The 2022 Tribeca Festival today announced Vengeance as its Centerpiece Gala selection. The world premiere is set to take place Sunday, June 12 at 5:00 PM at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. B.J. Novak’s feature directorial debut, Vengeance is a darkly comedic thriller about a journalist who travels from New York City to West Texas to investigate the mysterious death of a young woman. Novak stars in an ensemble cast that also includes Issa Rae, Ashton Kutcher, Boyd Holbrook, J. Smith-Cameron, and Dove Cameron.
“I am overwhelmed with happiness that Vengeance will premiere as the centerpiece film of the Tribeca Festival, which has supported so many of my favorite artists over the years,” said B.J. Novak.
Novak is well known for his work on the comedy series The Office as a writer, actor, director, and executive producer. He has appeared in films such as Inglourious Basterds, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Founder; and television series such as The Newsroom, Punk’d, and his FX anthology series The Premise. He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the short story collection “One More Thing,” and the children’s phenomenon, “The Book With No Pictures.“
“B.J. Novak has already established himself as one of the most talented actors and writers in film and entertainment, so it’s no surprise to see him now take on the role of feature film director,” said Festival Director and VP of Programming Cara Cusumano. “The Tribeca Festival is honored to host the world premiere of this comic thriller as our Centerpiece Gala selection”
The Tribeca Festival has also added the U.S. premiere of the feature film The Good House, starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline, and a live conversation with former NBA star Jeremy Lin and comedian Hasan Minhaj following a screening of the short film 38 at the Garden. Additionally, the world premiere of Women Who Rock, a four-part docuseries featuring Mavis Staples and Norah Jones, has been added to the television lineup. And the audio storytelling program has added an exclusive conversation with Bernardine Dohrn and Billy Ayers, former leaders of the Weather Underground and subjects of the original podcast hosted by Zayd Ayers Dohrn, Mother Country Radicals, from Crooked Media and Audacy.
As previously announced, the Tribeca Festival kicks off June 8 with the world premiere of Halftime, a Netflix documentary by director and Tribeca alum Amanda Micheli that follows global superstar Jennifer Lopez, as she reflects on her milestones and evolution as an artist. Tribeca 2022 closes on June 18 with the world premiere of Loudmouth, a documentary written and directed by Josh Alexander that puts a disruptive spotlight on Reverend Al Sharpton, who has been at the center of the national conversation around race since the late 1980s.
Other Festival highlights include the mid-season premiere of the final season of AMC’s Better Call Saul with Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jonathan Banks; the world premiere of Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby, a feature documentary from director Karam Gill about Lil Baby’s transformational journey from local Atlanta hustler to one of hip-hop’s biggest stars and pop culture’s most important voices for change, followed by a special performance; live world premiere and conversation with the cast and creators of USG Audio’s The End Up, a podcast series about a tilted near-future where terminal cancer patients who wish to end their suffering must attend a weeklong boot camp starring Himesh Patel, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Merritt Wever, and John Reynolds; a special live playthrough of interactive thriller Immortality by renowned video game writer and designer Sam Barlow; and an immersive celebration of life and death through the inner landscape of the human body EVOLVER from executive producers Edward R. Pressman and Terrence Malick.
The Tribeca Festival is curated by Festival Director and VP of Programming Cara Cusumano, Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer; VP of Filmmaker Relations & Shorts Programming Sharon Badal and Head Shorts Programmer Ben Thompson; Senior Programmers Liza Domnitz and Lucy Mukerjee; Programmers José F. Rodriguez and Karen McMullen; VP of Games and Immersive Casey Baltes and Immersive Curator Ana Brzezinska; Curator of Audio Storytelling Davy Gardner; Music Programmer Vincent Cassous; and program advisor Paula Weinstein, along with a team of associate programmers.