

I Was Born This Way

Carl Bean made history by recording his disco hit I Was Born this Way, celebrated as the world’s first gay anthem, and setting the stage for a revolution in queer music. This film considers his life and legacy.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Daniel Junge, Sam Pollard; Stars: Carl Bean, Lady Gaga, Billy Porter, Questlove, Dionne Warwick, Maxine Waters)

World premiere

Jimmy & The Demons

Celebrated sculptor James Grashow embarks, at age 79, on a four-year odyssey to complete his magnum opus: a gigantic, intricate wooden sculpture dubbed The Cathedral.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Cindy Meehl; Stars: Guzzy Grashow, James Grashow)

World premiere

Just Kids

Three families with transgender children face an impossible choice in states banning gender-affirming care: stay at home and risk their children's well-being or uproot entirely.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Gianna Toboni; Writer: Gianna Toboni, Jacqueline Toboni, Samantha Wender; Stars: Susan Stryker, Andrea Jenkins)

World premiere

Kerouac's Road: The Beat Of A Nation

Review preview for Kerouac's Road: The Beat Of A Nation

Ambitious in its attempts to stitch Jack Kerouac’s biography through a patchwork exploration of both cultural and social modern America as related to his seminal book On The Road.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Jack Kerouac's On the Road finds new relevance as modern travellers including Josh Brolin, W. Kamau Bell and Natalie Merchant reveal how his quest for authentic experience resonates powerfully in our screen-saturated era.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2025; Director: Ebs Burnough; Writer: Eliza Hindmarch; Stars: Josh Brolin, Michael Imperioli, Matt Dillon, W Kamau Bell, Natalie Merchant, Jay McInerney, Kim Jones, Diana Langley, Joyce Johnson, David Amran, Tenaj Melendras, Karlynne Staten, Faustino Melendras, Ann Charters, Amir Staten)

Full review

World premiere

The Last Guest Of The Holloway Motel

Once-star British footballer Tony Powell begins to reconcile the life he’s made for himself as the lonesome manager of a now-shuttering Hollywood motel with the one he forsake decades ago.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2025; Director: Nicholas Freeman, Ramiel Petros)

World premiere

Long Live The State

Consideration of a reunion of the 90s comedy troupe.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Matthew Perniciaro; Stars: Kerri Kenney, Ken Marino, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Michael Showalter, David Wain, Robert Ben Garant, Michael Ian Black, Michael Patrick Jann, Kevin Allison, Todd Holoubek)

World premiere

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award and was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old. This documentary explores the complexities of what it means to be a trailblazer.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Shoshannah Stern; Stars: Marlee Matlin)

New York Premiere

Mugaritz: No Bread, No Dessert (Mugaritz: Sin Pan, ni postre)

Documentary opens the doors to Mugaritz, the exclusive avant-garde fine dining restaurant in San Sebastian, during its off-season.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2024; Director: Paco Plaza; Writer: Mapa Pastor, Paco Plaza)

International premiere

My Mom Jayne

Mariska Hargitay was three years old when her mother, Jayne Mansfield, tragically died in a car accident at the age of 34, now the Law & Order: SVU actress considers her mothers public and private legacy.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Mariska Hargitay; Stars: Mariska Hargitay, Jayne Mansfield, Zoltan Hargitay, Mickey Hargitay Jr., Ellen Hargitay, Rusty Strait)

World premiere

Room To Move

Dancer and choreographer Jenn Freeman, recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, embarks on the creation of her first evening-length dance piece as a transformative journey of self-discovery through movement.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Alexander Hammer; Stars: Jenn Freeman, Ian Stuart, Sonya Tayeh, Barry Gans, Alexander Hammer, Amy Schumer)

World premiere

The Shadow Scholars

Review preview for The Shadow Scholars

At each point when one might think that the key to this fascinating subject has been found, another door is opened, leading to yet more unexplored angles.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Oxford professor Patricia Kingori uncovers Kenya's hidden essay mills where highly educated yet underemployed writers produce academic papers for wealthy Western students.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Eloïse King; Stars: Patricia Kingori)

Full review See: Interview with Eloïse King about Shadow Scholars

North American premiere

She Runs The World

Premiere. Allyson Felix is the most decorated track and field athlete of all time. At the peak of her career, she faced a life-threatening pregnancy and saw her sponsorships slashed by 70% by companies with no maternal protections. But Felix, ever the champion, turned her battles into a movement.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Matthew O'Neill, Perri Peltz; Stars: Allyson Felix, Jackie Joyner, Bob Kersee, Wes Felix, Joanna Hayes, Marlean Felix, Paul Felix, Pat Connolly)

World premiere

Surviving Ohio State

Delves into the sexual abuse scandal surrounding athletics doctor Richard Strauss, whose two-decade tenure at Ohio State University saw the abuse of hundreds of students, and the ongoing quest for justice and accountability by his survivors.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Eva Orner; Writer: Jon Wertheim)

World premiere

Take The Money And Run

Tracing the life of Danish artist Jens Haaning in the aftermath of his controversial artwork, “Take the Money and Run.”

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2025; Director: Ole Juncker; Writer: Ole Juncker)

North American premiere

Titan: The OceanGate Disaster

Documentary about the 2023 submersible tragedy.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Mark Monroe)

World premiere