‘The Half of It,’ Steve Zahn, Assol Abdullina Win Awards at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival

By Jordan Moreau

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “The Half of It,” a coming-of-age drama written and directed by Alice Wu, and actors Steve Zahn and Assol Abdullina were among the winners of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival’s slate of juried awards.

“The Half of It,” which will be released on Netflix on May 1, follows a shy, straight-A student named Ellie Chu who makes some extra money by writing papers for her high school peers. She reluctantly agrees to write a love letter for a lovesick jock to his crush, a girl Ellie also secretly loves. All three students go on a journey of complicated friendship and self-discovery in the drama-comedy film.

The Polish film “The Hater” by Jan Komasa won for best international narrative feature and “Socks on Fire” directed by Bo McGuire won for best documentary feature.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic halting most in-person award shows, this year’s Tribeca winners were announced on Instagram.

“We are fortunate that technology allowed for our jury to come together this year to honor our filmmakers,” said Tribeca Film Festival co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “Despite not being able to be together physically, we were still able to support our artists, which has always been at the heart of the Festival.”

See the full list of winners below.

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – “The Half of It” directed by Alice Wu.

Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Assol Abdullina in “Materna.”

Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Steve Zahn, “Cowboys.”

Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – “Materna,” Greta Zozula, Chananun Chotrungroj, Kelly Jeffrey.

Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – “Cowboys,” Anna Kerrigan.

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

Best International Narrative Feature – “The Hater” (Poland), directed by Jan Komasa.

Best Actor in an International Narrative Feature Film – Noe Hernandez, “Kokoloko” (Mexico).

Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film – Shira Haas, “Asia” (Israel).

Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film – “Asia” (Israel), Daniella Nowitz.

Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature Film – “Tryst With Destiny” (India, France), Prashant Nair.

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

Best Documentary Feature – “Socks on Fire” directed by Bo McGuire.

Best Cinematography in a Documentary Film – “499,” Alejandro Mejia.

Best Editing in a Documentary Film – “Father Soldier Son,” Amy Foote.

BEST NEW NARRATIVE DIRECTOR COMPETITION:

Best New Narrative Director – “Nobody Knows I’m Here,” Gaspar Antillo.

BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR COMPETITION:

Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award – “Jacinta,” Jessica Earnshaw.

THE NORA EPHRON AWARD:

The Nora Ephron Award – “Asia,” directed by Ruthy Pribar.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

Best Narrative Short – “No More Wings,” Abraham Adeyemi.

Best Animated Short – “Friends,” Florian Grolig.

Best Documentary Short – “My Father The Mover,” Julia Jansch.

Student Visionary Award – “Cru-Raw,” David Oesch, Director.

TRIBECA X AWARDS:

Best Short – “Pay Day,” directed by Morgan Cooper.

Best Series – “Girls Room”, directed by Tiffany Johnson

Writer: Lena Waithe

Best Feature – “U Shoot Videos?” directed by Morgan Cooper