The Tribeca Film Festival which was previously set to take place April 15-26, 2020 in New York City, but postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, announced the winners for the 2020 juried competition.

“We are fortunate that technology allowed for our jury to come together this year to honor our filmmakers,” said Tribeca Film Festival Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “Despite not being able to be together physically, we were still able to support our artists, which has always been at the heart of the Festival.”         

“While we are not yet able to celebrate these incredible films at their premieres, we are so proud to celebrate them in partnership with our generous jurors through our 2020 Tribeca awards,” said Festival Director Cara Cusumano. “The jury chose to recognize a daring, innovative, entertaining, diverse group of films and filmmakers, and the Festival is pleased to honor all of them with our first ever virtual awards ceremony.”

The Half of It was honored with The Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature; The Hater for Best International Narrative Feature; and Socks On Fire for Best Documentary Feature.

Shorts awards went to No More Wings for Best Narrative Short; My Father The Mover for Best Documentary Short; Friends for Best Animated Short and Cru-Raw for the Student Visionary Award.

The Nora Ephron Award went to director Ruthy Pribar for her feature, Asia.

Tribeca’s Art Awards, in partnership with CHANEL, honor winners in select categories with original pieces from ten world-class artists, a tradition since the Festival’s beginning. This year’s selections were curated by notable gallerist Vito Schnabel.

The 2020 Jurors considered all originally announced competition/eligible films with the exception of the following, which opted out of awards consideration: International Narrative Competition (She Paradise); Documentary Competition (Dear Mr. Brody, Simple As Water); Best New Narrative Director (Marvelous and the Black Hole, She Paradise); Nora Ephron Award (Honeymood, Marvelous and the Black Hole, She Paradise); Best Narrative Short (Burrosi); Best Student Short (Prelude).

2020 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL JURY COMPETITION

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – The Half of It, directed by Alice Wu.
Jury Comment: “The film is so charming, it’s so energetic, it’s so fun, it’s so well-paced, it’s directed with such a sure hand, it’s a really confident film and the characters are really well drawn and the actors were fantastic.”
Art Award: Julian Schnabel’s Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, 2007. Oil on map.

Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Assol Abdullina, Materna.
Jury Comment: “Assol just has so much compelling energy; her emotions ran so deep…we cared about her dilemma.”

Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Steve Zahn, Cowboys.
Jury Comment: “Steve showed great range in playing this character.”

Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Materna, Greta Zozula, Chananun Chotrungroj, Kelly Jeffrey, Cinematographers.
Jury Comment: “The visuals were striking and played with color, light and dark, in a very interesting way.”

Special Jury Mention for Cinematography: My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To.

Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Cowboys, Anna Kerrigan, Screenwriter.
Jury Comment: “A beautiful portrait of a father and his transgendered son.”

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Best International Narrative Feature – The Hater (Poland), directed by Jan Komasa.
Jury Comment: “Incredibly relevant for today; we were really impressed by the way it portrayed a character that is not immediately empathetic but really got us into the journey and the story.”
Art Award: Helen Marden’s January Golden Rock, 2020. Watercolor on paper.

Special Jury Mention: Ainu Mosir

Best Actor in an International Narrative Feature Film – Noe Hernandez, Kokoloko (Mexico).
Jury Comment: “For his raw and brave performance, taking a giant leap of faith, hand-to-hand with his director.”

Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film – Shira Haas, Asia (Israel).
Jury Comment: “Her face is a never-ending landscape in which even the tiniest expression is heartbreaking; she’s an incredibly honest and present actress who brings depth to everything she does.”

Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film – Asia (Israel), Daniella Nowitz, Cinematographer.
Jury Comments: “We were impressed with how the cinematography was supporting the emotionality of the story and was allowing us to really deeply feel with the characters.”
“Very simply and beautifully done.”

Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature Film – Tryst With Destiny (India, France), Prashant Nair, Screenwriter.
Jury Comments: “How cleverly conceived and executed this script was!” “Beautifully made film.”

