The Ever-Evolving, Tribeca Film Fest

The 24th Tribeca Film Fest was a Communal Gathering & a Brief Walk thru 'The Matrix'

June 18, 2025 / Manhattan Arts Culture Film / Manhattan Neighborhoods / Fact & Fiction / Manhattan Buzz NYC.

The Tribeca Film Fest at Spring Street Studios

Telephone Exchange Tranformed into Communal Gathering Spot

On Saturday, June 14th, 2025 I made my way down to the Tribeca Film Festival.  It was an overcast day, with some drizzly rain and attendant humidity. I generally head to the festival with some sort of agenda regarding what I am going to cover or look for, but more often than not, I find something more interesting at the festival, which changes some of what I come back with - if not everything.

This year I didn't have a lot of time to pre-plan or think about things in advance, so I kind of went in without an agenda.  Leaving to chance what I would find and bring back. I entered the Spring Studios building, aka the Festival Hub to check in. 

I've grown rather fond of the Tribeca Film Festival Hub building, which is a renovated Verizon building, located along [50] Varick Street and adjacent to the Holland Tunnel entrance. The building was first erected in 1929 as a telephone exchange facility for ATT.  In 2013 - 2016 the building was transformed from industrial space to a modern, multi-faceted event space, that includes studios, screening rooms, meeting rooms, dining facilities and a nearly 10,000 square foot rooftop indoor / outdoor space.  The building encompasses about 120,000 square feet of space.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the Tribeca Film Festival 2025 as seen from the perspective of the Matrix and current times.

The Ever-Evolving, Tribeca Film Fest

The 24th Tribeca Film Fest was a Communal Gathering & a Brief Walk thru 'The Matrix'

June 18, 2025 / Manhattan Arts Culture Film / Manhattan Neighborhoods / Fact & Fiction / Manhattan Buzz NYC. Continued.

The Tribeca Film Festival is an Eclectic Communal Gathering

Reflecting not Just NYC, but the Nation & the World

As I made my way around the building, I began to realize that this year the building was to become a part of the story.  The reason, is that this year, I saw and felt a much more relaxed, easy-going, authentic atmosphere.  Now, admittedly, that I was there on the afternoon of the second last day of the festival, likely played a role in this.  But on this Saturday afternoon, what I saw was a community, and efforts to build community across all film genres, sexes, as well as ethnic and cultural backgrounds - which is what the Tribeca Film Festival has been about since its inception. 

Is that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?  I know Founder Robert DeNiro would repeat the immortal words of NEO, in the film 'The Matrix'.  Neo, when asked if he wanted more training, responded saying, "Hell, yeah."  Yahoo AI, explains the answer as thus, "... This moment highlights his [Neo's] eagerness to learn and embrace his potential within the Matrix ... [offering] ... him the opportunity to delve deeper into the truth ... showcasing Neo's determination to understand his reality and gain control over his life ...".

I observed that the same kind of thing, going on this Saturday afternoon, in June, at Spring Street Studios.  People were there to learn as much as they could, so they could acquire the insights, skills, experience, connections and resources, to continue their journey deeper into the world of film.  Which I reckon, they would ultimately aspire to use to make a living, thus gaining more control over their lives.

Entering and Exiting the Modern Day Matrix

Taking the Red Pill, is Like Taking Off the MAGA Red Hat

Unexpectedly and unfortunately, we have today, a somewhat similar analogy to the Matrix in real life.  The MAGA's of the world, don their red hats, and then flip on billionaire TV, where they ingest / consume endless hours of Murdoch Fox News, which seems to be non-stop lying or the equivalent by Donald Trump on TV.  This false reality is the equivalent of what the matrix is, in the film The Matrix, which is a world of false perceptions.

What I mean by this is that the world Murdoch / Fox / Trump describe to their followers, isn't real.  It's not just a lie, but an endless stream of lies.  It's not just a hoax, but an endless stream of hoaxes.  It's not just a phony witch hunt, but an unending stream of phony witch hunts. 

Part of the deceit implicit in the Trump Matrix is the continual changing narrative, filled with distractions onto the next topic, in order to escape the last one. For example, the DOGE dividend checks never arrived, nor did a peak at the man's taxes, nor a peak at man's transcripts, those trillions of federal government fraud, waste and abuse never materialized, and now - according to Elon Musk -there's something being kept hidden in the Epstein files. The Fox News / Donald J Trump Deep State is a Russian Hoax on America, designed to dismantle what was once a well-oiled, highly reliable, fairly efficient [especially given its size] U.S. federal government bureaucracy. 

Just as Neo returned to reality after taking the red pill, so too will some of the MAGA's come back to reality after casting away their red hats. Like Neo, they are going to have difficulty adjusting to their changing perceptions, so we must all - in the interest of the nation - try to help ease them back into reality.

I Pulled out of the Matrix Training Program, Re-entered Spring Street Studios, and Continued Working on my Report of the Tribeca Film Festival

After, heading off on the Matrix tangent above, I mentally returned to Spring Street Studios, as I opened the door to walk out onto the Spring Street Studios rooftop patio, in the misty afternoon rain.  As it was the middle of the afternoon and raining, it was also fairly calm, genuinely relaxed and not crowded.  In fact, the rooftop itself, was empty.  I stayed out there for a while, gazing and photographing a nearly 360 degree skyline of Downtown Manhattan, until a few other people decided to venture out into the elements, too.

I re-entered the building from the rooftop and began walking around. There were people in the lounges, huddled in small groups, exchanging both live and online details. Some folks were sitting alone, and there was a fairly large mass of people found at the bar / cantina on the sixth floor overlooking the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. They use this room for Tribeca Film Fest social events, presentations, as well as intermittently - between gigs - a place to rest.

I ventured into one of the talks / presentations entitled Rising Voices.  It was about funding new film projects.  The speakers were folks who had worked on various real life films, for which they had sought - and found funding.  They described their experiences, providing details on what sorts of things appealed to different people financing film ventures, including getting some sort of economic return, and / or some other more intangible returns [nonprofits, community interest, environmental].

After the event, I asked a few folks what films they had seen at the festival that they liked. Natchez and A Tree Fell in the Woods seemed to be favored by the few folks who shared their views. One was about a town in the south [Natchez, Miss] still dealing with and working through its racist past, while A Tree Fell in the Woods was described as entertaining and well acted.

As I walked out onto the streets, I had plenty to think about.  A large vehicle stopped and a taut, attractive woman invited me inside in for a ride.  I hesitated.  My parents had always told me never to get in a car with a stranger. She coaxed me saying, " ... "You have been down there ... You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be." 

I flipped my MAGA hat off into the street, and got into the car.  The woman in the front of the car pulled a gun on me and told me to hold still.  The taut, attractive woman pulled out a bug extractor ... before I knew it, some guy named Morpheus was asking me if I wanted to take the red or the blue pill ... I chose the ...

Epilogue - Tribeca Film Festival

The Tribeca Film Festival ended Sunday, June 15, 2025. There were over well over a hundred different films shown and well over 100 different film makers in attendance. Generally the glitz and hype are in the beginning and the middle of the show, and the time to make some peer level connections seems better suited to the end of it.