25th Tribeca Festival Reveals Jury Award Winners – Cotton Fever, Labrador – Autopsy of Silence, and Jail Time Records Take Top Prizes

Cotton Fever, Labrador – Autopsy of Silence, and Jail Time Records took top jury awards honors at the 25th annual Tribeca Festival, in the U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, and Documentary competitions, respectively.

Labrador – Autopsy of Silence led the International Narrative Competition with awards also for Best Performance and Best Cinematography. Other films winning multiple honors include Summer of Three, which earned both Best Performance and Best Screenplay in U.S. Narrative Competition. In the Documentary Competition, Jail Time Records received both Best Documentary Feature and the Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director, while Cotton Fever took home the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature and Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature.

Marcel Ruiz, Paolo Schoene, and Kiki Montilla earned Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature for Summer of Three, while Christopher Angatookalook received Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature for Labrador – Autopsy of Silence.

The Festival also awarded its inaugural Best New York Short honor to Insufficient Fare.

“This year’s award winners embody the spirit of Tribeca: fearless work that crosses borders, expands the form, and reveals the power of storytelling to uncover humanity in unexpected places,” said Festival Director and SVP of Programming Cara Cusumano. “As we celebrate our 25th year, these artists remind us that powerful stories do more than entertain, they deepen our empathy, broaden our perspective, and bring us closer together.”

2026 Tribeca Festival Jury Winners and Special Mentions

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature Sponsored by OKX: Cotton Fever, Director Daniel Blake Schwartz (United States) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Here I’m Alive, Director Joshua Z Weinstein (United States) – World Premiere.

Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Marcel Ruiz, Paolo Schoene, and Kiki Montilla for Summer of Three (Puerto Rico) – World Premiere.

Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Carlitos Ruiz-Ruiz, Marcel Ruiz, and Mariana S. Belaval for Summer of Three (Puerto Rico) – World Premiere.

Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Tom Acton Fitzgerald for Cotton Fever (United States) – World Premiere.

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Best International Narrative Feature: Labrador – Autopsy of Silence, Director Rodrigue Jean (Canada) – World Premiere.

Best Performance in an International Narrative Feature: Christopher Angatookalook for Labrador – Autopsy of Silence (Canada) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention for Best Performance in an International Feature: Duda Santos & Mc Nem for Funk (Brazil) – World Premiere.

Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature: Alex Camilleri for Zejtune (Malta, Germany, Qatar) – North American Premiere.

Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature: Mathieu Laverdière for Labrador – Autopsy of Silence (Canada) – World Premiere.

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Best Documentary Feature: Jail Time Records, Directors Dione Roach and Steve Happi (Cameroon, United States) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention for Best Documentary Feature: Time Warp, Director Allison Berg (United States) – World Premiere.

Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature: Dione Roach, Urberto Rapisardi, and Steve Happi for Jail Time Records (Cameroon, United States) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention for Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature: Lukas Gut for Siege of Paradise (Ireland, Switzerland) – World Premiere.

Best Editing in a Documentary Feature: Rebecca Adorno and Viridiana Lieberman for Jean-Michel (United Kingdom) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention for Best Editing in a Documentary Feature: Christopher A. Peterson and Peter Norrey for American Zoo (United Kingdom) – World Premiere.

VIEWPOINTS AWARD

Crocodile, Director The Critics and Pietra Brettkelly (Nigeria, New Zealand) – North American Premiere.

Special Jury Mention for Viewpoints Award: Sarah Karei for One Woman One Bra (Kenya, Nigeria) – North American Premiere.

BEST NEW NARRATIVE DIRECTOR AWARD

Miiku Sakanishi for Memorizu (Japan) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention, Best New Narrative Director: Elisee Junior St. Preux for The Tropic Sun and His Eyes (Haiti) – World Premiere.

ALBERT MAYSLES AWARD FOR BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR

Dione Roach and Steve Happi for Jail Time Records (Cameroon, United States) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention, Albert Maysles Award: Natalie Baszile and Hyacinth Parker for Harvest (United States) – World Premiere.

NORA EPHRON AWARD

The Nora Ephron Award will honor an exceptional female filmmaker who represents the spirit and vision of the legendary filmmaker and writer.

Dina Duma for Skateboarding Is Not for Girls (North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia) – World Premiere.

SHORTS COMPETITION

Best Narrative Short: 32B, Director Mohamed Taher (Egypt) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention, Narrative Short: So, Boom, Director Abby Pierce (United States) – New York Premiere.

Best Documentary Short: Listen, Director Taliesin Black Brown (United States) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention, Documentary Short: The Baddest Speechwriter of All, Directors Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry (United States) – New York Premiere.

Best Animated Short: Violet and Marlowe Rob a Bank, Director Wesley Wang (United States) – World Premiere.

Special Jury Mention, Animated Short: Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe, Director Andrea Szelesová (Czech Republic, Slovakia) – North American Premiere.

Best New York Short: Insufficient Fare, Directors Michael Gugger and Varvara Kanellakopoulou (United States) – World Premiere.

Best Music Video: “Fingers Crossed” – The Moth & The Flame, Director Rebecca Thomas (United States) – World Premiere.

Student Visionary Award: Found&Lost, Director Reza Rasouli (Austria) – New York Premiere.

TRIBECA GAMES AWARD

There are No Ghosts at the Grand, Directors Anil Glendinning and Rachel Glendinning (United Kingdom) – World Premiere.

TRIBECA PODCASTS COMPETITION

Audio Nonfiction Reporting Award: The Fastest Girl in Somalia, Director Teresa Krug (United States) – World Premiere.

Audio Fiction Award: THE DOUBLE[S], Directors Winnie Kemp and Alexander Kemp (United States) – World Premiere.

Audio Investigative Nonfiction Award: The Most Wanted Olympian, Director Michelle Shephard (Canada) – World Premiere.

Audio Memoir Award: Reaching Out, Director Sayre Quevedo (United States) – World Premiere.

AT&T PRESENTS UNTOLD STORIES

Sid Gopinath, Aditya Joshi and Alifya Ali for Minnesota Goodbye

TRIBECA X AWARD COMPETITION

Best Feature: Meal Ticket from McDonald’s

Best Short: The Book of George from Stio

Best Commercial: Last Coke in the Desert from Coca-Cola

Best Commercial Honorable Mention: Bang Bang from Safe School Las Vegas

Best Episodic: Built to Move from Autodesk

Best Episodic Honorable Mention: Partners from Carvana

Best Content Creator/Influencer: The Master of Speed & Stability from Beats

Best Audio/Podcast: To Catch a Thief: China’s Rise to Cyber Supremacy from Rubrik

Social Impact Award: The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix from Accenture / Philipstown WireCar Co.

Environmental Impact Award: The Theory of Spice from Yogi Tea

Director of the Year: A$AP Rocky