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Best Documentary Feature – Socks on Fire, Bo McGuire, Director.
Jury Comment:  “The film used new techniques woven into documentary filmmaking and narrative storytelling.”
Art Award: Sterling Ruby’s DRFTRS, 2020. Collage, paint and glue on paper.

Special Jury Mention: Wonderboy

Best Cinematography in a Documentary Film – 499, Alejandro Mejia, Cinematographer.
Jury Comment: “The filmmakers did an incredible job of weaving this fictional story into what’s happening today with the disappeared and to marry such grand visions that cinema can only do.”

Best Editing in a Documentary Film – Father Soldier Son, Amy Foote, Editor.
Jury Comment: “Such a well-crafted film from start to finish; a story that stays with you.”

BEST NEW NARRATIVE DIRECTOR COMPETITION

Best New Narrative Director – Nobody Knows I’m Here, Gaspar Antillo, Director.
Jury Comment: “A film that felt vital and alive, and every time we thought we knew who the protagonist was or what the world was it evolved and revealed more of itself to us.” 
Art Award: Rita Ackermann’s The Working Woman 3, 2018. Oil, crayon and graphite on paper.

BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR COMPETITION

Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award – Jacinta, Jessica Earnshaw, Director.
Jury Comments: “Incredibly engaging filmmaking,” “very moving, beautifully done.”
Art Award: Gus Van Sant’s Achelous and Hercules, 2016. Enamel on paper.

Special Jury mention: The Last Out

THE NORA EPHRON AWARD

The Nora Ephron Award – Asia, Director, Ruthy Pribar.
Jury Comment: “From the writing, to the directing, to the camera moves, to the direction for the acting, to the way Ms. Pribar told a story through non-speaking was just outstanding.”
Art Award: Pat Steir’s Untitled, 2008. Oil, pencil, ink, and acrylic on paper.

Special Jury Mention: My Wonderful Wanda

SHORT FILM COMPETITION CATEGORIES

Best Narrative Short – No More Wings, Abraham Adeyemi, Director.
Jury Comments: “It checked every box in terms of authenticity, and heart, and it was funny!” “It’s such an elegant piece of filmmaking.”
Art Award: Robert Nava: Medusa’s Walk, 2020. Acrylic, oil stick, crayon, and pencil on paper.

Special Jury Mention: Soup

Best Animated Short – Friends, Florian Grolig, Director.
Jury Comment: “Gorgeous, sparse, monochromatic animation.”
Art Award: Stephen Hannock’s Wallsend Morning on the River Tyne, 2019. Oil on board

Special Jury Mention: Kapaemahu

Best Documentary Short – My Father The Mover, Julia Jansch, Director.
Jury Comment: “A “movement” film which frees people from the pain had the biggest impression on us and lasted through the tragedies we’re going through now.”
Art Award: Francesco Clemente’s Flag US, 2018. Watercolor and miniature on paper.

Special Jury Mention: Welcome To A Bright White Limbo

Student Visionary Award – Cru-Raw, David Oesch, Director.
Jury Comment: “It’s rare to see in a student festival something very real with a great Macabre climax that’s really sticky.”
Art Award: Vahakn Arslanian’s Light of Airbus, 2009. Graphite on paper in artist’s frame.

Special Jury mention: The Last Ferry To Grass Island

TRIBECA X AWARDS

Best Short – Pay Day, Director, Morgan Cooper
Brand: Synchrony Bank
Agency: Giant Spoon
Production Co: ColorCreative

Jury Comments: “This funny and stylish narrative gives a fresh and insightful perspective on getting out of a comfortable cycle and start chasing after one’s dreams.”

Best Series – Girls Room, Director, Tiffany Johnson
Writer: Lena Waithe
Brand: Dove
Agency: attn:, BBH Entertainment

Jury Comment: “The unique format of this series caught our eye right away and how it paired perfectly with this targeted audience.”

Best Feature – U Shoot Videos? Director, Morgan Cooper
Brand: Adorama

Jury Comments: “You had us at the shocking ending – while we all loved the storytelling and performances up to that point, how the feature built up to that climax was very impactful.”