In a move that highlights the international ambitions of the iconic Tribeca Film Festival, its co-founder Robert De Niro was recently spotted riding a golf cart through the streets of Lisbon, Portugal, alongside his longtime partner, Tiffany Chen.
The two were attending the inaugural Tribeca Festival in Lisbon, which brought the spirit of the New York-based festival to the vibrant Portuguese capital over the weekend of October 18th. De Niro, 81, and Chen, who share a 1-year-old daughter named Gia, were all smiling as they navigated the festival grounds, engaging with attendees and soaking in the energy of the event.
“It means a great deal to us to bring the Tribeca experience to Lisbon—a city bursting with renewed cultural and economic promise,” De Niro said in a September press release announcing the international expansion of the festival.
The Tribeca Festival Lisboa showcased a carefully curated selection of 8 American films, including the Portuguese premiere of De Niro’s most recent movie, Ezra, directed by Tony Goldwyn. The veteran actor also participated in one of the festival’s star-studded panel discussions, which featured the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Patty Jenkins, and Griffin Dunne.
De Niro’s appearance in Lisbon comes just two months after the two-time Academy Award winner celebrated his 81st birthday on August 17th. Since their first photo together on a vacation in France in August 2021, the public has been interested in the actor’s relationship with Tiffany Chen, whom he met on the set of his 2015 film The Intern.
The couple’s outing in Portugal marks one of their few public appearances since welcoming their daughter, Gia Virginia Chen De Niro, on April 6th of this year. Gia is De Niro’s seventh child, as the legendary actor also has six other children from previous relationships.
Meanwhile, on the work front, De Niro has remained active, with his most recent on-screen starring role in this year’s Ezra. He has also appeared in the Argentine streaming series Nada.
De Niro and Chen attended a screening of Megalopolis, the long-gestating passion project from De Niro’s longtime friend and collaborator, Francis Ford Coppola, in New York City just last month. The actor participated in a Q&A session following the event.
While De Niro’s acting prowess is undisputed, it seems he has found a new muse in the culinary world as well. In a separate interview, renowned chef and actor Ranveer Brar expressed his desire to cook some of his signature dishes for the iconic actor.
“I would love to bake a nice chunky lasagna for Robert De Niro,” Brar revealed to Zoom. “A tasty Biryani for Keanu Reeves. As an eclectic person, that would suit him.”
Brar, who recently made his acting debut in the Modern Love Mumbai anthology and played a key role in Kareena Kapoor Khan’s The Buckingham Murders, also mentioned that he would love to cook his version of the classic Indian dish Dal Makhni for another Bollywood star, Ranbir Kapoor.
As the Tribeca Film Festival continues to expand its global footprint, the presence of its co-founder, Robert De Niro, in Lisbon serves as a testament to the festival’s commitment to fostering international collaborations and bringing the power of storytelling to new audiences around the world.