Tribeca founder Jane Rosenthal defends AI movie screenings

Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal is defending the festival’s decision to screen “The Violets,” a fully AI-generated film about the Iranian civil resistance movement.

“I think people need to read the director’s (Ash Kusha) statement,” Rosenthal told Variety Monday night at the festival’s 25th anniversary cocktail reception in Lower Manhattan. “The director is Iranian. His family, relatives and friends are there. It was the only way he could tell his story, in his own way, in a two-month period.”

The film, which will be released on June 10, is the first full-length live-action film generated by AI and was accepted by major film festivals, but the decision sparked some backlash online.

But Rosenthal doubled down at the premiere. “If someone wrote a song about it, you wouldn’t say anything. If someone wrote a poem about it, you wouldn’t say anything. If someone wanted to dance about it, you wouldn’t say anything,” she said. “I mean, (Kusha) did it his way, so I think you have to look at it in that context.”

The 75-minute docudrama, inspired by the protests that swept Tehran in January, focuses on five Iranians assembled in a Tehran alley before their execution, as Amir, a 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, witnesses from his window. The clashes mirror real-world protests between Iranian authorities and civilians, with at least 7,000 people killed and more than 50,000 arrested, according to the Human Rights Defenders News Agency.

“If it was about World War II, if it was about the Civil War, or any other story, we wouldn’t do that,” Rosenthal continued. “These stories aren’t out there. Are they perfect? ​​No. But this is what we need to see at this time.”

Coach Kusha’s statement quoted by Rosenthal is pasted below.

I would like to be honest about why I did it this way. It wasn’t a technical training. I wanted to make this movie with the staff and actors, with the dignity of a complete production. That wasn’t available to me. I am one person in exile, with no access to Iran, no access to places, no access to people. AI pipelines allow us to do things that would otherwise be impossible. The idea was to create a commemorative film of the events that took place behind the insurmountable wall. We understand that AI-generated films based on real people who died pose difficult questions. I’ve been thinking about those questions every minute of every day while working on this film. My answer is that the other option – silence, forgetting, the outcome desired by the regime – is worse. This film exists because the dead deserve to be witnessed, and because families inside Iran who cannot speak deserve someone outside who will not forget. I’m not sure if this is the correct format for this story. I believe this story needed form. And this is the form prepared for me. The film is dedicated to those killed in January 2026 and over the past 47 years, their families in Iran, and the children who watched it.

Rosenthal, along with Robert De Niro, hosted Monday night’s opening reception at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, which is on the same block as the World Trade Center. This is an intentional homage to Tribeca’s history. The festival was created by the duo as part of an effort to help revitalize Lower Manhattan in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

After opening remarks from Whoopi Goldberg, De Niro and Rosenthal took to the stage to reflect on the festival’s founding 25 years ago. A large portion of the joint address was dedicated to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also spoke about his role in helping New York City reorganize after 9/11.

Also in attendance were Katie Holmes, Ayo Edebiri, Graydon Carter, Diane von Furstenberg, Bette Midler, James Murdoch, Cynthia Rowley, Carla Swisher and Katie Couric. Check out photos from the evening below.