1 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,720 Nice sunny day and the only chance of a shower for the rest of the work week 2 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:18,680 might be late Thursday or Thursday night. 3 00:00:19,260 --> 00:00:23,500 Get ready for the second coming of Air Jordan. It's primary day and the polls 4 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:24,700 are open in New York City. 5 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,800 Voters are deciding among about 250 candidates. 6 00:00:40,180 --> 00:00:42,980 Giants lose their opener in Monday Night Football in Denver. 7 00:00:43,220 --> 00:00:45,940 Yankees and Red Sox wash down in the Bronx. How many sugar? 8 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,580 Good morning. 64 degrees Tuesday, September 11. 9 00:01:14,250 --> 00:01:18,110 It's 8.52 here in New York. We understand that there has been a plane 10 00:01:18,110 --> 00:01:22,130 crash on the southern tip of Manhattan. You're looking at the World Trade 11 00:01:22,130 --> 00:01:23,130 Center. 12 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:16,280 i was just about to go away out of out of town for the uh that day and i my 13 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:22,780 flight was cancelled i went back downtown and um 14 00:02:22,780 --> 00:02:28,260 and already checkpoints have been set up in canal street and so on i went through 15 00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:34,200 and got home and my i lived about nine blocks north of the uh 16 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:40,950 world trade center i had my television big Big 17 00:02:40,950 --> 00:02:45,590 screen television to my left and I had the big picture window And 18 00:02:45,590 --> 00:02:52,430 when I saw the South Tower start to go down I had to 19 00:02:52,430 --> 00:02:56,310 look at the television to confirm what I was seeing out my window with my own 20 00:02:56,310 --> 00:02:59,130 eyes It was unreal. It was surreal 21 00:03:40,110 --> 00:03:41,910 And then ran like hell, thank God. 22 00:03:42,530 --> 00:03:44,470 I'm 69, but I can still run. 23 00:03:54,450 --> 00:04:01,410 You didn't know what the future would be. 24 00:04:02,810 --> 00:04:08,710 It was so bad that you couldn't even comprehend the enormity of it. 25 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,500 Well, that's not the right word. I guess it was just, you know. 26 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,820 Tribeca was one of those neighborhoods that was sealed off. 27 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,480 Which meant no one was coming back anytime soon. 28 00:04:33,580 --> 00:04:34,580 If ever. 29 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:38,480 Businesses closed. 30 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:40,580 The streets emptied. 31 00:04:41,740 --> 00:04:42,980 People scattered. 32 00:04:44,340 --> 00:04:46,100 The air was toxic. 33 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,960 And it would take years to understand what it was doing to people. 34 00:04:52,020 --> 00:04:57,880 It wasn't just the grief for the nearly 3,000 who died that day. 35 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,400 It was a rupture in the geography of the city. 36 00:05:02,940 --> 00:05:05,140 People were afraid to come downtown. 37 00:05:07,780 --> 00:05:12,900 Bob and I wanted to help we knew we had to do something 38 00:05:45,870 --> 00:05:48,910 It's crazy thinking it was 25 years ago. 39 00:05:49,650 --> 00:05:52,070 The towers were in our neighborhood. 40 00:05:52,410 --> 00:05:59,230 So at that moment, we were human beings with hearts broken and our 41 00:05:59,230 --> 00:06:01,170 community torn apart. 42 00:06:03,590 --> 00:06:10,250 And a huge hole in the ground left by terrorists. What the hell could we do to 43 00:06:10,250 --> 00:06:11,229 fight back? 44 00:06:11,230 --> 00:06:17,470 And what the hell could we do to say, we're still here, screw you, and we're 45 00:06:17,470 --> 00:06:21,110 going to show you stories, and we're going to do something, and we are loud 46 00:06:21,110 --> 00:06:21,989 and proud. 47 00:06:21,990 --> 00:06:27,870 We just did it. And I think more of us have to 48 00:06:27,870 --> 00:06:29,070 do. 49 00:06:46,370 --> 00:06:50,710 In 1989, Jane and I started the Tribeca Film Center. 50 00:06:53,530 --> 00:06:57,730 If you looked left out of my office window, you could see the towers. 51 00:06:57,990 --> 00:06:59,230 They were always there. 52 00:07:00,810 --> 00:07:03,570 Which means after a while, you just stopped noticing them. 53 00:07:04,990 --> 00:07:07,490 And then, one day, they were gone. 54 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,980 People needed to come together, and that's what art does. 55 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:20,800 It unites us. 56 00:07:21,420 --> 00:07:24,680 It pushes back against the things that try to tear us apart. 57 00:07:27,860 --> 00:07:34,840 When freedom is under such attack, storytellers need to 58 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:36,060 gather in response. 59 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:41,520 It's creating an environment where people feel safe to tell their story, 60 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:43,960 whatever their story is. 61 00:07:56,650 --> 00:08:02,010 I fell in love with New York through the movies, and now New York needed the 62 00:08:02,010 --> 00:08:03,010 movies to recover. 63 00:08:07,570 --> 00:08:09,130 The fuck are you smiling about? 64 00:08:11,310 --> 00:08:14,970 To me, New York is the most cinematic city in the world. 65 00:08:17,010 --> 00:08:23,150 It can be romantic, gritty, lonely, desperate, 66 00:08:23,490 --> 00:08:25,070 or ready to explode. 67 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,020 The city's famous for the big stuff. 68 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:36,280 The skyline, the bridges, the landmarks everybody recognizes. 69 00:08:37,260 --> 00:08:40,520 But I always thought the places that got the least attention were the most 70 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:42,320 interesting. Hey! 71 00:08:42,900 --> 00:08:44,120 I'm walking here! 72 00:08:45,100 --> 00:08:46,220 Well, look, George. 73 00:08:46,580 --> 00:08:48,980 You hear that, New York? We don't quit! 74 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,000 Now, how do you like that? 75 00:08:51,380 --> 00:08:55,060 Two and a half miles is as wide as this cacophony gets. 76 00:08:55,910 --> 00:08:57,910 You see the world through someone else's eyes. 77 00:08:58,470 --> 00:09:01,330 You start to understand how other people see things. 78 00:09:01,930 --> 00:09:04,830 I'm as mad as hell! I'm not gonna take this anymore! 79 00:09:05,530 --> 00:09:08,250 And somewhere in there, your perspective shifts. 80 00:09:08,610 --> 00:09:12,870 I personally figured I was watching something that somebody else would never 81 00:09:12,870 --> 00:09:15,550 see again in the world. Thought it was once in a lifetime. 