There are screenings you attend, and then there are screenings that stay with you for the rest of your life. Our world premiere of Leylak at the Tribeca Film Festival was one of the latter.
Leylak tells the story of Yusuf, an immigrant gravedigger in Queens, New York, as he copes with the impact of COVID-19 on his family. It is a film rooted in grief, duty, love, and the quiet dignity of a man carrying more than he can say. Being part of the producing team on a story like that meant understanding from the start that the work had to be handled with care.
The Weight of the Story
Even before the premiere, we knew Leylak was not just another short film. It was deeply tied to a moment many people were still living through, and it approached that moment through a very human lens. It was about an immigrant family, about loss, about the emotional labor of holding other people up while your own life is breaking apart.
That kind of story asks a lot of the people making it. It asks for patience in the production process and honesty in the edit. It asks everyone involved to keep asking whether the film is honoring the people it is speaking about.
Standing in Tribeca
When the film premiered at Tribeca, the feeling was hard to describe and easy to remember. There was pride, of course, but there was also a strange kind of stillness. We were not there thinking about milestones or press quotes. We were thinking about the people who inspired the film, the families it spoke to, and the responsibility of sharing something so intimate in a public space.
Tribeca has a way of making the moment feel larger than the room. You are in New York, but you are also in a conversation with the broader film world. To have Leylak there, in that context, meant the film had already crossed a threshold.
When the Jury Noticed
Then came the Special Jury Mention for Narrative Short.
We will be honest: that recognition meant a great deal. Not because it changed what the film was, but because it signaled that the emotional truth we felt in the room had reached the jury too. For a film like Leylak, that kind of acknowledgment feels especially meaningful. It says the film’s quietness was not a limitation. It was part of its power.
Awards can sometimes feel abstract, especially in the early days after a premiere. But this one felt personal. It felt like a jury seeing the film in the same spirit we hoped audiences would: with empathy, attention, and respect.
What It Meant for Us
Being part of Leylak at Tribeca reminded us why we keep making films even when the process is difficult. There are easier ways to spend your time. There are safer bets. But there is nothing quite like sitting in a theater and feeling a story you helped bring into the world land with real emotional force.
That moment gave us a renewed appreciation for collaboration, for restraint, and for the kind of filmmaking that trusts its audience. It also reminded us that the strongest projects often come from the place where craft and conscience meet.
A Film We Still Carry With Us
Leylak was about a specific family in Queens, but its emotions were much larger than one neighborhood, one city, or one season of life. That is part of why it mattered so much to us. It asked us to be present with grief without simplifying it. It asked us to value the small gestures that say the most.
We left Tribeca proud, humbled, and grateful. Not every film gets that kind of reception. Not every story finds that kind of room. Leylak did, and we will always be thankful to have been part of it.