Co-founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in order to revitalize the TriBeCa neighborhood after the September 11 attacks, the Tribeca Film Festival has since become a staple of springtime in New York City. Since its founding, the festival has screened over 1100 films from over 80 countries and generated well over $500 million in economic activity for the city.
A total of 348,000 people attended the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival's 361 screenings, panels, and free community events, which ran from April 22 through May 3. The 2009 festival screened 85 features and 47 short films from 36 countries. The top awards in TFF's competition categories went to About Elly, North, Racing Dreams, and Fixer: The Taking of Amjal Naqshbandi. More awards were handed out for best Shorts (narrative, documentary, and student visionary), Best New York films (Here and There, Partly Private), and Best Actor/Actress, as well as Special Jury Mentions. The 2009 Heineken Audience Award went to the NYC-based comedy City Island. Co-founder Jane Rosenthal reflected at the close of the festival, "I am delighted that we have awarded films from such diverse origins, helping to launch careers, establish names and tell stories that would otherwise not be told. I wish all of the filmmakers continued success and hope that they can continue to bring their works back to Tribeca." Many of the films screened at the 2009 festival were picked up for full theatrical release soon afterward.
For the fourth consecutive year, Moleskine worked with the Tribeca Film Festival in order to create a notebook to be offered as a gift to all jurors and key sponsors. The 2009 notebook followed the collection's signature TFF design, with paperband and embossed cover completing each other to form the festival logo. Keeping the city in mind, a skyline of New York was silkscreened on the flyleaf.
