Tribeca Film Festival

Tribeca Film Festival has officially brought on two new programmers, José F. Rodriguez and Karen McMullen, joining festival director and VP of programming Cara Cusumano for their 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. 

Rodriguez comes from the documentary space, formerly Director of Documentary Programs at TFI Network. McMullen previously held positions as Head of Programming at TIDE Festival, the Lead Curator for the New Voices in Black Cinema Film Festival, and a Features Programmer for DOC NYC Film Festival.

Throughout the years, the festival has grown tremendously encompassing not only film, but also TV, virtual reality, digital content, podcasts, music, gaming, among other program areas. In its 20^th year, the team plans to make it bigger than ever celebrating this milestone 20^th anniversary and once again bringing people together through storytelling and cinematic experiences. 

Tribeca Film Festival 2021 is slated for June 9^th-20^th, 2021 and submissions are open until January 13, 2021. For more information on submissions, please visit: https://tribecafilm.com/news/show-us-your-work

"As we look forward to our 20th anniversary Festival in June", commented Cara Cusumano, Tribeca Film Festival director and VP of Programming, "we are delighted to welcome Jose and Karen to our programming team. Their astute taste, thoughtful curatorial vision, and passion for film will be indispensable assets as we embark on this unprecedented edition"

BIO: José F. Rodriguez

José F. Rodriguez joined the Tribeca Film Festival as Programmer in 2020. Previously, he served as Director of Documentary Programs at the Tribeca Film Institute, where he oversaw the growth, funding & overall strategic vision for all documentary programs, as well as its filmmaker / industry market, TFI NETWORK. During his 10 years at TFI, he also led documentary workshops in the United States and throughout Latin America.

In the past three years, he has made two short films: the documentary short ADOLESCENCIA (Camden International Film Festival 2017, New Orleans Film Festival 2017, DOCNYC 2017, DOK Leipzig 2017) and the experimental short Mama,mama (Bushwick Film Festival 2018, Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2018, Guanajuato International Film Festival 2019).

Previously, José was a Senior Consultant for Points North Institute-CIFF, overseeing the Camden International Film Festival's film market and connecting Points North-supported filmmakers to invited film industry professionals.

BIO: Karen McMullen

Karen McMullen joined the Tribeca Film Festival as Programmer in 2020. She is a Brooklyn-based film festival programmer, editor and educator. McMullen was Head of Programmingfor the TIDE Film Festival, the Lead Curator for the New Voices in Black Cinema Film Festival, and a Features Programmer for DOC NYC Film Festival. She has served as a juror at the Pan African and the Bentonville Film Festivals and was previously an industry consultant at the Tribeca Film Institute. She has sat on the selection committees for the Cinema Eye Honors, the Logan Nonfiction Program and Black Public Media 360+ Incubator program; she also screens for the Sundance Film Festival. McMullen moderates filmmaker panels and post-screening Q&A’s for the NY African Film Festival, NYWIFT, HBO theatrical premieres and the Pure NonFiction podcast series. She appears on television and radio as a media expert and to promote various festivals. 

McMullen received a double BA degree from Brown University, and is currently an associate professor in Long Island University’s Department of Media Arts. As an editor, she has credits on features, documentaries, television and short films.