Robert De Niro gave a thinly veiled critique of Donald Trump on Wednesday’s opening night of the Tribeca Festival. The Oscar winner used his time on stage to talk about Tribeca’s mission as a festival founded after 9/11 to shine a spotlight on parts of the city destroyed by the terrorist attacks.
“We’ve always recognized the power of storytelling to bring people together,” De Niro said.
De Niro said this is a guiding principle that has become “especially important” as “monstrous leaders seek to force us apart for their own immoral, cruel and corrupt purposes.”
And although he did not mention the president by name, De Niro, a frequent critic of President Trump, told the crowd at the Beacon Theater:
Now in its 25th year, Tribeca kicked off with the premiere of director Amir “Questlove” Thompson’s new documentary, “Earth, Wind and Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World).” The film follows the musical group and its leader Maurice White as they climb the charts, chronicling their influence on everyone from Stevie Wonder to Free to the Obamas (all of whom appear in the doc).
“I try to keep a Zen mental space and not really succumb to that toxicity,” Thompson said while introducing the film. “Thanks to this (movie), we were able to tell a metaphysical story about how nine people tricked us into feeling positive.”
Jane Rosenthal, who co-founded Tribeca with De Niro, reflected on the festival’s legacy and its remarkable resilience.
“I thought I did it once to bring people back to Lower Manhattan. I can’t believe I’m still standing here 25 years later,” she said.
After the film was shown to a sold-out crowd, Thompson and the surviving band members took to the stage to perform Earth, Wind & Fire hits such as “September” and “Shining Star.”
