I have exciting news. For the first time in the almost dozen years I’ve been maintaining this website, I will be traveling outside of the state of Texas to cover a film festival. Earlier in the year, I received word from the Tribeca Film Festival that I had been approved for press credentials to cover this year’s fest, which will be a milestone for them. The 2026 edition marks the 25th anniversary of the Tribeca Festival, which was founded as a way to encourage the local economy and culture of Lower Manhattan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The festival was created by actor Robert De Niro, his longtime film producing partner Jane Rosenthal, and Rosenthal’s then-husband, New York City real estate investor Craig Hatkoff.
I never could have imagined back at the tail end of 2014, as I started creating what would become The Forgetful Film Critic, that I’d be able to cover a fest like Tribeca as a member of the press. During that weekend in December when I took advantage of an empty house to start work on the site – Rae celebrated her birthday in 2014 with a solo trip to Puerto Rico – the thought of covering film festivals never even occurred to me.
It took me eight years to get comfortable enough with my writing to consider applying for press credentials to cover a festival. The first one to give me the green light was Fantastic Fest in 2022. Since then, I’ve covered fifteen festivals for the site, including three years of South by Southwest, four Dallas International Film Festivals, and two Oak Cliff Film Festivals. I’m psyched to add a fest as prestigious as Tribeca to that list.
As “just some asshole with a website” – that’s what I like to call myself, although I’ve been trying to make a change to “independent film critic” – I wasn’t granted full access. Tribeca, like most film festivals, offers several tiers of passes. The pass that I was approved for is the Chambers Press Badge, reserved for members of the press and filmmaking industry, which grants me access to any of the press and industry screenings on offer.
This will be a unique experience, as I’ve always been able to get into the regular screenings attended by the general public at festivals. I did avail myself of the P&I screenings one year at Fantastic Fest. There were several movies screening – The People’s Joker and a gorgeous restoration of Tinto Brass’s 1979 Caligula were two – which I feared would be so popular (Malcolm McDowell was in attendance for Caligula) that I wouldn’t be able to get a seat. The P&I screenings at that Fantastic Fest were all scheduled for 7AM start times. (That’s how I ended up screening the soft-core-porn-adjacent Caligula before I had even had breakfast!)
Luckily, Tribeca holds their P&I screenings throughout the day. From what I can tell, we’ll be sequestered at an AMC closer to Midtown Manhattan, away from the Tribeca-area theaters holding the regular screenings. I also didn’t realize when booking my flight that the P&I screenings start a day after the actual fest kicks off on June third. I’m flying in on the second, so I’ll have almost two full days of exploring The City That Never Sleeps before I’m able to get into any screenings. This is my first trip to New York City, so I’m grateful to have some time there that won’t involve sitting inside a movie theater.
A high school classmate who now resides in the area has graciously offered up his and his husband’s spare bedroom, so I can save on expenses. I’ve been told that they have a “Texas Room,” which I’ll be using during my stay. I also noticed that only a few blocks away from where I’ll be picking up my fest badge is the iconic Ghostbusters fire station office. I’ll certainly be swinging by to have a look at that after picking up my badge.
Now let’s dive into a few of the most anticipated screenings I’m looking forward to attending at Tribeca 2026:
[All quotes below come from the Tribeca 2026 programming guide.]
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass: When I sat down to set my fest lineup, I initially booked myself for the opening night film of Tribecca 2026, Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World). It’s directed by musician and filmmaker Questlove, who really wowed me with his 2021 music doc Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).
But then I started exploring the other titles available that morning and I came across Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass. From director David Wain, who directed one of my all-time favorite comedies, Wet Hot American Summer, and cowritten by Wain and frequent collaborator Ken Marino, this comedy focuses on a woman who wants to get back at her fiancé after he uses his celebrity sex pass.
I’m hoping for some Wet Hot American Summer-sized laughs (no pressure!) and with a stacked cast featuring, among others, Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, John Slattery, and Marino, with any luck, that’s what I’ll get.
How to Feed a Dictator: This sounds utterly fascinating and perhaps very disturbing. From the Tribeca 2026 guide: “Five private chefs to fearsome dictators all over the world share their experiences of the kitchens and circumstances that led them to these sometimes dangerous and often morally compromising workplaces. Based on the book by Witold Szablowski.”
The Revisionist: From director Alex Vlack comes a story about hitting a creative wall and the lengths one woman will go to in order to overcome her writer’s block. From the guide: “Searching for inspiration for her next novel, Elise subtly manipulates the people closest to her like characters in a book. The sudden return of an old friend challenges just how far she’s willing to go in pursuit of her art.” This is Vlack’s second feature directorial effort after a 2009 documentary about musician Bill Withers. The Revisionist stars Alison Brie, Dustin Hoffman, and André Holland, and Tribeca 2026 will be its world premiere.
Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu: As a teenager, I crafted my sense of humor from many sources, but a formative one was the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David. (Mr. Show is likely a big reason why I associate so strongly with Gen X-style humor.) As soon as I saw “Bob and David” in the title, I had to know more. This is a documentary that chronicles the long-time friends and creative collaborators as they “tackle one of the world's toughest hikes — and each other — in this high-altitude, coca-fueled meditation on friendship, mortality, and profoundly absurd comedy from two icons still magnificently in sync.” I’m hoping for a fun time with deeper layers being peeled away as the climb becomes more challenging.
AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About: From the fest guide: “The definitive documentary on AI's origins, told by the people who built it. A thriller-paced reckoning with ambition, rivalry and the question that now haunts everyone: Will artificial intelligence save humanity or destroy it?” This should be a laugh a minute.
That’s only a taste of everything I hope to see at Tribeca 2026. As with DIFF 2026, I was able to plot out every screening I hope to make during the fest before it starts. As of right now, I have booked myself for 29 screenings over the course of ten days. Like each film festival I attend, I’m sure there will be some adjustments on the fly. There’s absolutely no way I won’t try to squeeze in at least one extra screening, so I can make it an even thirty.
The Tribeca Film Festival – only a part of what is more broadly called Tribeca Festival, which encompasses speaker panels, video game demos, outdoor screenings, TV show screenings, and podcast recordings – will take place June 3-14, 2026, in the Tribeca area of Lower Manhattan. You can find the festival guide, individual tickets, festival passes, and more at the Tribeca 2026 website. I’m planning on publishing several updates during the fest, and, as always, you can find a complete log of everything I’m seeing over on my Letterboxd account.
See you at the movies!