Tribeca Film Festival Creates Prize to Honor Nora Ephron

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images Nora Ephron in 2011.

A quintessential New York filmmaker is getting an award named for her by a quintessential New York film festival. The organizers of the Tribeca Film Festival said on Tuesday that they will introduce a new honor, the Nora Ephron Prize, named for that screenwriter and director of “Sleepless in Seattle” and “This Is My Life,” among other films, who died in June.

The Nora Ephron Prize will be given annually to “a woman writer or director with a distinctive voice who embodies the spirit and vision of the legendary filmmaker and writer,” press representatives for the Tribeca Film Festival said in a news release. Filmmakers whose works are having their North American, international or world premiere at the festival are eligible for the award, which comes with a $25,000 prize and which will be presented for the first time on April 25 at the festival’s Women’s Filmmaker Brunch.

Jane Rosenthal, one of the founders of the Tribeca Film Festival, said in a statement: “Nora Ephron’s work influenced screenwriters, filmmakers and moviegoers. She was a great friend to the festival since its inception, and I had the privilege to know her and be in absolute awe of her. She did it all brilliantly, with wit and wisdom that went straight to the heart, plus she cooked too. I am proud to honor her memory and continue her legacy with this award that I hope will inspire a new generation of women filmmakers and writers.”

The eight filmmakers eligible for the Nora Ephron Prize this year are Laurie Collyer (the writer and director of “Sunlight Jr.”), Steph Green (“Run and Jump”), Jenee LaMarque (“The Pretty One”), Meera Menon (“Farah Goes Bang”), Mo Ogrodnik (“Deep Powder), Marina de Van (“Dark Touch”), Jane Weinstock (“The Moment”) and Enid Zentelis (“Bottled Up.”)