“It was about whether downtown was coming back”: Robert De Niro details organizing Tribeca Festival after 9/11

Robert De Niro has spoken about launching the Tribeca Festival after the 9/11 attacks during a recent interview on a segment of People Talks.

De Niro co-founded the festival with Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in late 2001. The event officially opened the following year. During an exclusive chat with People magazine, the GoodFellas actor told the outlet that it was never about screening films but a vital test of whether downtown Manhattan could recover and thrive again. He said:

“We had 120 days, 1,300 volunteers, no money, no blueprint, just an idea and a neighborhood that needed people back in it. This wasn’t just about movies; it was about whether downtown was coming back.”

De Niro and Rosenthal reflected on the Tribeca Festival’s 25-year history in their upcoming documentary, Tribeca 25. Directed by Matt Tyrnauer, the film will be dropping on Netflix on September 11, 2026.

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Robert De Niro on organizing Tribeca Festival after 9/11

During an exclusive chat with People magazine, Robert De Niro, along with Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, discussed their commitment to organize the Tribeca Festival in Lower Manhattan, New York City in May 2002, after the September 11 attacks.

De Niro told the outlet that they had casually discussed the idea of a film festival beforehand, but it wasn’t a serious plan. However, after the 9/11 attacks, it gained urgent purpose. Rosenthal, who joined the Taxi Driver star to launch Tribeca Productions, shared that although neither she nor De Niro had experience in organizing a film festival, they had a deep-rooted desire to support the struggling community. Rosenthal said:

“I mean, we felt we had to do something because I keep saying we weren’t firefighters or steel workers, so what could we do to help? Put on the screening, put on a show and try to provide a new memory.”

She shared that, with little sponsorship experience at the time, they decided to approach it the way they do for movies. She said:

“If we can produce a film, if we can prep a film in three months, you can prep a film festival. Why not? I mean, it was a producer’s mentality.”

In another interview, Rosenthal spoke about the challenges she and Robert De Niro faced to accomplish their film festival dream. She said it initially felt “impossible,” as they had to wear hazmat suits to walk into movie theatres because it was “unsafe.” They had "no rules, no business plan"; all they knew was their need to do something.

Nevertheless, they made it possible in just 120 days, and with the aid of 1,300 volunteers. The first Tribeca Festival, held in 2002, hosted 150 films. It reportedly drew over 150,000 people.

Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton made appearances at the event, where they spoke at the opening of the first Tribeca Festival. Mandela delivered an emotional speech telling the crowd and the city that it was time to move from mourning into recovery mode.

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During his exclusive chat with People magazine, Robert De Niro revealed that he witnessed the smoking site of the World Trade Center from his downtown apartment which served as a constant reminder that “kept things in perspective.”

De Niro, who starred in the 2015 comedy The Intern, has lived and worked in Lower Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood for years. He played a major role in transforming TriBeCa from an industrial area into a vibrant residential and cultural community.

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