The upcoming New York Film and Multi-Media Tribeca Festival running next week, June 7-18 includes a vast array of music performances, films, and talks.
109 feature films from 127 filmmakers will be presented throughout the 10 venues spread across the city over the 12 days.
If you unable to attend the festival in-person, you can still view the premieres at home through the At Home Festival Pass.
Check out the music events at Tribeca Festival 2023 below:
Wednesday, June 7
Opening Night: “Kiss the Future” – Directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain
OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC | 8:00 PM | 103 min
A stirring testament to art’s enduring ability to cast light even in the darkest of circumstances, Kiss the Future follows an underground community that worked and created throughout the nearly four-year-long Siege of Sarajevo. Sensing that a larger voice is needed, an American aid worker makes a longshot pitch to U2 to help raise awareness about the Bosnian capital’s plight. The band immediately agrees and begins a series of live satellite interviews with local Sarajaevans during their 1993 ZOO TV Tour in an effort to highlight the direness of the situation on the ground.
Thursday, June 8
Storytellers – John Mellencamp with David Letterman
OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC | 6:00 PM | 60 min
John Mellencamp is one of the most highly respected singer/songwriters of a generation. He will be joined in conversation by David Letterman who can currently be seen hosting My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, a four-time Emmy-nominated interview show streaming on Netflix.
“Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall“ – Directed by Ben DiGiacomo and Dutty Vannier
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 8:15 PM | 93 min
This documentary explores the ‘80s and ‘90s emergence of dancehall as Jamaican immigrants brought the music, dancing, and vibes of their home to New York City. Nicknamed the 15th Parish of Jamaica, New York City became home to an influential movement that saw dancehall rise alongside hip-hop and eventually spread across the country.
Tribeca Music Lounge – Tei Shi With Tony & Tony, Miette, DJ Set by Frost Children
Baby’s All Right | 8:00 PM | 180 min
Miette Hope is a Brooklyn based singer-songwriter and producer. Inspired by both the grit and glam of their home base of New York City, TONY OR TONY is a dynamic blend of The Prodigy, MGMT, and A.G. Cook, who are ready to grab your attention with their fast & active mix of punk, indie-pop, and electronica. Tei Shi (pronounced “tay-shee”) is the moniker of singer/songwriter and producer Valerie Teicher. Frost Children is the project of NYC- based siblings Lulu and Angel Prost.
Friday, June 9
“Maestra” – Directed by Maggie Contreras
Village East by Angelika | 5:30 PM | 88 min
Following the buzz of Tár, Maggie Contreras’ documentary Maestra follows several women from around the world as they compete in the only all-women competition for conductors. This ultra-competitive field is riddled with long-standing issues of sexism, and each participant is approaching the contest with fierce tenacity.
“Cypher” – Directed by Chris Moukarbel
SVA Theatre | 6:00 PM | 89 min
Tierra Whack first gained recognition at the age of 15 when she stunned viewers with her slick poetry while rapping for a YouTube channel on a Philadelphia street. The video rapidly drew thousands of views and marked the first of Tierra’s many performances for the camera. Years later, director Chris Moukarbel begins documenting her astronomical rise, going behind the scenes of concerts and music videos as she navigates fame and receives exalted praise from stars like Erykah Badu and Billie Eilish.
“Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive” – Directed by Betsy Schechter
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 8:15 PM | 99 min
This documentary recounts Gloria Gaynor’s life while also chronicling her comeback journey. It is both a moving story of an artist’s resilience and a scintillating peak at the machinations of the music industry. After the Premiere: A performance by the one and only Gloria Gaynor.
Tribeca Music Lounge – David Duchovny with Blake and Caroline and Laundry Day
Baby’s All Right | 8:30 PM | 240 min
Broadway trained singer Caroline Iliff and songwriter Blake Harmon will be on opening duties for David Duchovny’s band in anticipation for his film premiere Bucky F*cking Dent.
Saturday, June 10
Tribeca Festival & Gov Ball Presents: Storytellers – Diplo
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 12:00 PM | 60 min
Born in Mississippi and raised in Florida, Diplo’s 20-year career began with his now-legendary Philly club night Hollertronix. The three-time Grammy nominee is also a member of the iconic Major Lazer, one third of LSD (with Sia and Labrinth), and half of Silk City with Mark Ronson.