82 00:09:16,790 --> 00:09:20,810 And no matter what the city does to us, we always come back to it. 83 00:09:21,210 --> 00:09:22,790 I love this town! 84 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,680 The site selected for the Trade Center was an old section of Manhattan's Lower 85 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:37,680 West Side. 86 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,780 The area housed a great number of small businesses, but the predominance of 87 00:09:42,780 --> 00:09:46,720 electronic stores caused it to be known as Radio Row. 88 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,700 In 1966, demolition began. 89 00:09:50,220 --> 00:09:56,300 In all, 164 buildings had to be torn down, and generations of power, 90 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,740 telephone, gas, steam, and water lines had to be rerouted. 91 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:07,860 More than 250,000 people live here in the neighborhoods that surround the site 92 00:10:07,860 --> 00:10:09,720 where the Twin Towers once stood. 93 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,960 This area is a ghost town, totally closed to the public. There isn't even 94 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,220 electricity in many of these buildings right now. 95 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,560 I wish things were normal just so we didn't have to think about it. I wish we 96 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,540 could just go to a movie theater and watch movies, but none are open. I wish, 97 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:25,800 you know, it's hard. 98 00:10:27,820 --> 00:10:29,420 It was devastation downtown. 99 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,680 in terms of the restaurants and the businesses. 100 00:10:34,620 --> 00:10:39,840 We had a lot of friends that worked as waiters and people that ran clubs. 101 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,640 I mean, it was just terrible down there. It was dying. 102 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,520 We started organizing these events called Dinner Downtown. 103 00:10:50,300 --> 00:10:56,500 I had this idea of inviting people to come to these dinners. 104 00:10:56,980 --> 00:10:59,340 My goal was have a meal, save a job. 105 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:01,560 They kept growing in size. 106 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,520 You got assigned with like four other celebrities to go to a restaurant and 107 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,800 you're going to have dinner in one restaurant and then go to another place 108 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:10,719 to have dessert. 109 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,220 There was like 30 teams or some crazy thing. 110 00:11:13,980 --> 00:11:16,340 It puts smiles on people's faces. 111 00:11:16,860 --> 00:11:19,000 You can't underestimate the power of that. 112 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:24,360 Not only to rejuvenate the neighborhood, but to lift people's spirits in a 113 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:25,540 genuine fucking way. 114 00:11:30,890 --> 00:11:35,270 At one dinner downtown, there was this Con Ed worker who had lost his son 115 00:11:35,270 --> 00:11:36,330 sitting next to me. 116 00:11:36,930 --> 00:11:41,450 He said he felt like it was finally okay to leave the house to do something 117 00:11:41,450 --> 00:11:42,450 besides mourn. 118 00:11:42,910 --> 00:11:44,450 That was in November 2001. 119 00:11:45,810 --> 00:11:49,710 Dozens of New York notables are trying to jumpstart the tourism industry with a 120 00:11:49,710 --> 00:11:51,530 $40 million advertising campaign. 121 00:11:51,890 --> 00:11:55,070 If it's not such a big deal, why don't you be the turkey? You want me to be the 122 00:11:55,070 --> 00:11:56,070 turkey? Yeah, come on. 123 00:11:56,910 --> 00:12:00,710 We were doing everything we could think of to get New York to feel like New York 124 00:12:00,710 --> 00:12:01,710 again. 125 00:12:02,290 --> 00:12:06,830 We thought, how do we give our community something to look forward to? 126 00:12:07,750 --> 00:12:10,690 Could we give our neighbors a new memory? 127 00:12:12,650 --> 00:12:19,050 Bob and I talked about doing a film festival, but this felt like the right 128 00:12:19,050 --> 00:12:20,050 time. 129 00:12:28,610 --> 00:12:31,590 Tribeca Film Festival is a unique opportunity for people to join together 130 00:12:31,590 --> 00:12:33,490 in the downtown community to share their loves of cinema. 131 00:12:33,810 --> 00:12:37,130 And if anybody could do this, it's Bob De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. 132 00:12:37,530 --> 00:12:38,750 I thought it was a great idea. 133 00:12:39,070 --> 00:12:40,070 They had a vision. 134 00:12:40,850 --> 00:12:44,850 You don't go into battle without having a strategy or a plan, and they had that. 135 00:12:45,530 --> 00:12:47,570 And I've seen a lot of things start and just crumble. 136 00:12:47,850 --> 00:12:48,850 This did not. 137 00:12:49,310 --> 00:12:52,930 This is the time to do it. It's very important for many reasons, many obvious 138 00:12:52,930 --> 00:12:55,130 reasons. And so let's do it. 139 00:12:56,910 --> 00:12:59,770 The festival was kind of an act of defiance. 140 00:13:00,430 --> 00:13:02,490 We had 120 days, 141 00:13:03,510 --> 00:13:08,190 1,300 volunteers, no money, no blueprint, just an idea and a 142 00:13:08,190 --> 00:13:10,030 neighborhood that needed people back in it. 143 00:13:10,650 --> 00:13:14,950 This wasn't just about movies. It was about whether downtown was coming back. 144 00:13:15,810 --> 00:13:21,470 Some of the toughest things were figuring out what movie theaters we 145 00:13:21,470 --> 00:13:25,430 could go into. We had to go in wearing hazmat suits. 146 00:13:26,730 --> 00:13:30,810 We had to get the city on board, business leaders, politicians. 147 00:13:31,610 --> 00:13:35,990 Mike Bloomberg showed up first just as a supporter, then as the mayor. 148 00:13:36,870 --> 00:13:38,190 Nobody slept much. 149 00:13:38,990 --> 00:13:41,190 You looked out the window, it was still smoking. 150 00:13:42,450 --> 00:13:44,110 That kept things in perspective. 151 00:13:45,850 --> 00:13:48,190 Our city had been attacked. 152 00:13:48,810 --> 00:13:51,910 It felt like this is what you had to do. 153 00:13:53,210 --> 00:13:55,690 There was this mantra that we had. 154 00:13:56,970 --> 00:14:02,230 Whenever people would get upset about something or complain about something or 155 00:14:02,230 --> 00:14:05,690 whatever it was, we'd say, look left. 156 00:14:07,830 --> 00:14:09,270 That's why we're doing it. 157 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,680 We weren't sure how it would feel to go from a recovery operation in lower 158 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,720 Manhattan to suddenly screening movies. 159 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,200 We invited Nelson Mandela to open the first festival. 160 00:14:33,820 --> 00:14:35,640 He really gave us a way forward. 