Tribeca’s 25th Anniversary Opens With Earth, Wind & Fire Doc
Questlove’s Earth, Wind & Fire Documentary To Kick Off Tribeca Festival
Roots member and music aficionado Questlove’s documentary Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) will open the 25th anniversary of the Tribeca Festival. The annual New York City event will launch June 3 and will premiere the latest documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, following his acclaimed 2025 project on Sly Stone. And if the film alone isn’t enough to draw a crowd, the night will close with a live performance from the iconic band, joined by Questlove and The Roots at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre.
The documentary dives deep into Earth, Wind & Fire’s enduring legacy, cultural impact, and genre-defining catalog, bolstered by rare archival footage and a spotlight on founder Maurice White’s visionary leadership. Emerging in the early 1970s, the group steadily built momentum before exploding into the mainstream with their funky No. 1 hit “Shining Star” in 1975. That track launched a run of seven Top 10 singles, including “Sing a Song,” “September,” and “After the Love Has Gone,” alongside six consecutive Top 10 albums between 1975 and 1981.
Produced by Questlove alongside Dave Sirulnick, Samantha Grogin, KB White, and Arron Saxe, the film is slated to premiere on HBO, with streaming availability on HBO Max in 2026. Executive producers include Jon Kamen, Cheo Hodari Coker, Karla Zambrano, Zarah Zohlman, Shawn Gee, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and Amos Newman.
“Opening night is always a magical moment,” said Tribeca Festival co-founder and co-chair Jane Rosenthal. “As we celebrate 25 years, it carries even more meaning. Tribeca was born in the wake of 9/11 with a belief in the power of storytelling to bring people together. For a quarter-century, we’ve watched artists and audiences connect in ways that are inspiring, surprising, and deeply human.”
The 25th annual Tribeca Festival runs June 3–14.
Questlove’s Earth, Wind & Fire Documentary To Kick Off Tribeca Festival was originally published on cassiuslife.com