“Flower” – Directed by Lauren Finerman
Village East by Angelika | 12:30 PM | 28 min
World-renowned ballerina Misty Copeland stars in her first independently produced short art film, an immersive experience in movement storytelling that highlights intergenerational equity in the community of Oakland, California, featuring new, original music from Grammy-winning recording artist Raphael Saadiq.
“Letter to Rosie” – Directed by Ariel Danziger
Village East by Angelika | 12:30 PM | 6 min
Letter to Rosie captures an intimate portrait about survival, self worth, self love, and overcoming all of life’s obstacles. Matt’s tormented past finds its way into our short film.
“Melody of Love” – Directed by Edmundo Bejarano
AMC 19th St. East 6 | 2:45 PM | 85 min
Clad in slim jeans and a leather jacket, with his electric guitar strapped to his back, jazz musician Michael (Elijah Reid) cuts an effortlessly cool figure as he moves through the streets of Addis Ababa. Playing the nightclubs of his beloved city and excited by the promise of an upcoming tour, Michael is every bit the working musician.
Tribeca Music Lounge Free Talk with BMI: How I made that soundtrack with Ali Dee
Baby’s All Right | 3:00 PM | 60 min
Ali Dee Theodore has over 3 decades of experience in the entertainment industry as a songwriter, producer, composer, artist and Executive Music Producer. In 1989, Dee signed a recording deal with Chysalis Records for his group The Next School, which was the first African American and white rap duo. Dee would go on to join the famed Hip Hop production juggernaut, The Bomb Squad, from 1990 to 1993.
“Uncharted” – Directed by Beth Aala
OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC | 8:00 PM | 95 min
Filmmaker Beth Aala takes us behind the scenes of Alicia Keys‘ She Is The Music songwriting camp in this revealing look at the music business that focuses on the lack of access and opportunity granted to young black and brown women. The camp’s participants take center stage as they try to break through the industry with the next big hit song. After the Premiere: A performance from She Is The Music artists, curated by Alicia Keys.
“Songs About Fucking” – Directed by James Gallagher
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 8:00 PM | 99 min
Marc Rebillet is a lot of things. He’s a musician, a comedian, an artist, and some even say an innovator. Known for his improvised shows and signature tight boxers, he’s certainly someone you can’t put into a neat label. However, as this documentary, Songs About Fucking, proves, he wouldn’t have it any other way. After the Premiere: A musical Q&A with Marc Rebillet.
Tribeca Music Lounge – Jitwam, Eddie Chacon, dreamcastmoe, Willy Soul
Baby’s All Right | 8:00 PM | 240 min
A night of smooth indie and psychedelic music featuring Indian Psychedelic soul savant Jitwam (freshly nominated for best Album at Australian Grammys), Eddie Chacon who just released one of this year’s best album on the storied Stones Throw Records, and East Coast rising star in the Funk scene, dreamcastmoe.
“Milli Vanilli” – Directed by Luke Korem
Village East by Angelika | 8:30 PM | 106 min
This documentary dissects the duo’s trajectory from their humble origins through their collaboration with legendary music producer Frank Farian — a toxic partnership that cemented the band’s fate and concealed a shocking secret about their music and craft.
Sunday, June 11
“Cinnamon” – Directed by Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr.
SVA Theatre | 2:00 PM | 91 min
Aspiring singer Jodi Jackson (Tony nominee Hailey Kilgore) has a big voice and dreams to match but struggles to make ends meet as a gas station attendant whose boss (Damon Wayans) may not be on the up and up. Enter charming small-time crook Eddie (David Iacono). Reminiscent of ‘70s blaxploitation films, with an outstandingly menacing performance from the genre’s queen, Pam Grier, this directorial debut from Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr. is a superfly thriller filled with intrigue, music, and a whole lot of heart.
“Boca Chica” – Directed by Gabriella Moses
AMC 19th St. East 6 | 2:45 PM | 97 min
Dominican twelve-year-old Desi has musical aspirations and performs with a local all-girls choir, but her ambitions are much bigger. Desi yearns to one day leave her beachside community of Boca Chica behind and achieve fame and recognition as a singer. She keeps this yearning a secret from her family, specifically the women in her life who have raised her.
“Anthem” – Directed by Peter Nicks
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 5:00 PM | 98 min
“The Star-Spangled Banner”, written in 1814 using the melody of an old British tune, is a song that evokes a range of emotions from patriotic pride to cynicism and terror. But what would the national anthem sound like if it was based on American music? This documentary follows composer and pianist Kris Bowers and producer Dahi as they journey across the country to find out.