161 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,480 Our goal was to celebrate the power of filmmaking, but more importantly, to 162 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:01,240 revitalize our neighborhood that was devastated on September 11th. 163 00:15:01,780 --> 00:15:07,120 The mission of the film festival is simple, to bring 50,000 people to Lower 164 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:12,540 Manhattan over the next four days, to use the power of filmmaking not only to 165 00:15:12,540 --> 00:15:15,880 entertain, but also to rebuild our city. 166 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,200 We invite everyone to come and join us. 167 00:15:20,670 --> 00:15:25,210 This neighborhood in particular is, even before September, was just sort of being 168 00:15:25,210 --> 00:15:30,830 born, and now it needs all this healing. So I think it's sort of a perfect thing 169 00:15:30,830 --> 00:15:31,689 they've done. 170 00:15:31,690 --> 00:15:34,830 You know, the great thing about the movie business is that it draws crowds. 171 00:15:35,110 --> 00:15:37,850 So when you have a film festival, you know, you're going to have people down 172 00:15:37,850 --> 00:15:40,990 in the neighborhood, and that's going to help all of the restaurants and all of 173 00:15:40,990 --> 00:15:41,990 the smaller businesses. 174 00:15:42,510 --> 00:15:47,330 I mean, live down here, I saw firsthand just how devastated the neighborhood 175 00:15:47,330 --> 00:15:52,560 was. So when Jane and Bob called about the festival, it was a no-brainer to 176 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,580 jump in and do whatever they asked me to do. And that's what our community 177 00:15:55,580 --> 00:15:59,640 needed, you know, to be in a room laughing and crying together. 178 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:05,480 That first year was important to have a comedy because you wanted to laugh. 179 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,320 If you laughed, your endorphins come out, and then you feel better. 180 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:11,600 You just go. 181 00:16:12,020 --> 00:16:13,620 Okay. I'll be back. 182 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,140 Ooh, I'm really scared. 183 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:17,200 I've been to a lot of film festivals. 184 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,380 I love them and I believe in them. And I've seen it firsthand time and time 185 00:16:21,380 --> 00:16:26,960 again, what a fabulous vitamin B12 injection to the buttock they can be to 186 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:28,860 any area, any city, any town. 187 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,480 Now there's, you know, obviously the neighborhood's really rejuvenated. 188 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,760 More people are walking up and down the streets than I've ever seen in months. 189 00:16:36,220 --> 00:16:39,280 People seem to be, you know, having a good time, talking about movies, 190 00:16:39,380 --> 00:16:41,920 thinking about the neighborhood, which is really the whole point of it. 191 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,600 The thing that Bob and Jane really did. 192 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,580 was to say to people, listen, yes, this happened. 193 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:52,200 We're not afraid. 194 00:16:53,140 --> 00:16:58,800 Downtown will not just be revitalized, but it will be reinvigorated. 195 00:16:59,900 --> 00:17:06,380 Part of the responsibility that Bob and Jane took on was saying quite 196 00:17:06,380 --> 00:17:09,800 loudly, we are not going to take this lying down. 197 00:17:10,420 --> 00:17:12,020 We're going to bring downtown back. 198 00:17:21,099 --> 00:17:22,099 I lived downtown. 199 00:17:23,180 --> 00:17:29,260 We had started work on a documentary about 9-11, and I wanted Bob, who was 200 00:17:29,260 --> 00:17:33,380 sort of the unofficial mayor of Tribeca, to be the front person for it. It's hard 201 00:17:33,380 --> 00:17:37,520 to weigh what happened on September 11th. But then he and Jane came up with 202 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,940 the idea of doing a film festival downtown, and I don't know anybody who 203 00:17:41,940 --> 00:17:43,140 could say no to Bob De Niro. 204 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,600 Graydon Carter had the idea of doing a Vanity Fair party at the courthouse. 205 00:17:49,610 --> 00:17:53,150 And that's kind of when the festival felt real, like, oh my God, we've really 206 00:17:53,150 --> 00:17:56,110 done something. Look, it's real. 207 00:17:58,110 --> 00:18:04,090 At the event, if anybody needed to know where the bathrooms were, they'd ask any 208 00:18:04,090 --> 00:18:07,510 nearby billionaire, because the billionaires had all had trials in the 209 00:18:07,510 --> 00:18:09,590 building and knew exactly where the men's rooms were. 210 00:18:11,190 --> 00:18:15,970 The Tribeca Film Festival, that was the beginning of putting the city back 211 00:18:15,970 --> 00:18:16,970 together. 212 00:18:17,310 --> 00:18:18,670 Now it's part of the... 213 00:18:18,990 --> 00:18:25,650 cultural schedule of the city the festival started as a reaction to 9 11 214 00:18:25,650 --> 00:18:32,610 but it was also the birth of something very special what can we do to keep our 215 00:18:32,610 --> 00:18:34,510 neighborhood alive and moving forward 216 00:18:34,510 --> 00:18:41,370 we all had different 217 00:18:41,370 --> 00:18:45,550 visions of cinema jane had a vision bob had a vision i had a vision 218 00:18:46,350 --> 00:18:48,590 Marty Scorsese was involved at the beginning. 219 00:18:48,830 --> 00:18:53,630 In fact, Marty began supplying films for retrospectives and the idea that a film 220 00:18:53,630 --> 00:18:58,970 festival would be new films, but also classic films, silent films, be all 221 00:18:58,970 --> 00:18:59,990 kinds of cinema. 222 00:19:00,630 --> 00:19:05,210 This was part of what a film festival is supposed to be and what Tribeca became. 223 00:19:11,910 --> 00:19:13,050 For me... 224 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:15,650 this Manhattan is the universe. 225 00:19:16,710 --> 00:19:23,350 And so everything I see and everything I react to is filtered through my 226 00:19:23,350 --> 00:19:24,710 experience in the city. 227 00:19:25,430 --> 00:19:29,130 Bob, you know that when we were downtown, because we kind of knew each 228 00:19:29,130 --> 00:19:30,870 other when I think we were 16. 229 00:19:31,350 --> 00:19:32,350 Where did you hang out? 230 00:19:32,810 --> 00:19:38,190 Two blocks south of where you were, right where we shot, actually, at 10 231 00:19:38,190 --> 00:19:40,430 Manor Street, Mulberry Street, that area. 232 00:19:41,770 --> 00:19:47,390 No matter what the immigrant group is, the immigrant experience, I think it's 233 00:19:47,390 --> 00:19:48,670 generally the same pattern. 234 00:19:49,210 --> 00:19:50,830 Who are we in this country? 235 00:19:51,550 --> 00:19:53,090 You know, what are we? 236 00:19:54,750 --> 00:19:57,130 It's a great experiment. Will it continue? 237 00:19:57,350 --> 00:19:59,370 You know, can we make it continue? 238 00:20:20,490 --> 00:20:24,770 You've seen the pictures of me and Fellini and Sergio Leone. 239 00:20:26,030 --> 00:20:27,350 Oh, my God, that's great. 240 00:20:29,850 --> 00:20:34,230 My parents at a certain point had to be moved from Elizabeth Street because they 241 00:20:34,230 --> 00:20:37,410 couldn't go up and down the stairs anymore, so they got them an apartment 242 00:20:37,410 --> 00:20:44,390 in an elevator building on 19th Street and 3rd 243 00:20:44,390 --> 00:20:45,389 Avenue, remember? 