CHANEL Tribeca Festival Women's Luncheon

Posted by Justin D Williams

CHANEL and Tribeca’s Jane Rosenthal and Paula Weinstein hosted a special lunch to celebrate THROUGH HER LENS: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program in New York City. The afternoon gathering was a celebration of ALL women creators telling stories everywhere throughout the festival — film, TV, VR, Audio/Podcasts, experiential and more.

Tribeca CEO and Co-Founder Jane Rosenthal and Chief Content Officer Paula Weinstein, Lucy Boynton (Actress), Cazzie David (Actress), Zosia Mamet (Actress), Chase Sui Wonders (Actress),  Clara McGregor (Actress), Amandla Stendberg (Actress), Kyra Sedgwick (Actress & Director),   Rebecca Dayan (Actress), Adepero Oduye (Actress), Alysia Reiner (Actress), Amanda Micheli (Director), Anne Archer (Actress), Bella Newman (Director), Bethann Hardison (Model), Carmen Labue (Actress), Christine Lahti (Actress), Coco Baudelle (Filmmaker), Dawn Porter (Filmmaker), Debra Winger (Actress), Diva Smith (Songwriter), Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Director), Heidi Ewing (Filmmaker), Jennifer Westfeldt (Actress), Joanna Coles (Producer), Katherine Narducci (Actress), Leslie Silva (Actress), Mara Brock Akil (Screenwriter), Mickalene Thomas (Visual Artist), Miyako Bellizzi (Costume Designer), Niki Karimi (Actress), Nicoletta De a Brown (Artist), Pam Grier (Actress), Piper Perabo (Actress), Pippa Bianco (Director), Racquel Chevermont (Curator), Roxane Gay (Writer), Rosanna Arquette (Actress), Sandra Winther (Director), Sasha Frolova (Actress), Tig Nataro (Comedian), among many others. 

Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca CEO and Co-Founder, kicked off the afternoon by acknowledging how this event is making “the new normal feel extraordinary”. She spoke briefly about the success of the past winners of the THROUGH HER LENS program and how “it is more important than ever for women storytellers to rise up and share their talent with the world.” Rosenthal concluded by acknowledging all of the amazing women she has been working with and said, “It’s been a true honor to champion so many female voices and have a program like THROUGH HER LENS to showcase all the amazing work being created.” 

Paula Weinstein, Tribeca Chief Content Officer, remarked to the amazing group of guests that, “Women’s underrepresented voices must be heard. We must allow their words to be seen and their films to be admired.”

The lunch highlighted the work of THROUGH HER LENS: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program. Founded in 2015 by Tribeca and CHANEL and in collaboration with Pulse Films, the mentorship program provides industry support, artistic development, and funding to emerging U.S.-based self-identifying women and non-binary writers and directors. In a world that has seen so much change the need for THROUGH HER LENS is more vital than ever, with the program providing a crucial and continuing platform for stories that tell the triumphs and struggles of intrepid women.

The three-day immersive program includes one-on-one mentorship, intimate participant masterclasses focused on script-to-screen development, music composition, costume design, producing, and directing. Participants will work with mentors to shape and refine their projects and pitches, and at the conclusion of the program, each pair will pitch their projects to a jury of industry experts. One team will receive full financing to produce their short film with support from Tribeca Studios. The four other projects will be awarded grant funds to support their films’ development.

CHANEL has a longstanding commitment to nurturing independent voices in storytelling, and helping to ensure that the future creative voices better reflect the diversity of our world.

The partnership between CHANEL and Tribeca, which commenced in 2005, has been enriched over the past 17 years to help nourish women filmmakers with supportive programming year-round.