Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal perform at the Bloomberg Tribeca Film Festival's 25th Annual Tribeca Film Festival Gala on June 1, 2026, in New York City. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
The 25th anniversary Tribeca Festival in New York City kicks off Wednesday evening with a screening of a new documentary about Earth, Wind & Fire, followed by a performance by the legendary band. The festival, which runs until June 14, features screenings of TV shows, films, and documentaries, as well as premieres, panels, reunions, and a host of stars. Not bad for an event that began as a one-off.
The festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal as a way to revitalize downtown New York after the September 11th terrorist attacks. "The whole question was, how do we bring people back downtown, how do we give our neighbors something to look forward to? In my mind, it was a one-time project," Rosenthal told ABC Audio. "But Bob always believed we'd do it again.".
«"When it happened, I was very positive," De Niro said. "I thought it would be great if this became part of New York culture, a New York tradition that would last forever, you know?"»
De Niro will also be taking part in one of this year's special events: a screening of the film «"Taxi driver"» in honor of his 50th birthday and a conversation with director Martin Scorsese and his co-star Jodie Foster. De Niro said he never thought he'd be celebrating the release of any of his films—even a classic like «"Taxi Driver" - after its release.
«When you work on a film, on a project, you never think that it will be received the way you say it was received. «"Taxi driver »"," he told ABC Audio. "You just don't think about it. So it's nice, but you never expect it… you just do the project and that's it.".
The festival will conclude with a screening of a documentary film. «Alicia Keys: The Girl from Hell's Kitchen; After the show, Keys will perform herself.
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