Tribeca Film Festival returns - 16th June 2021

Tribeca Film Festival is back in New York. The festival of independent films returned after lockdown.

Celebrities like actor Bryan Cranston are excited.

Society needs the chance to relax and enjoy art.

Bryan Cranston: "To have the Tribeca Film Festival come back after Covid lockdown, when everybody was contained, and quarantined and tight, and now to be able to loosen that up and enjoy and celebrate. It's what society needs, not just in, you know, New York for the Tribeca but all around the world to celebrate art."

TriBeCa is part of Manhattan. It's where the 9/11 attacks happened. Robert De Niro and other actors organised a film festival to help the area. The 2002 festival brought back some normal life.

Actress Sharon Stone talks about today's crisis. Everyone has lost in Covid-19.

Sharon Stone: "We all lost. There really aren't any of us here that didn't lose - we all lost. We lost our jobs, we lost our bearings, we lost our loved ones, we lost our sense of security and self. We all lost in this epidemic."

The 2020 festival took place online. This 20th anniversary festival has both online and live events. Organisers hope it can help people, just like in 2002.

When the festival began, actress Helen Hunt lived in TriBeCa. She feels the festival brings positive energy.

Helen Hunt: But I remember when it started and how much healing it brought at the time. So it's doing it again."