“The Tribeca Festival Lisboa grows to three days, presenting a variety of independent films from the US, Portuguese films, series, podcasts and musical showcases, as well as live conversations with international and local stars”, reads a statement from the Impresa group.

The Tribeca Festival was founded in New York in 2001 as a meeting point for independent cinema and new talent, but it has transformed into a ‘storytelling’ event, focused on sharing stories in different formats.

In 2024, the festival took place for the first time in Europe, and the organisation chose Lisbon, in a strategy to expand the project, in a partnership with the television broadcaster SIC, the streaming platform OPTO - both from the Impresa group -, and the Lisbon city council.

The chosen location was the Hub Criativo do Beato, with a program that included the presence of actor Robert De Niro, actress Whoopi Goldberg, director Patty Jenkins, actor and director Griffin Dunne and producer Joana Vicente.

Criticism

The first edition of the Tribeca Festival Lisbon was not without criticism, due to the conditions in which films were shown in a building that used to be part of the Military Maintenance Factory, the price of tickets – a daily ticket cost 75 euros and a pass was 130 euros – and the public funding obtained.

In December, Sábado magazine revealed that the organisation of the Tribeca Festival Lisboa received 750 thousand euros in public support, granted by Turismo de Portugal (250 thousand euros), supervised by the Ministry of Economy, by the Lisbon Tourism Association (250 thousand euros), of which the municipality of Lisbon is one of the founding members and by the municipal company Lisboa Cultura (250 thousand euros), which manages the capital's cultural facilities and entertainment.

These values ​​led, at the time, the Left Bloc to question the president of the authority, Carlos Moedas, about the reason for allocating funds without there being a public decision or deliberation in a council meeting.

In addition to public support, Tribeca raised €615,000 from sponsorship, €95,985 from the box office and €3,389 from food and beverage sales, totalling €1,464,374 in revenue, but expenses totalled €1,825,168, resulting in a loss of €360,794.

Aside from the date and location of the second edition, the organization did not reveal anything about the schedule, noting that this year will feature "improved spaces, enhanced displays and an even more welcoming atmosphere for all participants."

When asked by the Lusa news agency about the planned funding and whether the proposal for financial support had already been presented at a council meeting, a source from the local authority's communications office responded only that "the details of the model for the next edition" of the Tribeca Festival Lisboa are still being assessed and agreed upon.