In a world of extreme access, the boundaries between fans and stars have thinned so as to be nearly invisible. Social media, endless interviews, memoirs, podcasts, and profiles acquaint us with personalities who in the past lived mostly on-screen but today are no longer shielded. Of the precious few actors who remain guarded, perhaps none have the powerful mystique of Robert De Niro. The New York-born actor’s reserve is at odds with his curriculum vitae, which contains over 100 films spanning seven decades, two Academy Awards, various lifetime achievement honors (including a Presidential Medal of Freedom), and a reputation as one of the greatest actors of his generation. If his filmography had been limited to Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, and The Deer Hunter, his legacy would be secure. In fact, these films took place in a five-year span in the 1970s, and are a sliver of his oeuvre. De Niro is easy to find—last year he starred in Killers of the Flower Moon, About My Father, and Ezra—but hard to know. As an antidote to his mystery, and on the occasion of his 80th birthday, the Tribeca Festival (which he co-founded) is offering an exhibition that explores his life and career through the lens of his vast archives. “De Niro Is An Icon” includes a first-of-its-kind immersive film, De Niro, New York, showcased within The Hexadome, a cutting-edge structure and format crafted by Berlin’s Institute for Sound and Music, as well as a large-scale display of “rare images, annotated scripts, costumes.” With media support provided by AIR MAIL, “De Niro Is An Icon” is an exploration and a celebration of a giant of American cinema. —Jack Sullivan

De Niro Con will also be screening films in which Robert De Niro stars, including Godfather Part II, Jackie Brown, Analyze This, and more.