Meg Ryan, Kim Catrall and Giancarlo Esposito

Tribeca Festival Lisboa wrapped its second edition on Saturday after hosting a bevy of U.S. talent, led by Meg Ryan, Kim Cattrall, Edie Falco, Giancarlo Esposito, Ed Westwick and Daniela Ruah and Piper Perabo and director Stephen Kay, her husband. 

The co-organizers – Tribeca Enterprises and Portuguese media group Impresa – said they’re delighted by the way that the spirit of the New York festival is bringing fresh energy to the Portuguese film and TV sector.

“We thought we were only going to do one festival, back in 2002 and now we’re now going to be 25 years old!” commented Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca co-founder and CEO. 

“Continuous learning is what makes any festival a living breathing organism. We look forward to bringing more of our expertise here, especially through our mentorship programs. 

She added: “Like New York, Lisbon is a very international city. I feel very much at home here. I have my own Portuguese connection from my childhood in Providence, Rhode Island, where one of our most famous senators was Claiborne Pell, whose father served as U.S. ambassador to Portugal and of course I was lucky to grow up around great Portuguese bakeries!” 

Francisco Pedro Balsemão, Impresa CEO, explained that with the success of Tribeca Lisboa  and after attending two editions of Tribeca in New York, he would now like to organize a year-round program of Tribeca-linked initiatives and incorporate the associated mentoring expertise into the wider producing strategy of the Impresa Group: “For this year’s edition we made sure that there are more screening venues, more talks focusing on a wide array of filmmaking skills, bringing it closer to the New York festival, where the Tribeca neighborhood itself is also a key element.”

Various fruits of the Tribeca-Lisbon connection were highlighted during the fest’s second edition, including Chazz Palmentiri who after attending last year’s edition with his…