Meg Ryan, Kim Catrall and Giancarlo Esposito
Tribeca Festival Lisboa concluded its second edition on Saturday after hosting a bevy of American talent, led by Meg Ryan, Kim Cattrall, Edie Falco, Giancarlo Esposito, Ed Westwick and Daniela Ruah and Piper Perabo and director Stephen Kay, her husband.
The co-organizers – Tribeca Enterprises and Portuguese media group Impresa – said they are excited about how the spirit of the New York festival is bringing new energy to the Portuguese film and TV sector.
“We thought we were only going to do one festival, in 2002 and now we have been around for 25 years!” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of Tribeca.
“Continuous learning is what makes every festival a living, breathing organism. We look forward to bringing more of our expertise here, especially through our mentorship programs.
She added: “Like New York, Lisbon is a very international city. I feel very much at home here. I have my own Portuguese connection from my childhood in Providence, Rhode Island, where one of our most famous senators was Claiborne Pell, whose father served as US Ambassador to Portugal and of course I was lucky enough to grow up around great Portuguese bakeries!”
Francisco Pedro Balsemão, CEO of Impresa, explained that with the success of Tribeca Lisboa and after attending two editions of Tribeca in New York, he would now like to organize a program of Tribeca-related initiatives throughout the year and integrate the associated mentoring expertise into the Impresa Group’s wider production strategy: “For this year’s edition we have ensured that there are more screening locations, more lectures focusing on a wide range of filmmaking skills, allowing it comes closer to the festival in New York where the Tribeca neighborhood itself is also a key element.”
Several fruits of the Tribeca-Lisbon connection were highlighted during the second edition of the fest, including Chazz Palmentiri who, after attending last year’s edition with his documentary ‘A Bronx Tale: The Original One Man Show’, now plans to return to Lisbon to stage the first live performance of his show outside the US.
“We’ve upgraded this year’s event,” explains former AT&T executive Tony Gonçalves, one of the fest’s executive producers. “We switched from a one-size-fits-all festival pass to individual ticketing, and most films are sold out.”
“There’s a lot of resonance between New York City and Tribeca,” said Cara Cusumano, Tribeca’s festival director and senior vice president of programming. “Our flagship event met a need for both the city and the local industry. I think Tribeca Festival Lisboa has that potential too.”
Held from October 30 to November at the Beato Innovation District in Lisbon. 1, Tribeca Lisboa showed five films from the flagship Tribeca festival, along with other American independent films and Portuguese films.
“The timing of this festival is perfect to raise awareness leading up to Awards season,” said Cusumano. “Last year, the Portuguese premiere of ‘Anora’ clearly put us on the radar.”
Julian Schnabel’s ‘In the Hand of Dante’ opened this year’s celebration, with a ceremony that included a tribute to Impresa Group founder Francisco Pinto Balsemão, who died on October 21.
Other titles, which have not previously screened at Tribeca in New York, include Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Bugonia’ and ‘Eleanor the Great’, Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Mexican director Michel Franco attended the Portuguese premiere of ‘Dreams’.
Two films from Tribeca’s New York lineup have a direct Portuguese connection: Lilian T. Mehrel’s dark comedy “Honeyjoon,” shot in the Azores, and Alberto Arévelo’s road movie from Spain to Portugal, “All We Cannot See.”
“Honeyjoon,” which won Tribeca’s $1 million AT&T 2024 Untold Stories prize, was produced by Portuguese producer Andreia Nunes and had its world premiere at Tribeca in June. “It feels like we’ve come full circle,” explains Mehrel, “it’s so rewarding to see a film inspired by real life, real sadness and real love, based on my original trip to the Azores, which will be celebrated in New York and now here.”
Foreign talent who attended the event praised Portugal. Meg Ryan said she wants to travel to Nazaré after watching Chris Smith’s documentary series ‘100 Foot Wave’ with Garrett McNamara. “Are those waves real?” she asked.
The event also served to highlight the increasing international interest in Portuguese film and TV, with one of the highlights being the discussion of Netflix’s ‘Turn of the Tide’, featuring director Augusto Fraga and the main cast, including José Condessa and veteran actor Joaquim d’Almeida. Almeida recently returned to Portugal after a four-decade career in Hollywood. He is fluent in five languages and trusts that acting in his native language makes him more nervous.
Other Portuguese films shown at the fest included Antonio Ferreira’s colonial war film ‘The Scent of Things Remembered’, Duarte Neves’ feature debut ‘Match’ and Fernando Vendrell’s aviation pioneer drama ‘Além do Horizonte – A Travessia’, based on his ‘Star Sailors’ series.
Casting directors Cindy Tolan, Lucy Bevan and Patricia Vasconcelos delivered a masterclass and held a series of casting sessions with Portuguese actors in the run-up to Passaporte Lisboa, a casting festival taking place in November.
Vasconcelos, who organized this year’s lectures, said she is thrilled to be able to program such a wide range of topics, including how to take advantage of Portugal’s tax benefits. Podcasts were curated by Joana Beleza, who invited several well-known podcasters to the festival, making it possible to reach beyond the immediate festival audience.
Latvian producer Matiss Kaza discussed the making of ‘Flow’, which won the 2025 Animation Feature Academy Award, and how smaller countries like Latvia and Portugal can put together international co-productions.
Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas concluded that he is excited about this year’s edition: “I want to create dynamism for our city and create a dream, and Tribeca is an integral part of that dream.”