244 00:20:45,390 --> 00:20:49,110 The first time I visited the apartment, Sergio was with me. I said, this is a 245 00:20:49,110 --> 00:20:51,430 grand occasion. I said, maybe the first time you're visiting the apartment. 246 00:20:51,870 --> 00:20:54,930 And my mother made all this food for him. 247 00:20:55,570 --> 00:20:57,310 She liked him, said he was a very good eater. 248 00:20:58,350 --> 00:21:04,710 But at that time, this place, the only excellent restaurant, for example, and 249 00:21:04,710 --> 00:21:05,730 place was the Odeon. 250 00:21:06,970 --> 00:21:09,130 Everything else was dead empty. 251 00:21:09,910 --> 00:21:12,310 There was nothing here except the Odeon. 252 00:21:12,950 --> 00:21:14,310 I stayed here for quite a while. 253 00:21:14,780 --> 00:21:20,420 You know, and as we did, it became more lively, places opened, people started to 254 00:21:20,420 --> 00:21:21,420 move down here. 255 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:23,780 So the place started to come together. 256 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:31,420 I was here at the time of where it was just the very, very beginning of 257 00:21:31,420 --> 00:21:34,100 the development of the place, put it that way. 258 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:38,420 You know, where people actually started to be encouraged to come here and also 259 00:21:38,420 --> 00:21:39,420 to create it. 260 00:21:45,130 --> 00:21:50,630 When I first moved here, and I would say, I was living in Tribeca, and people 261 00:21:50,630 --> 00:21:54,650 would say to me, I thought you moved to New York. And I'd say, I have moved to 262 00:21:54,650 --> 00:21:55,209 New York. 263 00:21:55,210 --> 00:21:56,790 It's Tribeca. 264 00:21:57,010 --> 00:21:59,410 It's the triangle below Canal Street. 265 00:22:05,190 --> 00:22:10,030 If you look at a map of lower Manhattan in the early 1800s, this place was 266 00:22:10,030 --> 00:22:13,170 mostly open fields, right at the edge of the city. 267 00:22:14,730 --> 00:22:19,810 The closeness to the water, the accessibility of all the piers, the 268 00:22:19,810 --> 00:22:26,650 wholesale food market, all those things drove Tribeca to become what it 269 00:22:26,650 --> 00:22:32,770 was. And this area became this actually, you know, rather beautiful little 270 00:22:32,770 --> 00:22:38,810 industrial village in the 70s. There was still a certain amount of industry, 271 00:22:39,070 --> 00:22:43,010 but not enough to really keep it going. 272 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:51,100 As artists began to be priced out of Soho, they trickled down 273 00:22:51,100 --> 00:22:57,840 below Canal Street and into this industrial area that was weirdly off the 274 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,300 radar. There were very few people. 275 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:03,820 I mean, it was bleak. 276 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:10,200 If you think of Marty's film, After Hours, it was like that. 277 00:23:11,020 --> 00:23:12,780 But there was a lot of... 278 00:23:12,990 --> 00:23:16,490 freedom and you know you can hang yourself with it or you can find it to 279 00:23:16,490 --> 00:23:22,950 be liberating tribeca became a place where you could live and work in the 280 00:23:22,950 --> 00:23:28,530 same room where young families moved into former factories like so much in 281 00:23:28,530 --> 00:23:31,730 new york it wasn't designed that way it just worked 282 00:23:31,730 --> 00:23:38,410 the space that i remember 283 00:23:38,410 --> 00:23:42,700 particularly during the day was all trucking Trucks everywhere then at 284 00:23:42,700 --> 00:23:44,140 night. It was dead empty. 285 00:23:44,660 --> 00:23:51,560 It was really good for stealing hubcaps or Any kind of sex that you wanted 286 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:56,580 or like drugs that was you couldn't nobody could see anything Yeah, I'm done 287 00:23:56,580 --> 00:24:01,180 before after-hours. So try Becca all of a sudden now is like the Elysian Fields. 288 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:08,000 I mean well I Said I know guys used to steal hubcaps take cars from here. What 289 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:09,000 is it? 290 00:24:09,770 --> 00:24:11,190 Not that I did. I'm just saying. 291 00:24:16,170 --> 00:24:21,270 In this corner of New York City between the Wall Street Traders and the Soho Art 292 00:24:21,270 --> 00:24:25,870 Galleries, De Niro is building a film community, a place for ideas, talent, 293 00:24:25,950 --> 00:24:28,450 and money can get together outside of Hollywood. 294 00:24:28,710 --> 00:24:31,710 When I saw this building, I said it would be nice to have a place that would 295 00:24:31,710 --> 00:24:36,010 have everything like a restaurant, a screening room, especially this one, 296 00:24:36,050 --> 00:24:37,970 which is a state-of-the-art screening room. 297 00:24:38,620 --> 00:24:42,500 Don't ask me all the details, but I know it is, where a lot of people would be 298 00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:47,320 brought together in film, creative people who, just by being together, 299 00:24:47,620 --> 00:24:53,660 ideas would come up and projects and so on that we don't even know what they 300 00:24:53,660 --> 00:24:56,300 would be. I mean, the whole thing will take on a life of its own. 301 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:11,020 Gene and I started... Working together, I saw this building and I thought, well, 302 00:25:11,020 --> 00:25:12,660 gee, it'd be great if we could do something. 303 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:14,840 It was my dream. 304 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,000 And we actually got it done. 305 00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:22,800 I grew up in the village a few blocks north. 306 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,880 In the late 70s, I was looking around for gym space to train for Raging Bull. 307 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,360 That's when I kind of fell for the neighborhood. 308 00:25:37,290 --> 00:25:41,670 The neighborhood was the Mercantile and Butter and Egg District. 309 00:25:41,930 --> 00:25:46,950 This building was the former Martinson Coffee and Tetley Tea Building. 310 00:25:47,630 --> 00:25:52,910 If you walked by this block, it really did smell of coffee roasting. 311 00:25:53,670 --> 00:25:58,730 If you walked a little further south, you got to the Nut District. 312 00:25:59,530 --> 00:26:03,910 The whole point was to build a place for independent film in New York. 313 00:26:04,830 --> 00:26:08,310 People from LA always said, New York's a nice place to visit. Wouldn't want to 314 00:26:08,310 --> 00:26:10,330 live there. Well, that was how it went for me. 315 00:26:10,850 --> 00:26:13,130 LA's a nice place to visit. I wouldn't want to live there. 316 00:26:14,070 --> 00:26:17,430 We wanted to be down here. It was more unique, special. 317 00:26:19,030 --> 00:26:20,670 This building seemed perfect. 318 00:26:22,210 --> 00:26:26,750 What we did is take a manufacturing building that was actually for physical 319 00:26:26,750 --> 00:26:30,030 manufacturing and turn it into a place of... 320 00:26:30,570 --> 00:26:35,050 creating and manufacturing stories and creativity. 