As quick as the Festival began, it’s already over!

Though it’s hard to believe, the 11th Tribeca Film Festival finished its epic 12 days of screenings, panels, talks and free community events this Sunday, April 30, and boy, did time fly. From the special Universal 100th Anniversary panel, which featured Festival co-Founder Robert De Niro and Judd Apatow, to Justin Bieber’s Silver Hammer acceptance at the Disruptive Innovation Awards, to the strong finish provided by a sneak preview of The Avengers, the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival provided a bevy of memorable moments.

The sense of community was overwhelming, and we feel truly thankful to have shared so many wonderful films with so many people—we’re estimating around 380,000 film lovers attended the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in person (not even counting the number of people who streamed Festival films through the Tribeca Online Film Festival), including enjoying popular community events such as the Tribeca Drive-In series, the annual Family Festival Street Fair, the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day, and the 2nd annual Tribeca/NYFEST Soccer Day. Add in the folks who attended the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards and the Tribeca Film Institute Interactive Day and you can get some sense of the far-reaching impact of the Festival.

We’ll get into the nitty gritty in a minute, but before we go any further, we'd like to acknowledge our many devoted sponsors, first and foremost among them being our Founding sponsor, American Express. Without their generous support, the Tribeca Film Festival would not be possible. All our appreciation and thanks to our 2012 sponsors! 

The Festival started on Wednesday, April 28, and ran until April 30. It offered nearly 400 screenings of 89 features and 60 shorts from 46 different countries—staggering numbers to be sure. Participants came from all over the world and spared no trouble or expense, so eager were they to share their work with Tribeca audiences. It took Jeroen van Velzen, director of Wavumba, four days to get to New York City from Lake Malawi by plane, train and automobile. Balthazar Uscha, the 67-year-old subject of the short The Last Ice Merchant (above), traveled with his wife from Chimborazo, Ecuador to attend the Festival. Although they flew in an airplane for the first time, visited America for the first time, and took in their first skyscrapers, they were daunted only by one truly frightening experience—riding an escalator.

In all, over 830 national and international industry delegates attended this year’s Festival, including filmmakers, directors, and producers of Tribeca Official Selections. They represented 36 countries, including Thailand, Greece, Denmark, South Korea and Australia. Multiple industry-related panels were attended by more than 116,000 serious film buffs during the 12-day Festival.

This year’s Festival was also exceptional in other ways. Patrons  were able to buy tickets to TFF 2012 screenings and events on Facebook through Audience View—the first time a film festival has offered this service to its online community. What can we say? We’re pioneers!

Tribeca also took care to bookend the Festival in a special way. The TFF 2012 Opening Night Film was the highly anticipated romantic comedy, The FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT fromUniversal Pictures. Directed by Nicholas Stoller and co-written by Stoller and star Jason Segel, the film features the hilarious Segel and the lovely Emily Blunt as an engaged couple who keep getting tripped up on their way to the altar. (Watch the video.)

Our Closing Night Film, The Avengers, is currently the most popular movie in the world. Presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and sponsored by BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Gin®, this epic action-adventure film, helmed by Joss Whedon, drew stars Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smudlers to the red carpet, where these reel heroes interacted with real-life heroes from police agencies, fire departments, first responders, and various branches of the U.S. military. How fitting to close out our 2012 Festival by celebrating these outstanding members of our community. 

We love to give back at the Tribeca Film Festival. This year, Festival organizers and NYPD Community Affairs Officer, Rick Lee, estimated that a crowd of 250,00 people braved the elements to come to the signature TRIBECA FAMILY FESTIVAL STREET FAIR (presented by American Express) and TRIBECA/ESPN SPORTS DAY (sponsored by Time Warner Cable) on Saturday, April 28. The much beloved annual event featured performances from the casts of nine Broadway shows, arts and crafts for the whole family, face-painting, live entertainment, visits from New York sports teams and more, right here in the heart of Tribeca.

Co-sponsored by Jet Blue and Time Warner Cable, our Tribeca Drive-In series was just as successful with screenings of Jaws, Goonies and the TFF 2012 documentary Knuckleball! Participants were treated to live music, a special Goonies-themed treasure hunt, and even pitching clinics with MLB legends Tim Wakefield and R.A Dickey. This year, the open-air screenings brought more than 8,600 people to lower Manhattan to take part in the festivities.

Our Festival audiences continue to demonstrate the enduring joy of going to the movies. Films like Searching for Sugar Man, BURN, The Russian Winter, The List, Everyman’s Journey, Any Day Now and Graceland received standing ovations. Audiences cheered not only at their premieres, but also following Q & As and general showings. Graceland director Ron Morales received a standing ovation when he was introduced at his world premiere, even before anyone had seen his movie.

While the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival is a wrap, our appreciation for the filmmakers and fans who participated is ongoing. We offer our sincerest thanks to each and every one of you who helped make the 11th Tribeca Film Festival possible. It is through your hard work, love of film and dedication that we are still here. And if you missed Tribeca Film Festival this year, don’t worry—there’s always 2013.