The Tribeca Film Festival announced its 2019 jury members April 16. Jurors will select award-winners in 10 categories at the annual festival, which will be held April 25-May 5 in New York City.
Among the 10 categories is the Nora Ephron Prize, an annual award given to “a woman who embodies the spirit and vision of the legendary filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron.”
2018 winner Little Woods opens in theaters April 19, from writer-director Nia DaCosta. FF2 Media Senior Contributor Nora Lee Mandel wrote that the jury “recognized how DaCosta gave actresses Lily James and Tessa Thompson the means to sympathetically stretch into the grim social, financial and healthcare realities women face amidst the shale oil fracking boom.”
“It was important to me that this was a love story about the two sisters – this is about their relationship,” DaCosta told FF2 Media at Tribeca.
The Divine Order took the prize at the 2017 festival from director Petra Volpe, while Rachel Tunnard’s 2016 award-winner Adult Life Skills was finally released in January. (Read more about previous Nora Ephron Prize winners here.)
This year’s award, presented by CHANEL, will be determined by esteemed jurors Debra Messing, Chloe Sevigny and DeWanda Wise. Previous Nora Ephron Prize jurors include Dianna Agron, Joy Bryant, Diane Lane, Zoe Lister-Jones and Christina Ricci.
Tribeca has a history of supporting female filmmakers, and its jury members are exceptionally inclusive this year. Jurors in other categories include Angela Bassett, Rebecca Miller and Tig Notaro.
© Georgiana E. Presecky (4/17/19) FF2 Media
Featured Photo: Tessa Thompson stars in 2018 Nora Ephron Prize-winner Little Woods, in theaters April 19.
Bottom Photo: Nora Ephron Prize juror Debra Messing.
Photo Credits: Elle Magazine and NEON
