The Tribeca Festival is marking a quarter century with one of the most expansive lineups in its history. Presented by OKX and running June 3–14 in New York City, the 2026 edition announced its full feature and short film program on Thursday, revealing 118 feature films — including a record-breaking 103 world premieres — alongside 86 short films spanning 44 countries and 143 filmmakers.
Founded in the wake of September 11 as an act of community healing through storytelling, Tribeca has grown into one of the most culturally significant film festivals in the world, and its 25th anniversary edition makes clear that the organization intends to honor that legacy with serious ambition.
A music-forward opening and closing night
The festival opens Wednesday, June 3 with the world premiere of Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World), directed by Academy Award winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The film traces the legendary band’s decades-spanning story from humble beginnings to its era-defining stadium shows, and the evening concludes with a live performance by Earth, Wind & Fire and The Roots — setting an immediately celebratory tone for everything that follows.
Closing night, presented by OKX and 10 Lives Studios, belongs to Alicia Keys. The Grammy Award winner will appear following the world premiere of Alicia Keys: Girl From Hell’s Kitchen, directed by Tribeca alum One9. The film is described as a love letter to New York City from one of its most celebrated natives, tracing Keys’ childhood in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen through her rise to the Broadway stage.
Between opening and closing nights, the festival has arranged one-night-only live performances from Sara Bareilles, Peter Frampton, Mumford & Sons, The LOX, Magdalena Bay and Noga Erez & Ori Rousso — each performance following the world premiere of a film connected to the artist.
A narrative slate packed with recognizable faces
The 2026 feature film program brings together an unusually deep roster of established talent alongside emerging voices. Among the highlights in the narrative lineup are Katie Holmes, who writes, directs and stars in Happy Hours opposite Joshua Jackson in a New York romantic drama about two former lovers reuniting years after an unresolved ending. Alicia Vikander and Wagner Moura appear together in The Last Day, an interpretation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway set on July 4th in New York City. Paul Rudd stars alongside Jeremy Sisto in Rain Reign, a story about a neurodivergent girl and her search for a missing dog. Emilia Clarke and Édgar Ramírez lead Next Life, a romantic drama exploring two diverging timelines. Alison Brie, André Holland, Tom Sturridge and Dustin Hoffman appear together in The Revisionist. Marc Maron headlines In Memoriam, a dramedy about a dying man’s fixation on earning a place in the Academy Awards’ In Memoriam segment. And Quentin Tarantino appears alongside Sofia Boutella, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Simon Pegg in Only What We Carry, an improvisational drama shot over six days on the Normandy coast.
Susan Sarandon and Aubrey Plaza star in The Accompanist, directed by Zach Woods, while Gabriel Basso writes, directs and stars in the psychological thriller Iconoclast. Zach Braff leads Clean Hands, based on the true story of a narcotics officer navigating his daughter’s opioid addiction.
Documentaries that span sports, politics and pop culture
The nonfiction lineup covers an equally broad range of subjects. Carmelo Anthony is the focus of Born Melo, timed to his Hall of Fame induction and his son Kiyan’s debut collegiate basketball season. Tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova share their parallel journeys through sports stardom and cancer treatment in Chris & Martina: The Final Set, a Netflix release. Bob Odenkirk and David Cross tackle the Machu Picchu hike together in what promises to be one of the festival’s more entertaining evenings.
Nostalgia runs deep elsewhere in the documentary slate. Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle reunite for the 30th anniversary of Boy Meets World in Doc Meets World, with a live performance following the premiere marking the final stop of their national tour. Playing POTUS, directed by Josh Greenbaum, traces the history of presidential impressions from Chevy Chase’s Gerald Ford through Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris, with Will Ferrell and Dana Carvey among the comedy voices featured.
On the more serious end, IX XI weaves together 12 personal accounts of September 11, a subject with particular resonance for a festival founded in the aftermath of those events. Miss Representation: Rise Up, an expansion of Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s 2011 documentary, is followed by a conversation featuring Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton. Jean-Michel, made with the full participation of the Basquiat family, marks the first authorized documentary about Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life and work.
Record diversity and an expanded shorts program
Of the films in competition this year, 48% are directed by women and 50% by BIPOC filmmakers — figures that reflect Tribeca’s stated commitment to amplifying diverse voices across its programming. The 2026 edition also includes 55 first-time directors among its 143 featured filmmakers.
The shorts program, which has earned 13 Academy Award wins and 25 nominations over its history, features 86 titles across narrative, documentary, animated and music video categories, including 45 world premieres. A new Best New York Short Award has been introduced this year to celebrate stories rooted in the city that gave the festival its identity.
Passes and ticket packages are available now at tribecafilm.com, with single tickets going on sale April 28.
Source: Tribeca Festival / PMK Entertainment