By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
DOWNTOWN — The Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up its 10th year Sunday night, closing its 2011 program with the Edward Burns dramedy "Newlyweds."
This year's festival showcased 93 features, with a pair of first-time directors taking the top award for narrative film (Lisa Aschan of "She Monkeys") and documentary (Alma Har'el of "Bombay Beach").
Over the decade since the festival launched in the aftermath of Sept. 11, TFF has grown dramatically — but it's also had to adapt and continuously reinvent itself during a time when both lower Manhattan and the independent film industry at large underwent major changes.
"Tribeca is still a festival in some ways defining its mission," said John Tintori, chair of the graduate film department at NYU's Tisch School of Arts. "The original mission was a great service, bringing people back to lower Manhattan... but now I think it's searching for its place in the festival scene."
TFF doesn't yet hold the top tier status of the Sundance Film Festival, which stands alongside international leaders such as the Cannes and Toronto film festivals. In Texas, South by Southwest has distinguished itself by focusing on convergence with interactive technology, while here in the city, the New York Film Festival focuses on a smaller collection of internationally focused films.
Yet while downtown may not still be reeling from the rubble of the twin towers, others argue that TFF's original mission of giving back to community still holds relevance.
One former TFF venues and volunteer manager, native New Yorker Rema Sayge, pointed to the pride the organization still takes in the Family Festival Street Fair, an annual event that brings a mix of free daytime activities, performances and screenings to TriBeCa.
The organization also supports aspiring and emerging filmmakers in the city and beyond through the affiliate Tribeca Film Institute's array of year-round education and financing programs. According to TFI Director of Education Lisa Lucas, the educational programs now reach about 12,000 New York city children and teenagers per year, up from just 30 in 2002.
"TFF enables the filmmaker to dream and do," said Sayge, who has worked for a broad mix of festivals around the world. "It's the New York attitude — we all help each other."
That ideal is particularly relevant right now. Although cheap new digital technologies have in some ways made life easier for aspiring filmmakers, the recession has put many smaller distributors that once frequented the festival circuit out of business, Tintori said. The economic downtown has had ripple effects in the ways films are marketed and financed.
Support for local, emerging directors is often most visible in the festival's short film slate, where NYU film school students typically make a strong showing, Tintori said (this year, their ranks include director Shandor Garrison of "Nightlife").
The festival has not, however, taken many features from local NYU students and recent alums, Tintori said. At Sundance, by contrast, NYU students and alumni directed five of 16 films in 2011's U.S. dramatic competition (including "Gun Hill Road" and "Circumstance").
The program that's most helpful to rookie directors, in Tintori's view, is Tribeca All Access, which has provided many of his students with industry contacts and professional development.
Richard Cunningham, 31, made his animated short, "Year Zero," for less than $5,000 in his Astoria basement.
"There's still sponsorship out there, even if you don't have the money, if you have the passion for it," Cunningham said. "It's hard to believe that a prestigious film festival like Tribeca still accepts completely homemade movies."