321 00:26:56,170 --> 00:26:59,570 The first festival was only four days. 322 00:27:00,330 --> 00:27:03,670 And then we had to immediately start the second festival. 323 00:27:06,510 --> 00:27:13,370 It is my pleasure to announce the second annual Tribeca Film Festival will 324 00:27:13,370 --> 00:27:16,170 be returning to Lower Manhattan this spring. 325 00:27:16,650 --> 00:27:20,670 And slowly it began to have this kind of celebrity aura to it. 326 00:27:21,290 --> 00:27:26,970 It went from this emotional 9-11 experience to becoming a very valid 327 00:27:26,970 --> 00:27:27,970 festival. 328 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,980 Tribeca helped give respect to documentaries. 329 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,500 It became part of the business. 330 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,360 Find out who made it. Find out what else they've done. Here's a name you never 331 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:42,360 heard of before. 332 00:27:42,780 --> 00:27:48,820 Virunga is a story about a British oil company that was illegally exploring for 333 00:27:48,820 --> 00:27:50,420 oil within a national park. 334 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,960 There was a lot of people that didn't want this film to see the light of day. 335 00:27:55,520 --> 00:28:00,200 A year after the film... launched at Tribeca, Soko International, formerly 336 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:01,760 withdrew from the Virunga National Park. 337 00:28:02,260 --> 00:28:06,660 And then people started talking about the film as an awards contender. 338 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:11,640 There's a contingent of filmmakers you know will show up at Tribeca. They're 339 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,380 the cream of the crop of film festival talent. 340 00:28:15,140 --> 00:28:20,020 Taxi to the Dark Side, it had the premiere at Tribeca, went on to win the 341 00:28:20,020 --> 00:28:21,020 Oscars. 342 00:28:28,110 --> 00:28:30,770 I just thought that this would be a helpful time for us all to, like, now 343 00:28:30,770 --> 00:28:35,030 that the first screenings are up, to actually look at it day by day. 344 00:28:35,250 --> 00:28:38,330 Are we kind of front-loading things that we think are impactful? 345 00:28:38,670 --> 00:28:40,430 Does every day have a good balance? 346 00:28:41,490 --> 00:28:45,070 I think we've really become a discovery festival. 347 00:28:45,630 --> 00:28:49,790 It's the part of the job that I think is the most exciting, is that we could 348 00:28:49,790 --> 00:28:55,050 potentially be changing someone's life, changing culture. 349 00:28:55,790 --> 00:29:00,270 putting fingerprints on what the film culture in this country looks like. 350 00:29:00,470 --> 00:29:04,390 Voice of the Rainbow, Mouthful of Gold, The Long Haul, those are kind of the 351 00:29:04,390 --> 00:29:08,090 ones I see on this list that could go into a 250 to 350 size. 352 00:29:08,610 --> 00:29:10,450 An iconic class could fill one of those Sunday slots. 353 00:29:11,750 --> 00:29:15,070 Hi, my name is Damien Chazelle. I'm the writer and director of Guy and Madeline 354 00:29:15,070 --> 00:29:17,870 on a Park Bench, and this is my first Tribeca Film Festival. 355 00:29:18,710 --> 00:29:22,470 One of my first years, we saw Damien Chazelle's first film, Guy and Madeline 356 00:29:22,470 --> 00:29:23,470 on a Park Bench. 357 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,820 He's gone on to such incredible success since then. 358 00:29:28,740 --> 00:29:32,440 It's sort of mind-boggling. There's a whole lot of filmmakers that have 359 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:33,440 started here. 360 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,040 Ryan Coogler had his first short here, which was called Locks. 361 00:29:37,460 --> 00:29:41,240 We chose writer-director Nia DaCosta's Little Woods. 362 00:29:42,020 --> 00:29:47,280 Nia DaCosta, she's a wonderful filmmaker that has since completely blown up. 363 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:48,480 Oh, wow. 364 00:29:49,420 --> 00:29:53,160 Winning something like that on your first film is so... 365 00:29:54,770 --> 00:29:56,930 impactful. It makes people pay attention. 366 00:29:57,610 --> 00:30:02,090 That's one of the things I really love about Tribeca is that they genuinely are 367 00:30:02,090 --> 00:30:06,830 focused in expanding the kinds of films that we get to see and from different 368 00:30:06,830 --> 00:30:07,830 kinds of people. 369 00:30:08,230 --> 00:30:12,330 My career was made there because that's where I sold my film, and that really 370 00:30:12,330 --> 00:30:13,770 changed sort of my trajectory. 371 00:30:15,690 --> 00:30:21,510 We just kept doing what we set out to do, finding new voices, new ways to tell 372 00:30:21,510 --> 00:30:25,800 stories. different perspectives, people with something to say. 373 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:34,260 We'd like to present the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature. The winner 374 00:30:34,260 --> 00:30:39,600 will receive $25,000, as well as an Art Award valued at $50,000. 375 00:30:40,220 --> 00:30:44,800 The Art Awards program is something that Jane conceived of in the very early days 376 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,260 because we are a competitive festival. 377 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:56,280 Every year, approximately 10 artists contribute original artwork from their 378 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,440 collection or something that they make for the festival, and it serves as a 379 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:01,440 filmmaker prize. 380 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:04,160 So it's really one art form celebrating another. 381 00:31:06,380 --> 00:31:09,920 Viable piece of art, it's a nice thing to give to somebody. 382 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:11,860 It grows with them. 383 00:31:13,060 --> 00:31:15,400 I never had a sense of community in my life. 384 00:31:15,900 --> 00:31:20,660 To be a part of the Tribeca Film Festival and to be a part of what it did 385 00:31:20,660 --> 00:31:23,700 for other people, I was very proud to be part of that. 386 00:31:36,700 --> 00:31:40,020 How's it going? How you doing? 387 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:41,720 When I first started the festival, 388 00:31:42,540 --> 00:31:46,800 Most of the films we showed were on like 35 or 16 millimeter. 389 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:52,580 When digital came along, that kind of opened up the ability to make films for 390 00:31:52,580 --> 00:31:54,020 so many more people. 391 00:32:00,180 --> 00:32:03,840 The more people who are making films, the more kind of stories that are being 392 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:07,880 told, the more different types of stories you're going to get. 393 00:32:11,180 --> 00:32:16,940 Part of what a festival does is bring people together to watch all kinds of 394 00:32:16,940 --> 00:32:20,700 films and have discussions afterwards and hear what a filmmaker was thinking 395 00:32:20,700 --> 00:32:26,000 and engage in some real interesting conversations. 