By: Michele Schultz

The annual Tribeca Film Festival, taking place June 3-14 in New York, features a record number of premieres, features, shorts, and performances alongside the wildest genre of thrills and no-holds-barred cult cinema, marking the festival’s 25th run this year, founded in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, to revitalize the culture and economy of Lower Manhattan.

Over the past decades, the festival has become a premier destination for music and genre, the 25th anniversary will mark it’s opening night [June 3] with the world premiere of the HBO original documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World), directed by Academy Award and GRAMMY Award-winning filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson followed by a live performance from nine-time GRAMMY Award-winning icons Earth, Wind & Fire and three-time GRAMMY Award-winning group The Roots. The lineup continues with exclusive post-premiere performances from Sara Bareilles, Peter Frampton, Mumford & Sons, The LOX, Magdalena Bay, and Noga Erez & Ori Rousso. Closing Night features the world premiere of Alicia Keys: Girl From Hell Kitchen, directed by Tribeca alum One9 (TF ‘14), followed by an appearance by Keys.

The annual festival has spotlight narratives, documentaries, international as well as exclusive live experiences, and showcases the next wave of talent and filmmakers. This year’s horror lineup, Escape From Tribeca, features some of the wildest, most thrilling, and no-holds-barred genre films:

Breeder (Canada, United States)

Feature Narrative, World Premiere

Directed and written by Alex Goyette, produced by Ian Start, Byron Ashley, Brian Mitchell, K. Asher Levin, with Daniel Doheny, Dot Marie Jones, Maddie Phillips, Tanaya Beatty

An eccentric poodle breeder lures a broke college student to her remote ranch with a promise of research funding. But, as he soon learns, there’s a catch.

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Dante, (Spain)

Feature Narrative, World Premiere

Directed, written, and produced by Hugo Ruíz, produced by Kike Sánchez, Jesús Naudín, Rubén Fernández, Andrés Mendiburen, with Chino Darín, Ester Expósito, Vicente Romero, Enrique Arce

Responding to an emergency call, a young paramedic unwittingly finds himself thrust into the middle of a war between two crime lords, triggering an escalating series of gruesome twists and turns over the course of one crazy night.

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Hallowarrior (United States) World Premiere

Directed, written, and produced by Ben Sottak. Produced by Emmajane Hoffman and Gabriel Rosenstein. Starring Milly Shapiro, Ajani Russell, AJ Bowen, Shannyn Sossamon.

Pumpkin, a Halloween-obsessed post-apocalypse survivor, thinks she’s the last person alive. But when a vicious band of scavengers shows up at her doorstep, Pumpkin has no choice but to tap into her deadliest survival instincts.

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The Haunting of Pennhurst (United States)

Feature Documentary, World Premiere

Directed by Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak. Produced by Daniel J. Chalfen

Once a notorious institution for people with disabilities, Pennhurst finally closed after decades of abuse in 1987. Now those doors are reopening, as a group of disabled performers reframes the narrative around the site’s harmful history as a haunted house.

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Mutter: The Diary of a Mother (Türkiye)

Feature Narrative, World Premiere

Directed by Alphan Eşeli, written by Alphan Eşeli, produced by Ömer Atay, Alphan Eşeli, with Hazar Ergüçlü, Güven Kıraç, Erdeniz Kurucan, Ulvi Kahyaoğlu.

Under traumatic circumstances, Gül gives birth to her first child: an inhuman creature. What’s a single mother to do? Protect her newborn, albeit alien-like, offspring by any means necessary, of course.

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Recluse (United States)

Feature Narrative, World Premiere

Directed by Henry Chaisson, written by Henry Chaisson, produced by Josh Lobo, Gillian Cooper, Henry Chaisson, Alex Dandino, with Sasha Frolova, Xander Berkeley, Toby Poser, Mia Vallet

After being summoned back to her childhood home to care for her bedridden father, Joan must confront the unearthed demons of her family’s past and contend with the home’s dark, malevolent energy that is both unseen and, much to her horror, seen.

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Turn It Up! (Canada)

Feature Narrative, World Premiere

Directed by Sam Scott, written by Sam Scott, Gwenlyn Cumyn, produced by Liv Collins, Jesse Thomas Cook, Mike Gillespie, with Justine Nelson, Gwenlyn Cumyn, Xavier Lopez, Julian Richings

An indie rock band struggling to make its mark finds a possible meal ticket in an infectious new guitar riff. Unfortunately, it’s also a cursed melody that just so happens to open a portal to another, much scarier dimension.

A slate of festival programming includes Tribeca at 25, an outdoor screenings bringing the defining Tribeca films back to life, such as Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In (TF ‘08), Nia DaCosta’s directorial debut Little Woods (TF ‘18), and much more, followed by conversations with the filmmakers. Plus, a discussion from co-founders Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and special guests will sit down with filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer for an intimate 25th anniversary conversation. For the first time, limited public tickets to the Tribeca Festival Awards Ceremony on June 11, where De Niro and Rosenthal will present the signature Founders Award.