Barbra Streisand with Robert Rodriguez

Tribeca Talks

Barbra Streisand sat down with Robert Rodriguez at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival to discuss how she got her start in the industry, the moment she knew she wanted to direct, the power of the will, and more.

Widely recognized as an icon in multiple entertainment fields, Barbra Streisand has attained unprecedented achievements as a recording artist, actor, director, producer, screenwriter, author, songwriter, and concert performer. Streisand has been awarded two Oscars®, five Emmys®, ten GRAMMYS® including two special GRAMMYS®, a Tony Award®, eleven Golden Globes® including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, three Peabodys, and the Director’s Guild Award for her concert special -- the only artist to receive honors in all of those areas.

In addition, Streisand has also received the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Kennedy Center Honor. She also received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, and France’s Légion d'Honneur.

She is the first woman to direct, produce, write, and star in a major motion picture, the first woman composer to receive an Academy Award®, the only recording artist who has achieved #1 albums in six consecutive decades, and the first and only woman to receive a Golden Globe Award® for Best Director.

A woman of action, Streisand is a devoted philanthropist who works tirelessly to fight for what she believes in. She founded The Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai and co-founded the Women’s Heart Alliance, helping to raise awareness and push for more research into women’s heart disease, the leading cause of death among women. Through the Streisand Foundation, which she established in 1986, she has fought for progressive ideas. She has been a leading environmental activist funding some of the earliest climate change research. She has long been a staunch supporter of racial equality, women’s rights, civil rights, and the very urgent need to protect voters’ rights.

Robert Rodriguez is a film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. His films include, El Mariachi, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, the Spy Kids franchise, Sin City, and Machete. Rodriguez recently collaborated with director James Cameron on the film Alita: Battle Angel. Rodriguez directed and James Cameron served as producer. Rodriguez is the Founder and Chairman of El Rey Network, a 24-hour, English-language lifestyle network. El Rey's slate includes the one-on-one interview program hosted by Rodriguez, The Director's Chair. He resides in Austin, Texas.