396 00:32:26,500 --> 00:32:32,540 That night was the happiest moment of my life. 397 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,720 Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up. 398 00:32:35,050 --> 00:32:40,210 for the director and cast of the godfather and the godfather part two 399 00:32:40,210 --> 00:32:45,430 i've been asked by big shots how do you make a film that is successful 400 00:32:45,430 --> 00:32:50,970 financially and also artistically and i i said to him risk 401 00:33:24,770 --> 00:33:30,770 Good evening everyone and welcome to the 25th Tribeca Festival. 402 00:33:32,330 --> 00:33:37,030 It's hard to believe that it's been half a century since the brilliant Martin 403 00:33:37,030 --> 00:33:39,330 Scorsese delivered us Taxi Driver. 404 00:33:40,010 --> 00:33:40,810 They 405 00:33:40,810 --> 00:33:47,850 are 406 00:33:47,850 --> 00:33:50,870 joined here tonight by other incredible artists. 407 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,700 at the heart of Taxi Driver, Jodie Foster and Paul Schrader. 408 00:33:58,820 --> 00:34:04,780 Jodie was only 12 years old when she starred in Taxi Driver and Paul, the 409 00:34:04,780 --> 00:34:08,239 extraordinary screenwriter who brought Taxi Driver to life. 410 00:34:09,219 --> 00:34:15,960 Please join me in welcoming Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, 411 00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:19,639 Jodie Foster, Paul Schrader, and W. Elmo Bell. 412 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:29,139 Taxi Driver is about a disaffected young man who has problems connecting 413 00:34:29,139 --> 00:34:34,159 romantically with women and hyper focuses on politicians in the wrong ways 414 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:38,040 and wants to be the hero in his own story. Why do you think this is relevant 415 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:39,040 today? 416 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:47,280 There was something absolutely 100% true and authentic about the 417 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:52,100 character's disaffection and loneliness that I didn't really understand but that 418 00:34:52,100 --> 00:34:53,100 I knew was really true. 419 00:34:53,810 --> 00:34:56,010 Mr. Scorsese, what do you think? Why has this film endured? 420 00:34:56,650 --> 00:35:01,590 When I saw the cab, I began to realize that it's that arc of despair. 421 00:35:02,310 --> 00:35:05,170 New York in the summer has got great steam. 422 00:35:07,170 --> 00:35:11,050 The steam comes up, and the cab came through. It's, oh, my God. Look at that. 423 00:35:11,110 --> 00:35:14,470 Somebody said, oh, it's supposed to be the hell metaphor. I wasn't making a 424 00:35:14,470 --> 00:35:15,970 metaphor. It's the cab coming through the steam. 425 00:35:17,730 --> 00:35:19,830 No? Really, really, it was. 426 00:35:20,410 --> 00:35:24,210 Can we spare some words for that era of New York City and what it was like to 427 00:35:24,210 --> 00:35:25,210 film in that era? 428 00:35:25,390 --> 00:35:29,450 There was something in the shoot of the film that you could feel in the 429 00:35:29,450 --> 00:35:35,650 temperature. You could feel a kind of violence all around you, and you could 430 00:35:35,650 --> 00:35:37,850 taste it in a way. I mean, it was the city. 431 00:35:38,110 --> 00:35:39,630 It was falling apart. 432 00:35:40,770 --> 00:35:42,010 Really was falling apart. 433 00:35:42,350 --> 00:35:45,970 Sitting there in the village saying, this is the greatest fucking place on 434 00:35:45,970 --> 00:35:46,970 Earth. 435 00:35:48,470 --> 00:35:49,470 It really was. 436 00:35:51,370 --> 00:35:54,550 So I'm not going to be able to leave here alive if I don't ask about one 437 00:35:54,550 --> 00:35:56,130 scene in particular from Taxi Driver. 438 00:35:56,350 --> 00:35:57,229 Do you remember? 439 00:35:57,230 --> 00:35:58,230 I think so. 440 00:35:59,670 --> 00:36:02,590 Would you happen to remember what the famous line from that scene is? 441 00:36:02,950 --> 00:36:04,310 Yes, I know it. 442 00:36:07,590 --> 00:36:08,890 Are you talking to me? 443 00:36:15,830 --> 00:36:17,050 I'll add one more thing. 444 00:36:18,380 --> 00:36:19,460 I'm the only one here. 445 00:36:20,580 --> 00:36:22,900 That's the point. That was the point. You're right. 446 00:36:27,500 --> 00:36:34,200 It didn't matter how much we 447 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:35,200 expanded or grew. 448 00:36:35,580 --> 00:36:37,460 We never forgot where we came from. 449 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:43,360 You're opening up the festival this year with a movie, United 93, which of course 450 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:45,760 tells the story of the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. 451 00:36:46,510 --> 00:36:50,890 You couldn't think of not opening the festival with the movie. Let's put it 452 00:36:50,890 --> 00:36:51,890 that way. 453 00:36:53,650 --> 00:36:57,110 We invited all the families to come to the festival. 454 00:36:58,250 --> 00:37:00,950 They never felt part of the national grief. 455 00:37:01,250 --> 00:37:05,390 That was for the Pentagon, and it was for New York. 456 00:37:05,650 --> 00:37:07,830 They didn't talk about United 93. 457 00:37:08,370 --> 00:37:10,770 This is a movie to see to be strong. 458 00:37:11,010 --> 00:37:14,070 To be strong. Not to be afraid of nobody. 459 00:37:17,900 --> 00:37:20,680 There were sobs in the theater. 460 00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:23,720 It was people grieving. 461 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:29,640 We were there for each other, collectively, singularly. 462 00:37:31,660 --> 00:37:34,940 It harkens back to why we built the festival in the first place. 463 00:37:41,780 --> 00:37:44,360 Tribeca is not actually a triangle. 464 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:46,420 It's a quadrilateral. 465 00:37:47,070 --> 00:37:49,470 That speaks to exactly what Tribeca is. 466 00:37:50,250 --> 00:37:54,550 It's just kind of a little tilted, a little quirky, a little surprising, 467 00:37:54,790 --> 00:37:55,790 unexpected. 468 00:37:56,550 --> 00:37:58,690 It isn't just borders on a map. 469 00:37:59,470 --> 00:38:00,510 It's a feeling. 470 00:38:01,030 --> 00:38:02,370 It's a vibe. 471 00:38:03,370 --> 00:38:06,510 At the heart, we are about a community and bringing people together. 472 00:38:07,410 --> 00:38:11,390 And there's nothing like a New York audience because it's as diverse as 473 00:38:11,390 --> 00:38:14,750 every point of view that can exist in the world. It's here in New York. 474 00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:17,760 I feel like we're an audience festival. 475 00:38:18,020 --> 00:38:22,140 That first festival it was about how many people we could bring downtown. 476 00:38:22,500 --> 00:38:24,660 That first year David Bowie played. 477 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:35,700 Music became part of the festival 478 00:38:35,700 --> 00:38:42,300 going forward because it was a way to celebrate and we needed to start to feel 479 00:38:42,300 --> 00:38:43,300 good again. 