“Lost Soulz” – Directed by Katherine Propper
Village East by Angelika | 5:15 PM | 95 min
Sol (Sauve Sidle) is an aspiring young rapper living with his best friend Wesley (Siyanda Stillwell), whose family has embraced him as a brother. After a raucous night causes Wesley to overdose, Sol abandons him at a house party, and eventually chooses to leave home for good and join a touring group of hip-hop artists.
“Special” (Lizzo Music Video) – Directed by Christian Breslauer
AMC 19th St. East 6 | 5:30 PM | 3 min
In Lizzo’s music video, visuals, empowering lyrics, and energetic performances celebrate self-love, body positivity, and individuality. Bold, colorful, and full of positive energy.
“Ron Delsener Presents” – Directed by Jake Sumner
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 8:00 PM | 102 min
Documentaries about figures of music history tend to focus on artists, but here, the subject is influential concert promoter Ron Delsener who worked with some of the biggest names in music over his decades-long career. Featuring a bevy of legends from Cher to Gene Simmons, Roger Daltrey, and Simon and Garfunkel, Ron Delsener Presents is a career retrospective stuffed with star power.
Tribeca Music Lounge: Iranian Live Music Showcase with LuNika, Sussan Deyhim, Habibi
Baby’s All Right | 8:30 PM | 240 min
Tribeca will be hosting a women-fronted lineup of Iranian musicians or musicians from the Iranian diaspora. All generations will be represented, from a teenage sister-brother LuNika duo whose latest protest single “Women Life Freedom” went viral on Instagram, to Brooklyn girl band HABIBI, to celebrated composer and musician Sussan Deyhim.
Monday, June 12
“Honeycomb” – Directed by Sam Roden
Village East by Angelika | 5:15 PM | 32 min
After a has-been musician (Baron Vaughn) live-streams his suicide attempt, his band’s single goes viral. For the first time in their life, they have a chance at fame and fortune — as long as the world continues to believe he’s dead. (New York Indie Episodic Premiere)
“Waitress, the Musical – Live on Broadway!” – Directed by Brett Sullivan
OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC | 7:30 PM | 144 min
Waitress, the Musical – Live on Broadway! is a heartwarming story that follows the life of Jenna Hunterson (Sara Bareilles), a pie-maker and waitress stuck in an unfulfilling marriage in a small town. Jenna finds solace in baking and dreams of winning a baking contest in a nearby city to escape her mundane life. When Jenna becomes pregnant, she decides to take control of her life with the help of her co-workers and a new town doctor. She confronts her past, faces her fears, and makes life-changing choices. After the Premiere: A special performance from Sara Bareilles.
Tuesday, June 13
Storytellers – Lin-Manuel Miranda with Rosie Perez
OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC | 6:00 PM | 60 min
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy and Tony award-winning songwriter, actor, director and producer. He is the creator and original star of Broadway’s Tony-winning HAMILTON and In the Heights. Miranda is the recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award, the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors and the 2019 Portrait of a Nation Prize. He will be joined in conversation by Academy Award-nominated actress Rosie Perez.
“Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story” – Directed by Nate Pommer and Eric Weinrib
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 8:00 PM | 90 min
Capturing the raucous atmosphere of their live performances, this frenetic globe-trotting history of the immigrant punk band Gogol Bordello is a firecracker of a documentary. Spanning the final days of the Soviet Union all the way to pre-9/11 New York, and ending with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story is as much about how the world shaped Gogol Bordello as how the band shaped the world. After the Premiere: A performance by Gogol Bordello.
Wednesday, June 14
“It’s Only Life After All? – Directed by Alexandria Bombach
OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC | 5:00 PM | 123 min
A revealing exploration and much-anticipated love letter to the massively beloved folk-rock duo Indigo Girls. From their serendipitous meeting at Emory University, where their innate musical styles collided, to their hardscrabble days as a popular bar band, to their explosion on the worldwide music scene with their eponymous album — this is the deep dive into their story that their intensely devoted fans have craved.
Storytellers – Chance the Rapper
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 6:00 PM | 60 min
Multi-Grammy award winner Chance the Rapper has built a multi-faceted career across music, film, television, and art. His new body of work, Star Line Gallery, has premiered at art institutions around the world including Art Basel and Los Angeles’ Museum Of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
“Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music” – Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 8:00 PM | 106 min
New York’s hottest club is Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music. This club has everything: countercultural history, off-the-wall interpretations of America’s most recognizable tunes, ping pong warfare, giant inflatable penises making love and war to David Bowie‘s “Heroes,” shameless gay melodrama, and of course, MacArthur Fellowship winner Taylor Mac.
