We are delighted to unveil the lineup and programming for the 2012 Tribeca Online Film Festival, presented by founding partner American Express. For the third year running, this pioneering digital initiative expands the Festival experience, enabling audiences from all over the U.S. to view select features, short films, live streamed events (open to all audiences), and more, all for absolutely free. The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 18-29.

Like what you see? Online audiences will have the opportunity to vote on the best online feature and short films via TribecaFilm.com, which will be announced at the Tribeca Film Festival Awards on April 26 (the event will be streaming, of course). There will also be a social voting competition, based solely on popularity: the number of “likes” that film accumulates on the Tribeca Online Film Festival film detail page. The feature film and the short film that drive the most Facebook likes on the page will each receive a separate prize of $500.

More details follow. We hope you will join us!

FILMS

We have a wide range of films available for viewing in TOFF 2012. Features and short films will have limited screening windows and capacity. Reservations begin on April 10 for American Express Cardmembers (who will also get access to select content from distribution label Tribeca Film upon registration) and April 16 for the general public. 

Note: Films in the Tribeca Online Film Festival are open to viewing by audiences in the United States.

Four world premiere feature films will stream on the Tribeca Online Film Festival once they premiere at TFF:
♦ Babygirl (dir. Macdara Vallely)
♦ On The Mat (dir. Fredric Golding)
♦ The Russian Winter (dir. Petter Ringbom)
♦ Town of Runners (dir. Jerry Rothwell)

Five TFF short films will stream beginning on April 19:
♦ BFF (dir. Neil LaBute)
♦ CatCam (dir. Seth Keal)
♦ Scenes from a Visit to Japan (dir. Joel Schlemowitz)
♦ Transmission (dir. Zak Hilditch)
♦ Doggy Bags (dir. Edward Burns, produced by American Express)

Nine additional shorts will be made available through FOCUS FORWARD – Short Films, Big Ideas, a partnership between GE and Cinelan. Five shorts are already live on the site. The last four will debut on Tribeca Film on April 25, simultaneous with their TFF premieres at Tribeca Cinemas.

You can also catch all nine Focus Forward shorts at TFF in a free screening, followed by a panel discussion:
♦ Focus Forward: Short Films / Big Ideas
Wednesday, April 25
3:00 pm
Tribeca Cinemas

LIVE EVENTS

Select special events will be streamed live as part of the Tribeca Online Film Festival. Other TFF 2012 events, the Future of Film Lunch Series, Q&As and conversations will be captured on video for dynamic segments to be posted daily on Tribeca Film, giving online audiences the total Festival experience. Note: live events may be watched by anyone, no matter the location.

Among the live events scheduled are:

♦ April 19 at 3 pm: A celebration of Universal Studios 100th Anniversary, featuring Robert De Niro and Judd Apatow sharing their favorite moments and memories from Universal's extraordinary history.

♦ April 26 at 7 pm: TFF Awards Night, saluting the best of the Festival.

♦ April 27 at 11 am: Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, celebrating innovation across the media, entertainment and technology spectrum.

We invite you to join us to take part in Tribeca from anywhere in the U.S., even from your own living room. Our amazing third annual TOFF line-up proves that you don't have to be in NYC to have the Festival experience!