480 00:38:44,170 --> 00:38:49,230 Elton John performed, and he played your song and dedicated it to New York City. 481 00:38:49,510 --> 00:38:50,990 This one's for you with my love. 482 00:38:52,590 --> 00:38:58,010 Now we have Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus coming, and we had Nas come with his 483 00:38:58,010 --> 00:38:59,010 time-ismatic film. 484 00:39:00,190 --> 00:39:01,690 Nas is New York. 485 00:39:01,950 --> 00:39:03,310 Hip-hop is New York. 486 00:39:04,890 --> 00:39:09,790 Opening the Tribeca Film Festival, Robert De Niro comes out. 487 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:14,220 and introduces the film. This film tells the story of the making of an artist and 488 00:39:14,220 --> 00:39:16,320 the making of an album here in our hometown. 489 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,080 It was a surreal moment, to say the least. 490 00:39:20,300 --> 00:39:21,640 I want to thank Robert De Niro. 491 00:39:22,180 --> 00:39:23,900 He plays me in all his movies. 492 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:32,960 Artists in the city, we're like born with this obligation to represent New 493 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:36,300 York. You have to express it in your art. 494 00:39:37,100 --> 00:39:38,100 I love you. 495 00:39:50,350 --> 00:39:54,410 Governor Cuomo just announced the first confirmed case in New York City. The 496 00:39:54,410 --> 00:39:59,190 number of cases has climbed to 5,000. Coronavirus crisis in the nation's 497 00:39:59,190 --> 00:40:00,850 largest city is exploding. 498 00:40:01,350 --> 00:40:06,030 Bars, restaurants, entertainment venues shut down in an attempt to slow the 499 00:40:06,030 --> 00:40:07,470 rapidly spreading virus. 500 00:40:08,870 --> 00:40:12,450 In March of 2020, everything stopped. 501 00:40:13,670 --> 00:40:15,190 New York shut down. 502 00:40:16,250 --> 00:40:17,470 Almost overnight. 503 00:40:18,070 --> 00:40:19,450 Theaters went dark. 504 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:21,880 Streets were empty. 505 00:40:23,340 --> 00:40:28,100 We were one of the first festivals that had to pause during COVID. 506 00:40:28,540 --> 00:40:35,520 I was struck by the fact that we started the festival to bring people 507 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:40,560 together. And COVID, we couldn't touch each other. 508 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:48,280 Tribeca is now helping New York rejuvenate post-COVID. 509 00:40:48,730 --> 00:40:53,050 We've been through a grueling year, and it's been devastating, frustrating, at 510 00:40:53,050 --> 00:40:54,050 times frightening. 511 00:40:54,370 --> 00:40:58,910 Today, we're thrilled to be able to bring the Tribeca Film Festival to all 512 00:40:58,910 --> 00:41:04,170 five boroughs as a tribute to storytelling and cultural richness of 513 00:41:04,170 --> 00:41:05,690 every part of New York. 514 00:41:07,310 --> 00:41:11,890 Tribeca will be the first in-person film festival to take place in all of North 515 00:41:11,890 --> 00:41:14,850 America since the pandemic began over a year ago. 516 00:41:15,090 --> 00:41:16,130 Well, first of all, congratulations. 517 00:41:16,610 --> 00:41:17,610 Thank you. Thank you so much. 518 00:41:17,670 --> 00:41:21,650 John Chu had one of his early short films here at Tribeca. 519 00:41:22,450 --> 00:41:23,750 This is where we started. 520 00:41:24,850 --> 00:41:30,470 When we came here for the first time, we were wide-eyed and innocent, within the 521 00:41:30,470 --> 00:41:31,470 heights being there. 522 00:41:31,550 --> 00:41:34,450 It couldn't have been more full circle for us. 523 00:41:34,990 --> 00:41:39,330 We were back and it was this community in Washington Heights where we premiered 524 00:41:39,330 --> 00:41:41,190 it, where we shot the movie. 525 00:41:41,470 --> 00:41:48,150 So to come back there after being locked down, to be outside, just felt like a 526 00:41:48,150 --> 00:41:52,450 return to not just home, but to normalcy. 527 00:41:52,790 --> 00:41:54,730 It was like breathing air again. 528 00:41:55,950 --> 00:41:59,790 You just saw people come back and just for an hour or two, they were able to 529 00:41:59,790 --> 00:42:03,070 forget everything going on in the world and in their lives. 530 00:42:03,850 --> 00:42:07,770 We bought the entertainment that was originally what Tribeca was all about. 531 00:42:08,290 --> 00:42:13,430 It was amazing to see just New Yorkers being New Yorkers again. 532 00:42:19,910 --> 00:42:26,430 Film has the ability to take people out of the world they live in and show them 533 00:42:26,430 --> 00:42:27,430 other things. 534 00:42:27,990 --> 00:42:30,630 That's, for me, the beauty of the arts. 535 00:42:31,270 --> 00:42:33,030 You are able to share. 536 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:38,020 This is what I think, and this is who I am. Who am I doing downtown? I never 537 00:42:38,020 --> 00:42:38,899 come downtown. 538 00:42:38,900 --> 00:42:39,900 I hate downtown. 539 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:45,680 Artists reveal certain truths that some people are afraid to face, and that's 540 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:46,680 why they're artists. 541 00:42:47,140 --> 00:42:51,740 At the end of the day, artists are just trying to point out what's going on. 542 00:42:52,220 --> 00:42:54,960 Art is inclusive. It brings people together. 543 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,160 Tonight, art looks for truth. 544 00:42:58,380 --> 00:43:01,880 Art embraces diversity, and that's why art is a... 545 00:43:02,490 --> 00:43:08,590 is a threat that's why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists 546 00:43:08,590 --> 00:43:14,130 and this isn't just an american problem it's a global one 547 00:43:14,130 --> 00:43:20,570 unlike a film we can't just all sit back and watch we have to act 548 00:43:20,570 --> 00:43:27,310 and we have to act now another suspected explosive was found in the mail that 549 00:43:27,310 --> 00:43:32,960 package sent to the tribeca offices of actor robert de niro Bob is really 550 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:36,040 fearless in what he's willing to take on. 551 00:43:36,260 --> 00:43:38,500 I feel betrayed by my country. 552 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:43,760 It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does need to return to the values that 553 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:45,420 gave us our strength and humanity. 554 00:43:47,660 --> 00:43:54,120 And particularly proud of him and his voice as an independent, free 555 00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:58,120 person speaking about the situation that we're living in. 556 00:43:59,660 --> 00:44:05,360 Someone like Bob, when he uses his words, can bring people's attention to 557 00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:06,480 certain issues. 558 00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:10,720 You're always about lifting up everybody around you. Yeah, of course. 559 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:12,040 Why is that? 560 00:44:16,340 --> 00:44:17,340 You have to. 561 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:21,640 You have to lift people up. Why? You have to bring them together. 562 00:44:23,020 --> 00:44:24,020 Period. 563 00:44:25,220 --> 00:44:26,800 You can't divide people. 