2025 Tribeca Festival Announces Winners "Charliebird," "Happy Birthday," and "Natchez" in U.S. Narrative, International, Narrative and Documentary Competitions

12/06/2025

June 12th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here

2025 Tribeca Festival Announces Winners Charliebird, Happy Birthday, and Natchez in U.S. Narrative, International, Narrative and Documentary Competitions

Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn Earn Performance Awards as Women Take Home Top Honors Across the Majority of Categories

First-Time Directors and Latin American Cinema Deliver Strong Showing in Competition

Tribeca Award Winner Tickets Available at tribecafilm.com/awardwinners2025

New York, NY, June 12, 2025 - The 24th annual Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, today announced competition winners with Charliebird, Happy Birthday, and Natchez taking top honors in the U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, and Documentary competitions, respectively. Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn shared the Performance Award for Dragonfly, leading a strong showing by women who claimed top honors across the majority of categories at the ceremony held at Racket NYC. The awards also highlighted breakthrough achievements by first-time feature directors and a notable presence of Latin American cinema throughout the competition. The Competition categories represent the breadth of Tribeca's programming with awards for U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary, Viewpoints, Nora Ephron, Short Film, Best New Directors, Audio Storytelling, Games, AT&T Untold Stories, and Tribeca X. The Festival concludes on June 15 in New York City.

Every year at Tribeca we set out to spotlight the most exciting new voices from around the world, said Tribeca Festival Director and SVP of Programming Cara Cusumano. We are thrilled our jury honored this mission with winners that brilliantly represent the vibrancy and diversity of global independent storytelling today.

All winning films in the U.S. Narrative category are first-time directors, including Libby Ewing for Charliebird, Cristian Carretero and Lorraine Jones Molina for Esta Isla (This Island), who also won the Best New Narrative Director Award, and Isabel Hagen for On a String. Other first-time filmmakers include The Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director honorees Augusto Zegarra for Runa Simi and Rowan Haber for We Are Pat, and Walter Thompson-Hernandez who took home the Viewpoints Award for Kites.

Sarah Goher, also a first-time filmmaker, earned three awards on behalf of her film Happy Birthday, including Best International Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature and the prestigious Nora Ephron Award, which honors exceptional female filmmakers who represent the spirit and vision of the legendary filmmaker and writer. Meanwhile, Latin American cinema made its mark with award winners A Bright Future, Cuerpo Celeste, Runa Simi, and Kites.

Select categories receive the unique Tribeca Festival Art Award from a selection of artists led by curator Zoe Lukov. Supported by CHANEL, the world-class artists donated work to honored filmmakers.

Winners of the Audience Award, which are determined by audience votes throughout the Festival, will be announced at a later date.

2025 Winners and Special Jury Mentions, as selected by the 2025 Festival Jury, are as follows:

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Charliebird, director Libby Ewing (United States) - World Premiere. Jury Statement: A deeply affecting portrait featuring grounded and complex performances, this film is an assured and well-crafted debut. This award is presented by OKX.

Special Jury Mention for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Esta Isla (This Island), directors Cristian Carretero and Lorraine Jones Molina (Puerto Rico) - World Premiere. Jury statement: A compelling depiction of a place, this film is a lush and stunningly realized reckoning with class, love and history.

Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Gabriela Ochoa Perez for Charliebird (United States) - World Premiere. Jury statement: This actor delivers a fresh performance that is at once ferocious and vulnerable. She grounds a young woman's painful journey in humanity and truth.

Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Isabel Hagen for On a String (United States) - World Premiere. Jury statement: A nimble, witty and accomplished story that chronicles the ups and downs of a young woman who has to face the music.

Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Cedric Cheung-Lau for Esta Isla (This Island) (Puerto Rico) - World Premiere. Jury statement: Beautifully lensed, this film is full of unforgettable and evocative imagery. Lovingly rendered, it is equally adept at capturing the intimate details and grandest vistas.

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Best International Narrative Feature: Happy Birthday, director Sarah Goher (Egypt) - World Premiere. Jury statement: For its authentic and complex portrayal of class, motherhood, and loss of innocence, along with outstanding performances - especially by its young star - and its brilliant nuanced writing.

Special Jury Mention for International Narrative Feature: Cuerpo Celeste, director Nayra Ilic Garc a (Chile, Italy) - World Premiere. Jury statement: For its fantastic central performance, arresting visuals, and subtle storytelling that touches on both a changing political landscape and the aftermath of grief.

Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature: Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn for Dragonfly (United Kingdom) - World Premiere. For an audience, there is nothing as exciting as watching actors bravely and fully immerse themselves in characters who leave us filled with both empathy and dread - and so for their daring and electrifying turns, we are thrilled to present Best Performance in and International Film to Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn.

Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature: Mohamed Diab and Sarah G

LINK:	https://www.tribecafilm.com/press-center/festival/press-releases/2025-...
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2025 Tribeca Festival Announces Winners "Charliebird," "Happy Birthday," and "Natchez" in U.S. Narrative, International, Narrative and Documentary Competitions

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