Let the Canary Sing – Directed by Alison Ellwood
The Beacon Theatre | 8:00 PM | 96 min
Cyndi Lauper anxiously rides in the backseat of a car stuck in New York City traffic. In her distinctively thick New York accent, she reflects on her career, saying “I didn’t want anyone to tell me what I could and couldn’t do.” On her longevity and unique ability to adapt to shifting social trends, she says “I never think of it as reinvention. I want to learn.” After the Premiere: A performance by Cyndi Lauper at the Beacon Theatre.
Thursday, June 15
Storytellers – Billy Porter
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 6:00 PM | 60 min
Billy Porter is an Emmy, Tony and Grammy award-winning actor, singer, director, producer, composer, and playwright, best known for FX’s Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated drama “Pose” and Broadway’s Kinky Boots.
Storytellers – Paul McCartney with Conan O’Brien
OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC | 6:00 PM | 60 min
Paul McCartney will be joined in conversation by Conan O’Brien. The pair will discuss McCartney’s new book 1964: Eyes of the Storm, which is being published on June 13. The book showcases 275 of McCartney’s rediscovered photos from his archive from the end of 1963 and beginning of 1964 when Beatlemania erupted. The conversation will be recorded for a future episode of O’Brien’s podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.”
Storytellers: Megan Thee Stallion
The Beacon Theatre | 8:00 PM | 60 min
Megan Thee Stallion is a three-time GRAMMY-winning recording artist, actor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. Megan has been recognized for her musical achievements, including nine BET Awards and back-to-back Billboard Music Awards for “Top Rap Female Artist.”
Friday, June 16
“Choir” – Directed by Rudy Valdez
SVA Theatre | 5:30 PM | 93 min
For the Detroit Youth Choir, everything changed when they entered the spotlight on America’s Got Talent. They’d come a long way from rehearsing in a church basement with a handful of kids, but now their past achievements are old news and the new kids need to step up. With new talent and auditions underway, can the DYC stay relevant both in their hometown and on the national stage? After the Screening: A conversation with Artistic Director of the Detroit Youth Choir Anthony White, director Rudy Valdez, executive producer Sara Bernstein, and members of the choir, plus a special performance by the Detroit Youth Choir.
Storytellers – Hailee Steinfeld
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 6:00 PM | 60 min
Academy Award-nominated actress, multi-platinum recording musician, and producer, Hailee Steinfeld remains a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry.
“For Khadija” – Directed by Mandon Lovett
The Beacon Theatre | 8:00 PM | 90 min
French Montana is many things, including an entrepreneur and Grammy-nominated rapper. But what did it take for a hungry talent from Africa to reach those lofty heights? The Moroccan-born and New York-bred multi-platinum artist behind hits such as Pop That, Unforgettable, and No Stylist is giving us a deeper look through his lens. This globe-spanning showcase provides views of French we haven’t seen, including the unbreakable bond he shares with his single mother, Khadija. After the Premiere: A performance by French Montana, Triplets Ghetto Kids, and Very Special Guests.
Sunday, June 17
“All Up In The Biz” – Directed by Sacha Jenkins
The Indeed Theater at Spring Studios | 8:00 PM | 100 min
New York native Biz Markie remains a hip-hop icon despite his untimely death in 2021. Best known for his 1989 Top 40 hit “Just a Friend”, Markie was a rapper, beatboxer, songwriter, and producer who was fondly referred to as the clown prince of hip-hop. In All Up in the Biz, Director Sacha Jenkins weaves together a collage of dynamic celebrity interviews, rare archival footage, reenactments with puppets, and playful animation to share the personal and professional story of Biz Markie and the mark he left on hip-hop history and the music industry around the world.
“Carlos” – Directed by Rudy Valdez
The Beacon Theatre | 8:00 PM | 87 min
The lively and intimately-crafted documentary Carlos immerses us in rock icon Carlos Santana’s life and musical trajectory. Filmmaker Rudy Valdez bolsters this personal narrative with pulsating, never-before-seen footage — guided by Santana himself, in his own words. After the Premiere: A performance by the legendary Santana.
The post A Tribeca Festival Music Guide: From Paul McCartney to Megan Thee Stallion appeared first on NYS Music.