564 00:44:27,620 --> 00:44:28,980 You can't win that way. 565 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:37,280 It's a no-win situation. 566 00:44:42,780 --> 00:44:47,860 We give out an award that the late Paula Weinstein started in honor of Harry 567 00:44:47,860 --> 00:44:50,260 Belafonte for artists and activism. 568 00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:53,440 Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. 569 00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:58,000 This year, we're giving the Belafonte Award to Bruce Springsteen. 570 00:44:58,730 --> 00:45:04,770 He's not afraid to fight back with his words, his music, and about what's been 571 00:45:04,770 --> 00:45:06,090 going on in this country. 572 00:45:06,430 --> 00:45:13,170 This past winter, federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of 573 00:45:13,170 --> 00:45:14,170 Minneapolis. 574 00:45:14,830 --> 00:45:19,850 Bruce is exactly the right person to write that lament, Streets of 575 00:45:19,850 --> 00:45:23,190 Minneapolis, right at the moment when we all needed to hear it. 576 00:45:30,829 --> 00:45:35,090 America tells its story in cinema. 577 00:45:35,810 --> 00:45:41,290 Cinema is where the American dream was encoded before it was exported. 578 00:45:41,610 --> 00:45:42,970 And what followed? 579 00:45:43,210 --> 00:45:44,410 American music. 580 00:45:44,890 --> 00:45:46,510 Johnny Cash was America. 581 00:45:46,730 --> 00:45:48,070 Aretha Franklin was America. 582 00:45:48,330 --> 00:45:50,210 Harry Belafonte was America. 583 00:45:51,130 --> 00:45:53,690 Bruce Springsteen is America. 584 00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:04,800 Some songs manage to change not just the room that they're recorded in, but they 585 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,220 can change the atmosphere of a time. 586 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:14,720 And we know how serious you feel, what you're feeling for your 587 00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:18,720 country. I always work from the inside out, you know, so you're sitting around 588 00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:25,200 and I'm just pissed off, you know. And, you know, if art has the chance to shape 589 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:28,040 culture... Culture shapes politics. 590 00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,480 Culture and politics shape the nation. 591 00:46:30,980 --> 00:46:33,660 And that's the business one. 592 00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:35,760 Bruce Springsteen. 593 00:46:36,780 --> 00:46:38,540 As if you didn't know. 594 00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:51,820 If you look through history, the town is destroyed. People leave it. 595 00:46:52,340 --> 00:46:53,640 They go to another place. 596 00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:55,500 They didn't leave. 597 00:46:56,140 --> 00:47:00,360 Instead, put back in and resurrected, really, the spirit of the city. 598 00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:06,360 We had done a film, it was Gangs of New York at the time, and the draft riots 599 00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:10,340 took place right here. And that was one of the worst riots in American history. 600 00:47:11,220 --> 00:47:17,180 So these cataclysms occur, but it didn't stop the evolution. 601 00:47:19,820 --> 00:47:24,020 I mean, Tribeca has become a festival you have to be thinking about in the 602 00:47:24,020 --> 00:47:25,480 festival world wherever you are. 603 00:47:26,380 --> 00:47:27,720 There's an energy downtown. 604 00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:30,340 It's things going on in the streets. 605 00:47:31,060 --> 00:47:36,860 It was a celebration, and it really said life goes on, and it really said film is 606 00:47:36,860 --> 00:47:37,860 important. 607 00:47:38,460 --> 00:47:43,440 It's like Coney Island for the soul. That's what the festival is. 608 00:47:43,860 --> 00:47:47,000 And for me, it's always shiny that way. 609 00:47:48,140 --> 00:47:52,280 It's super important to have these film festivals where people can actually 610 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:55,860 commune. communicate, and have a dialogue. 611 00:47:56,340 --> 00:47:57,860 That's what it's about, really. 612 00:47:58,500 --> 00:48:02,720 At film festivals, you're not arguing, you're listening. 613 00:48:02,940 --> 00:48:07,500 And I think listening is becoming a lost skill. 614 00:48:08,900 --> 00:48:15,560 The pillars that we've put in place in terms of artists and activism, hopefully 615 00:48:15,560 --> 00:48:22,280 that's something that can bring people together for another 25 years. 616 00:48:32,140 --> 00:48:38,560 There are so many of our new colleagues here that don't remember 9-11. 617 00:48:38,860 --> 00:48:42,980 Some of you weren't even born on 9-11, 2001. 618 00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:49,320 I want to invite all of you to the 9-11 Museum and Memorial. 619 00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:51,540 We'll have a tour. 620 00:48:52,340 --> 00:48:57,580 I've been a part of the museum since the beginning, and I'm excited about showing 621 00:48:57,580 --> 00:48:58,580 it to you. 622 00:49:01,770 --> 00:49:06,150 square memorial pools, the waterfalls, right? That's where the towers once 623 00:49:06,150 --> 00:49:07,150 stood. 624 00:49:08,330 --> 00:49:13,290 This is Foundation Hall. And Foundation Hall is an archaeological site. 625 00:49:14,590 --> 00:49:16,730 So that wall has a lot of importance. 626 00:49:18,570 --> 00:49:23,270 The slurry wall served as a symbol of resilience after the 9-11 attacks. 627 00:49:26,570 --> 00:49:28,790 We're going through the story of 9-11. 628 00:49:29,390 --> 00:49:33,330 but just as important is also what happened on 9-12. 629 00:49:35,010 --> 00:49:36,670 People came together. 630 00:49:37,110 --> 00:49:42,110 You suddenly got to know who your neighbors were that brought the festival 631 00:49:42,110 --> 00:49:44,370 together and the community together. 632 00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:00,980 New Yorkers and the rest of this country proved that it wasn't about rebuilding 633 00:50:00,980 --> 00:50:06,960 the steel and glass It was about showing the world what we represent 634 00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:13,960 That we're here for each other and that we will continue 635 00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:16,920 to go on no matter what 636 00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:30,640 Betty Smith! 637 00:50:31,340 --> 00:50:38,240 There were deserts. I saw fountains. And like cream, the 638 00:50:38,240 --> 00:50:39,240 waters rise. 639 00:50:39,820 --> 00:50:43,120 And we strolled there together. 640 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:47,000 We learned to laugh or criticize. 641 00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:51,240 I was dreaming in my dreaming. 642 00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:57,220 God knows a pure view as I surrender. 643 00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:03,540 into my sleeping i commit my dream to you 644 00:51:44,620 --> 00:51:51,420 Can come to pass through a union We can turn the 645 00:51:51,420 --> 00:51:53,820 world around we can turn