We Create Anyway: Lessons from Black Creatives at Tribeca Festival Lisboa

Tribeca Film Festival in Lisbon was a gathering of artistry, culture, and creative lineage. It reminded us that storytelling is how we record memory, name truth, and shape the worlds we live in.

Craft and Candor from Industry Veterans

There were recognizable names on stage, including Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) and Edie Falco (The Sopranos, Nurse Jackie).

Giancarlo Esposito emphasized discipline and intentional presence—treating acting as a practice of truth rather than performance. His message was clear: mastery requires rigor, self-trust, and devotion to the work.

Edie Falco brought raw honesty to her reflections on the industry. She spoke to the responsibility of portraying complex, everyday lives and reminded us that film and television have the power to humanize people whose stories are often overlooked or flattened. Her remarks reinforced that storytelling can expand empathy and reveal realities audiences rarely encounter.

These insights were valuable—grounded in decades of experience. But the conversations that lingered most deeply came from another corner of the room.

The Diaspora Speaks: Vision Rooted in Reality

The most powerful guidance came from Black creatives—filmmakers, actors, writers, cultural workers, and advocates whose work pushes the narrative landscape forward.

Dino D’Santiago, Welket Bungue, Cleo Diara, and Ana Sofia Martins spoke to the cultural responsibility of storytelling in a global context. They emphasized sustainability, community, and the importance of creating systems where Black stories are not exceptional but central.

Their perspectives were grounded in lived experience—navigating the industry not from theory but from the realities of working across continents, cultures, and infrastructures that often undervalue or constrain Black creativity.

Dee Rees and the Call to Create Anyway

Filmmaker Dee Rees (Pariah, Mudbound, Bessie) crystallized the lesson in one essential reminder:

We cannot wait for systems to validate our stories.

We must pace ourselves.

Use what we have.

Invest in each other.

And keep creating.

Her message was not motivational—it was strategic. Creativity is not about permission. It is about stamina and self-determination.

How SDC Works at This Intersection

This is the core of Strategic Disruption Consulting’s work. We partner with filmmakers, cultural producers, and creative teams to ensure that their stories don’t just get made—they move people, build community, and shift culture. Our support includes:

• Strategy development for social impact and audience engagement

• Resource and partnership design

• Narrative framing and positioning

• Infrastructure for sustainability

We believe storytelling is both cultural memory and cultural intervention. Art is strategy. Narrative is power.

Legacy in Motion

What Tribeca Lisbon made clear is that the future of film is not only about who appears on the screen—it is about who shapes the frame, builds the ecosystem, and holds the cultural narrative.

Our stories are not accidental. They are crafted. They are claimed. They are ours.

And when we invest in one another, we expand what is possible—for us and for the generations that follow.