Tribeca’s 25th anniversary lineup leans into what the festival often does best: star-driven indies, actor-director pivots, New York stories, documentary portraits built around recognizable cultural figures, and TV names trying something smaller or stranger than the machinery that made them famous. The festival has always been a tricky mix of red-carpet familiarity and left-field programming, and this year’s slate reflects that balance: feature directing debuts, literary swings, reunion hooks, sports icons, comedy figures, cult histories, and documentaries with broader pop-cultural pull.
There’s plenty of music programming, as usual, but with one major exception here—Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s opening-night Earth, Wind & Fire documentary—this preview centers on narrative premieres, actor-driven indies, and films with a clear cultural or industry hook. That includes Zach Woods making his feature directing debut with “The Accompanist,” Katie Holmes reuniting with Joshua Jackson in “Happy Hours,” Julian Schnabel bringing Oscar Isaac, Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese, and Jason Momoa into “In The Hand Of Dante,” Alison Brie turning literary ambition toxic in “The Revisionist,” Emilia Clarke entering a romantic timeline puzzle in “Next Life,” and Marc Maron making one last morbidly funny bid for Oscar recognition in “In Memoriam.”
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Below are 25 films to watch from this year’s Tribeca Festival.
“Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial VS That’s The Weight Of The World”
Questlove directs and produces this opening-night documentary about Earth, Wind & Fire, followed by a live performance from the band and The Roots. Questlove’s “Summer Of Soul” proved he could turn archival music history into something alive, political, and joyful. This film traces Maurice White and one of the great American bands from early beginnings to stadium-scale spectacle, with the group’s spiritual, visual, and sonic ambition as the attraction.
Tribeca Section: Gala
“The Accompanist”
Zach Woods makes his feature directing debut with this drama, co-written with Brandon Gardner and starring Susan Sarandon, Everly Carganilla, Aubrey Plaza, and Kevyn Morrow. The film follows 9-year-old Emily after she is removed from her aging grandfather’s care and placed with Sylvia, a witchy, funny, unpredictable older woman. Woods’ comic work has always been rooted in discomfort, and the cast points toward something sharper than standard found-family whimsy.
Tribeca Section: Spotlight Narrative
“Happy Hours”
Katie Holmes writes, directs, and stars in “Happy Hours,” a New York romantic drama that reunites her with Joshua Jackson, Mary-Louise Parker, Constance Wu, and Donald Webber Jr. as co-stars. The film follows two former lovers who reconnect years after their relationship ended without closure. The Holmes/Jackson reunion is the easy hook, but the story points toward an adult romance about old chemistry, bad timing, and emotional unfinished business.
Tribeca Section: Spotlight Narrative
“In The Hand Of Dante”
Julian Schnabel directs this literary fantasia, with Oscar Isaac playing dual roles as Dante Alighieri and modern author Nick Tosches. The cast includes Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese, and Jason Momoa. The film links the writing of “The Divine Comedy” with a contemporary manuscript-theft story involving a mafia don. It sounds messy, grandiose, and very Schnabel, with Isaac’s double role as the main attraction.
Tribeca Section: Spotlight Narrative
“Killing Castro”
Eif Rivera directs “Killing Castro,” a political thriller starring Al Pacino, Diego Boneta, Xolo Maridueña, KiKi Layne, Ron Livingston, Alexander Ludwig, Nicole Beharie, and Kendrick Sampson. The film reimagines Fidel Castro’s 1960 stay in Harlem as a convergence of surveillance, solidarity, and Cold War paranoia. Castro’s real-life move to the Hotel Theresa already has a cinematic charge; the cast gives the story scale and personality.
Tribeca Section: Spotlight Narrative
