Nicholas Colia’s Griffin in Summer swept the narrative features award categories at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, nabbing honors for best U.S. film and screenplay, as well as a special jury mention for new narrative director.
Colia’s feature debut stars Everett Blunck as an aspiring 14-year-old playwright who falls hard for his mother’s handyman and struggling performance artist, played by Owen Teague. The jury mention in its notes Thursday that the film “straddled the very thin line between heartwarming, tragic, hilarious and awkward” and that it “fills a void in the marketplace for films that touch on sophisticated themes while remaining family friendly. Never pandering, always fresh, full of relatable universal experiences while being incredibly specific and nuanced.”
Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux won for Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature for Jazzy, by Morrisa Maltz, a follow-up to her 2023 The Unknown Country starring Lily Gladstone. The Killers of the Flower Moon star is a producer of Jazzy and also appears in it. Jazzy the title role is a young Oglala Lakota girl growing up in South Dakota with her best friend Syrih. The film follows the children from age 6 to 12 as they navigate the joys and challenges of their ever-changing relationship.
Nnamdi Asomugha’s The Knife took Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature for Alejandro Mejia. Asomugha was named Best New Narrative Director.
The top international award went to Bikechess, a dark comedy from Khazakstan by Assel Aushakimova. In her second film, the director reunites with Saltanat Nauruz who stars as Dina, a disenchanted and ambivalent Kazakh broadcast journalist who is much smarter than the propaganda she is forced to cover.
Some Rain Must Fall from China, written and directed by Qiu Yang, stood out in the international narrative feature category, taking Best Performance, by Yu Aier, and Best Cinematography, by Constanze Schmitt.
Hacking Hate by My Vingren won the Best Documentary Feature award. Vingren, a Swedish journalist, dives deep undercover online as a white supremacist to infiltrate the extreme right’s campaigns to recruit and influence individuals, radicalizing them into a discourse of hate speech and xenophobia.
“After a banner year of Tribeca programming, I do not envy our jurors’ task of selecting this year’s winners,” said Tribeca Festival director and SVP Programming Cara Cusumano. “I’m delighted to see they’ve chosen to honor a diverse, international, adventurous group of films that truly reflect the Tribeca spirit. We can’t wait to continue to follow and support all these films’ journeys into the world.”
The festival, which hosts more than 570 events across New York City, concludes Sunday.
Below is the complete list of 2024 winners.
U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION
Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature
Griffin in Summer, director Nicholas Colia
Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature
Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux for Jazzy
Special Jury Mention for Performance in a U.S. Feature
Joshua Burge for Vulcanizadora
Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature
Nicholas Colia for Griffin in Summer
Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature
Alejandro Mejia for The Knife
Special Jury Mention for Cinematography in a U.S. Feature
Ki Jin Kim for Bitterroot
INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION
Best International Narrative Feature
Bikechess, director Assel Aushakimova (Kazakhstan)
Special Jury Mention for an International Narrative Feature
Samia, director Yasemin Samdereli (Italy, Germany, Belgium, Sweden)
Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature
Yu Aier for Some Rain Must Fall (China)
Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature
Celina Murga, Juan Villegas, Lucía Osorio for The Freshly Cut Grass (Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, United States)
Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature
Constanze Schmitt for Some Rain Must Fall (China)
BEST NEW NARRATIVE DIRECTOR AWARD
Nnamdi Asomugha for The Knife (United States)
Special Jury Mention
Nicholas Colia for Griffin in Summer (United States)
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Best Documentary Feature
Hacking Hate, director Simon Klose (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
Special Jury Mention for a Documentary Feature
Made in Ethiopia, directors Xinyan Yu, Max Duncan (United States, Canada, Ethiopia, Denmark, Korea, United Kingdom)
Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature
Ezra Wolfinger for Shelf Life (United States)
Best Editing in a Documentary Feature
Rupert Houseman for Antidote (United Kingdom)
ALBERT MAYSLES AWARD FOR BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR
Debra Aroko and Nicole Gormley for Searching for Amani (Kenya)
Special Jury Mention
Elizabeth Ai for New Wave (United States)
VIEWPOINTS AWARD
Come Closer, director Tom Nesher (United Kingdom)
Special Jury Mention
Witches, director Elizabeth Sankey (United Kingdom)
NORA EPHRON AWARD
Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge for Don’t You Let Me Go (Uruguay)
HUMAN / NATURE AWARD
Dust to Dust (Japan)
SHORTS COMPETITION
Best Narrative Short
Ripe!, director Tusk (United States, Spain)
Special Jury Mention for Narrative Short
Alarms, director Nicolas Panay (France)
Best Documentary Short
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World, director Julio Palacio (United States)
Best Animated Short
In the Shadow of the Cypress, directors Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi (Iran)
Special Jury Mention for Animated Short
Budō, directors Amanda Aagard and Alexander Toma (Sweden)
Best Music Video
Never Ending Song, performed by Conan Gray (United States)
Student Visionary Award
Nay Tabbara for Ebb & Flow (Lebanon, Qatar)
Special Jury Mention for Student Visionary
Jamie Perault for Budd, Sweat & Tearz (United Kingdom)
TRIBECA GAMES AWARD
Goodnight Universe (United States)
TRIBECA AUDIO STORYTELLING COMPETITION
Fiction Audio Storytelling Award
The Skies Are Watching (United States)
Narrative Nonfiction Audio Storytelling Award
Delejos (United States, Canada, Puerto Rico)
Independent Fiction Audio Storytelling Award
Red for Revolution (United States)
Independent Nonfiction Audio Storytelling Award
Back to the Water: More than One Octopus (South Africa, United States)
AT&T PRESENTS UNTOLD STORIES
Lilian T. Mehrel for Honeyjoon
TRIBECA X AWARD COMPETITION
Best Commercial
Michael CeraVe from CeraVe and Ogilvy PR, directed by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim
Best Feature
Audrey’s Children from UTA and Ronald McDonald House Charities, directed by Ami Canaan Mann
Best Episodic
The Santa Stories from Coca-Cola and WPP Open X/VML, directed by Steven Caple Jr. and Bryce Dallas Howard
Best Short
One Good Reason from ServiceNow, Tribeca Studios, and directors Perri Peltz and Matthew O’Neill
Best Games & Immersive
MLB The Show Storylines: The Negro Leagues by PlayStation Studios, directed by Jarred Schiff, Gavin Filipiak, Ramone Russell, and Brandon Akiaten
Best Audio
Science will Win, by Pfizer
Best Content Creator
Jacksonville Jaguars 2023 Schedule Release Video from the Jacksonville Jaguars, directed by Asher Grodman
Social Impact Award
…One Good Reason from ServiceNow, Tribeca Studios, and directors Perri Peltz and Matthew O’Neill
Environmental Impact Award
Project Maji: Waters of Change Vr Experience from Born Studios and directors Bilge Tekin, Dominic Clarke, and Nicholas Masters-Waage
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